China launched the Shenzhou XIII manned spacecraft early on Saturday morning, carrying three astronauts who will stay inside the country’s Tiangong space station for six months. It is expected to become the longest space journey by Chinese astronauts, doubling the time of their peers in the Shenzhou XII mission. It is transporting Major General Zhai Zhigang, the mission commander, Senior Colonel Wang Yaping and Senior Colonel Ye Guangfu to Tiangong’s core module (舱) Tianhe, or Harmony of Heavens.

Wang is China’s second female astronaut to participate in a spaceflight and was a member of the Shenzhou X mission in June 2013. She will become the first Chinese woman to enter the Tiangong space station and conduct a spacewalk. Zhai is the country’s first astronaut to take a spacewalk, having done so when he was mission commander during the Shenzhou VII mission in September 2008. Ye is making his first journey to space.

The Shenzhou XIII crew is tasked with a wide range of tasks, including performing two to three spacewalks to install a small robotic arm onto a larger one; verifying key procedures and technologies such as the manual control of the robotic arms and the robotic arm-assisted movement of station modules; checking the performance and capability of devices inside the station; and testing support instruments for astronauts’ lives and work during long-term flights. They will conduct scientific experiments and technology demonstrations in space medicine, microgravity physics and other fields.

1.How long did the Shenzhou XII crew stay in space?

A For half a year.

B For a few days.

C For three months.

D For several hours.

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据第一段可知，神舟十三号搭载的3名宇航员将在天宫空间站停留6个月，是神舟十二号任务时间的两倍，可推断神舟十二号搭载的宇航员在天宫空间站停留了3个月，故选C。

2.What can we know from paragraph two?

A Wang participated in the Shenzhou XII mission.

B Wang will be China’s second woman to take a spacewalk.

C Zhai Zhigang is the first Chinese astronaut.

D Ye participates in a spaceflight for the first time.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据第二段可知，王亚平曾参加的是神舟十号的发射任务（不是“神舟十二号”），她将成为首位进行太空行走的中国女性（不是“第二位”），翟志刚是中国首位进行太空行走的宇航员（不是“首位宇航员”），叶光富是第一次进行太空之旅。故选D。

3.What will the three astronauts do during the mission?

A Conducting spacewalks.

B Checking devices in the station.

C Testing support instruments.

D All of the above.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据第三段可知，三名宇航员将进行两到三次太空行走；检查站内设备的性能和能力；测试宇航员生活和工作中的支持仪器，故选D。

4.What is TRUE about the passage?

A The Shenzhou XIII is China’s first manned spacecraft.

B The astronauts will perform scientific experiments.

C Wang is the mission commander of the Shenzhou XIII.

D Harmony of Heavens isn’t Tiangong’s core module.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据最后一段最后一句宇航员将进行科学实验可知B正确，A未提及，王亚平不是指挥，C错误，Harmony of Heavens（也就是Tianhe）是天宫的核心舱，D错误，故选B。

5.What could be the best title of the passage?

A Three Chinese Astronauts

B The Shenzhou XIII’s Launch

C The Mission of Shenzhou XII

D The Shenzhou Spacecraft

解析：选B。B主旨大意题。文章第一段引出神舟十三号的任务，第二段介绍神舟十三号搭载的三位宇航员，第三段说明宇航员的任务，综合各段，可知文章主要围绕神舟十三号的发射展开，A只涉及第二段，C未提及，D范围过大，故选B。