China has completed its first return mission to the moon with the successful re-entry and landing on Earth of an unmanned probe, state media reported.    

The probe, Chang’e 5-T1, landed safely in northern China’s Inner Mongolia region, state news agency Xinhua said, citing the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre.

Xinhua said the probe, nicknamed “Xiaofei” (little flyer) on social media, took some incredible pictures of the Earth and the moon. It is the first trip around the moon and back since US and Russian flights of the 1970s, 40 years ago.

Prior to re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere the unnamed probe had been travelling at 11.2 kilometers per second (25,000 miles per hour), a speed that can generate temperatures of more than 1,500C (2,700F), the news agency reported. To slow it down,scientists let the craft “bounce” off Earth’s atmosphere before re-entering again and landing.

The probe’s mission was to travel to the moon, fly around it and head back to Earth, said the   state science and technology agency. The module went 413,000km from Earth at its furthest point. The mission was launched to test technology to be used in the Chang’e-5, China’s fourth lunar probe, which aims to gather and return samples from the surface in 2017. The military-run space project has plans for a permanent orbiting station by 2020 and eventually to send a human to the moon.

China currently has a robotic rover, Yutu (Jade Rabbit), on the moon. It landed on 14 December 2013 and encountered operational difficulties after the first 14-day lunar night (after about a month on the Moon), and was unable to move after the end of the second lunar night, however it is still gathering some useful data.

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1.Why did scientists slow down the probe before it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere?

A If it was not slowed down, it would not enter Earth’s atmosphere.

B If it kept flying at high speed, it would not land as planned.

C It would produce high temperature bringing damage to the probe.

D If it kept flying at high speed, it would keep off the planned orbit.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据文章第四段可知，飞行器进入大气层不减慢速度的话，会产生高温，（对飞行器造成破坏，）因此需要控制飞行器的速度。

2.What was the unmanned probe’s mission?

A Travelling to the moon and heading back to Earth.

B Testing technology to be used in the Chang’e-5.

C Gathering and returning samples from the moon.

D Taking pictures of the moon and the Earth.

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据文章第五段…launched to test technology to be used in the Chang’e-5可知，嫦娥5-T1的任务是对嫦娥5号的技术进行测试，为2017年嫦娥5号登月采样并返回做准备。

3.What can we infer from the passage?

A China is the first to have made the trip around the moon and back.

B China has made great achievement in space technology.

C China’s permanent orbiting station will be built by 2020.

D Yutu has been working on the moon for several months.

解析：选B。B 推理判断题。根据第一段，结合第三段中国再入返回技术的成功试验判断，中国在航天科技方面取得了卓著的成就。

4.What does the underlined word most probably mean in Paragraph Four?

A Measure.

B Reduce.

C Stand.

D Produce.

解析：选D。D 猜测词义题。根据语境判断，generate在文中的意思为“产生”。飞行器在大气层高速飞行将会产生高温，因此进入大气层前科学家们对飞行器的速度进行控制，从而减少高温对飞行器的损害。

5.What is Yutu’s current situation on the moon?

A It is still gathering useful data about the moon.

B It is unable to move or work on the moon.

C It has operational difficulties and stops working.

D It has been on the moon working for several months.

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据文章最后一段however it is still gathering some useful data可知，“玉兔”月球车虽然遇到了操作故障，但是仍然在收集月球表面的信息。