Have you ever dreamed of visiting a planet in the Milky Way (银河系)? While the trip sounds exciting, it would take years and years to reach your destination. So in the future, bedtime for astronauts may be more than a few hours of regular shut eye. They would have to sleep for years.
European researchers are now conducting hibernation experiments. The study may help them understand whether humans could ever sleep through the years it would take for a space flight to distant planets. If there was an effective technology, it could make deep-space travel a reality, said Mark Ayre of the European Space Agency last month.
What seems like a science fiction is not pletely unlikely. Researchers have been able to use chemicals to put living cells into a sleep-like state where they don’t age. They have now moved on to the small, non-hibernating mammals (哺乳动物) like rats.
A major challenge is the fact that cells can be very simple systems, whereas body organs are far more plex (复杂的). It’s like moving from a simple Apple puter to a superputer, said Marco Biggiogera, a hibernation researcher at Italy’s University of Pavia．Just like bears and frogs, the hibernation of human beings would cause a person’s metabolism (新陈代谢) to lower so they would need less energy.
Medical research, however, is just half of a space flight hibernation system. There is a challenge of designing a suitable protective shelter (栖身所). Such a shelter would provide the proper environment for hibernation, such as the proper temperature. It would also have to monitor (监控) life functions and serve the physiological needs of the hibernator.
According to Ayre, the six-person Human Outer Planets Exploration Mission (使命) to Jupiter’s moon (木星的卫星) Callisto could be an opportunity to use human hibernation. The mission aims to send six persons on a five-year flight to Callisto, where they will spend 30 days, in 2045.
【小题1】According to the article, the hibernation research .A．is just an ideaB．is always a science fictionC．has already finished successfullyD．has made some progress【小题2】In a hibernating state, a person needs .A．less sleep B．more foodC．less energyD．more movement【小题3】 The first try of the hibernation technology the six-person Human Outer Planets
Exploration Mission to Jupiter’s moon Callisto.A．will beB．has been planned forC．is certain to beD．may be【小题4】What is the best title of the article?A．Hibernation Study For Space TravelB．Wele To Our Space TravelC．To Hibernate, To Live Longer D．Wele To The Milky WayD
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(答案→)D
解析：星际探索固然重要，可是怎样打发漫漫旅途呢？别急，人类“冬眠”技术让你一觉睡到目的地。
【小题1】推断题。根据短文第三段内容可以推出人类“冬眠”技术已经取得了进展。
【小题2】细节题。根据短文第四段的最后一句they would need less energy可知。
【小题3】推断题。根据短文最后一段的第一句话中could一词的委婉语气可知。
【小题4】主旨题。认真分析原文可知，本文自始至终介绍的是在星际探索中使用冬眠技术的研究情况，因此以Hibernation Study For Space Travel为题既具有高度的概括性、强烈的针对性，又具有一定的醒目性。