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It tastes like flowers. It smells like a campfire. What is it? It is a $6,000 bottle of Petrus Pomerol wine that spent a year on the International Space Station. Researchers in Bordeaux are examining the twelve bottles of wine as well as 320 pieces of grapevines(葡萄藤) that returned to Earth in January. They say the wine and grapevines are part of a longer-term effort to make plants on Earth better resist climate change and disease. Alcohol and glass are not usually permitted on the International Space Station. Each bottle was packed inside a special steel container during the journey.

At a special tasting this month, 12 wine experts tried one of the space-traveled wines at the Institute for Wine and Vine Research in Bordeaux. They tasted and smelled the wine together with a similar bottle from the same year that had stayed on Earth. The tasting was blind, meaning the experts did not know which wine they were drinking.

Nicolas Gaume is the head of Space Cargo Unlimited, the company that arranged the experiment. He said the experiment studied the effects of the lack of gravity on the wine and vines. “I have tears in my eyes,” Gaume said about the experiment. Jane Anson is a wine expert and writer. She said the wine that remained on Earth tasted “a little younger than the one that had been to space.”

Chemical and biological study of the wine’s aging process could help scientists find a way to age fine vintages—the grapes or wine produced during one season. That information came from Dr. Michael Lebert of Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander-University. Lebert was an advisor on the project.

1.What is the purpose for wine and grapevines travelling in space?

A To make better wine.

B To change wine taste.

C To improve grape kinds.

D To improve grape quantity.

解析：选C。推理判断题。根据文章第一段They say the wine and grapevines are part of a longer-term effort to make plants on Earth better resist climate change and disease.可知，波尔多的研究人员表示，葡萄酒和葡萄藤是使地球上的植物更好地抵御气候变化和疾病的长期努力的一部分。由此推断葡萄酒和葡萄藤到太空旅行的目的在于改良葡萄品种。故选C。

2.What is the requirement of wine tasting?

A Wine experts should keep tasting wine freely.

B Wine experts should taste wine in a short time.

C Wine experts should taste wine with eyes closed.

D Wine experts should choose and taste wine blindly.

解析：选D。细节理解题。根据文章第二段The tasting was blind, meaning the experts did not know which wine they were drinking.可知，品尝是盲目的，这意味着专家们不知道他们喝的是哪种酒。故选D。

3.What’s the biggest difference between the wine on space and the one on earth?

A The wine on earth tastes like flowers.

B The wine on space tastes a little older.

C The wine on earth has a campfire smell.

D The wine on space easily makes people drunk.

解析：选B。细节理解题。根据文章第三段She said the wine that remained on Earth tasted “a little younger than the one that had been to space.可知，品酒专家谈及感受时表示留在地球上的葡萄酒尝起来“比去过太空的葡萄酒年轻一点”，即去过太空的葡萄酒要老一点，故选B。

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A Researchers have been studying wine for one year.

B Grapes grow better in the environment without gravity.

C Researchers hope to continue on future space missions.

D The research will make a great difference to grape industry.

解析：选D。推理判断题。根据文章最后一段Chemical and biological study of the wine’s aging process could help scientists find a way to age fine vintages—the grapes or wine produced during one season. 可知，对葡萄酒陈酿过程的化学和生物学研究可以帮助科学家找到一种方法来陈酿优质葡萄酒——在一个季节生产的葡萄或葡萄酒。由此推断这项研究将对葡萄产业产生重大影响。故选D。