美国宇航局正式宣告服役15年的“机遇号”火星探测器“死亡”

Roughly eight months after it fell silent during a dust storm on the Mars, and just weeks after celebrating its 15th anniversary on the red planet, NASA is finally saying goodbye to the Opportunity rover.
The space agency has made hundreds of attempts to contact the rover since it powered down back in June, when dark skies prevented its solar battery from charging. In a last effort, NASA sent out a final set of commands on Tuesday in hopes that it might finally respond. But once again, their calls were met only with silence. NASA confirmed the news in a press conference Wednesday afternoon, where it officially said goodbye to the long-running mission. 
With the death of the Opportunity rover also comes the end of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers program, which launched in July 2003 with the twin robots, Spirit and Opportunity. Spirit met its end back in 2011, a year after getting stuck in the sand and losing contact with Earth. 
The Mars rover, known as ‘Oppy,’ far surpassed the expectations of the team that’s operated it for so long. It was designed to last just 90 Martian days, during which it would travel a total of 1,000 meters. But somehow, Oppy survived 14-and-a-half years after touching down on the red planet, pushing its limits to travel almost 30 miles to reshape our understanding of Mars.
It withstood years of extreme temperatures and radiation, but finally met its match this past spring, when a dust storm circled Mars and stopped the sunshine. This proved to be a fatal blow for Opportunity, as the rover relies entirely on solar energy to power its instruments. More than 1,000 recovery commands were sent over the course of eight months in an attempt to contact the rover. But failed！

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1.What does the underlined phrase “the red planet” refer to?

A The earth.

B The sun.

C The Mars.

D The moon.

解析：选C。词意指代题。根据第一段第一句的Roughly eight months after it fell silent during a dust storm on the Mars可知画线词组指代的就是“火星”。故选C。

2.Why did the Opportunity rover lose contact with NASA?

A It traveled too far away from the earth.

B Its service life came to an end.

C It was power off because of a dust storm.

D NASA sent out a wrong set of commands.

解析：选C。细节理解题。根据第一段的内容和第二段第一句The space agency has made hundreds of attempts to contact the rover since it powered down back in June, when dark skies prevented its solar battery from charging. 可知是火星上的沙尘暴天气阻挡了太阳光，使“机遇号”没法充电而停止运作，导致与美国宇航局失联的。故选C。

3.Which of the following is NOT the fact from the passage?

A NASA tried to contact the rover after it had kept silence for 8 months.

B Spirit and Opportunity were launched to the Mars in July 2003 at the same time.

C The Opportunity rover actually had a much longer service life than expected.

D The Opportunity rover had gone through extreme circumstances before its death.

解析：选A。细节理解题。根据第二段的内容可知，美国宇航局自去年六月份熄火以来就一直在尝试和“机遇号”联系，而非失联8个月后才联系。故选A。

4.What’s the best title of the passage?

A NASA celebrates the 15th anniversary for the Opportunity rover.

B NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers program comes to the end.

C NASA tries to keep a contact with the longest running rover on the Mars.

D NASA confirms the Opportunity rover is dead.

解析：选D。文章标题题。通读全文可知，文章主要围绕美国宇航局证实“机遇号”死亡这一消息展开。故选D。