Today is December 15，2030．Influenced by the launch of the first manned mission to Mars next month，you will most likely get a gift card for a space trip．

   The interest in trips， 100km above the surface of the Earth， has grown steadily since such a trip began． However， the market has grown much larger this year since the official announcement of the Mars mission． More low﹣cost spacelines have entered the market and you can now find flights for such a trip for as low as ﹩ 3，495． It's very reasonable．

   Space tourism（旅游业；观光业）is one of the markets that have developed fast during the last decade，with the opening of the Starbright Hotel on the moon as well as the low orbital hotels that started accepting guests．However，accommodation in space is still expensive for the averagehousehold，so the suborbital（亚轨道的）flights with thirty﹣minute weightlessness during the three﹣hour flight will for some time be the most popular trip．

   However， the spacelines might in the future face fierce competition between space elevators（太空升降舱）， like the one that is projected to start construction within two years．Once it is fully functional，it will start to ship cargo to space． But it will accept passengers as soon as possible to get back the large investment．Even if the elevator becomes successful，it will take several years before there are more elevators in the world to get in the competition for space traffic with the spacelines．

   Those who are looking for a little bit of adventure and have extra money to spend may want to consider a suborbital flight in space． While a suborbital flight may not be the space mission that you have always dreamed of， it will give you the rare opportunity to see what our planet looks like in a high﹣altitude flight outside our atmosphere． So before you enjoy a trip by elevator to space， enjoy a suborbital flight first．

（1）From Paragraph 1， what will happen in January， 2031？ 　　

A．	A gift card will be taken to Mars．
B．	Mars will be explored for the first time．
C．	Man will go to Mars for the first time．
D．	An affordable space trip will come true．

（2）The underlined "average" can most probably be replaced by 　　in this passage．

A．	common
B．	high﹣income
C．	low﹣cost
D．	low﹣income

（3）What is the space elevator's purpose of accepting passengers as soon as possible？ 　　

A．	To ship cargo to space．
B．	To get in the competition between spacelines．
C．	To start the construction of more space elevators．
D．	To get back the large investment．

（4）Which of the following is NOT true？ 　　

A．	Space tourism has developed fast during the last ten years．
B．	A suborbital fight is the space mission that many people have dreamed of．
C．	The suborbital flights will be the most popular trip for some time．
D．	Even though the elevator becomes successful， we still wait for a few years to see more elevators come out．

（5）We can know from the passage that 　　．

A．	the low orbital hotels have opened since a space trip began
B．	within two years， space elevators will begin to ship cargo and people to space
C．	during the suborbital flights， you will experience 30 minutes weightlessness
D．	if you want to meet your curiosity， you may try a suborbital flight

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