The first flights of the new airlines that will take tourists into space are ready to take off in 2012, and getting a seat on one is not all that different from booking a trip someplace on Earth. You can sign up on the website of, say, Virgin Galactic，the most wellknown of the new space tourism panies, or go to an approved travel agency and put down a large deposit. Soon you will be able to buy travel insurance，just as you can for any other vacation.
Until now，space tourism has been limited to the ultrawealthy. Just seven people have paid tens of millions of dollars each for a trip to the International Space Station aboard a Russian rocket.
But that could change this year, when Virgin Galactic intends to start offering flights just beyond the space barrier on a rocket ship it has built, featuring five minutes of weightlessness during a twoandahalfhour tour. At $ 200,000 a seat, this will open the final frontier to far more people.
At least two other specialty airlines have jumped in as well, taking reservations and deposits for future space flights.Allianz, the big insurer, will introduce an insurance product in 2012, lending space tourism the trappings of the regular travel industry.
“Just to be able to sell space travel as a regular part of your business, really, just how cool is that？” said Lynda Turley Garrett, president of Alpine Travel of Saratoga, Calif.，who is one of 58 accredited space agents for Virgin Galactic in the United States.
In five years，Ms.Garrett has sold three seats. But she expects that to change once passengers start going up and ing down to tell their friends. “By 2017，it'll be just like scheduling a flight to L．A.，” Ms.Garrett predicted.
【小题1】If you want to book a flight to space in 2012, you can .A．go to any travel agencyB．telephone Virgin GalacticC．pay a visit to AllianzD．sign up on the website of Virgin Galactic【小题2】From Paragraph 2 we can know that .A．only the extremely rich people can afford the space tripB．seven people have paid tens of millions of dollars for a space tripC．Russia is the first country to build the space stationD．ordinary people are not allowed to take space tour【小题3】Which of the following is true of Virgin Galactic?A．It is one of the approved space agencies.B．It is a famous space tourism pany.C．It sells insurance products to space tourists.D．Its rocket has carried space passengers successfully.【小题4】What does the underlined word “trappings” in Paragraph 4 probably refer to?A．Standard uniforms.B．Traditional decorations.C．Symbolic signs.D．Personal belongings.【小题5】What does Ms. Garrett think of the future space travel?A．Common. B．Changeable.C．Flexible. D．Reasonable.D
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(答案→)D
解析： 在不久的将来，太空旅行对普通游客而言不再是梦想。人们可以在网上报名，也可以到旅行社报名，来实现自己的太空旅行计划。
【小题1】解析 细节理解题。从文章第一段中的“You can sign up on the website of，say，Virgin Galactic，the most wellknown of the new space tourism panies，or go to an approved travel agency and put down a large deposit.”可知，答案选D。答案 D
【小题2】解析 细节推断题。从文章第二段可推知，只有极富有的人才能支付得起太空旅行的费用，故A项正确。答案 A
【小题3】解析 细节理解题。从文章第一段中的“Virgin Galactic，the most wellknown of the new space tourism panies”可知答案选B。答案 B
【小题4】解析 猜测词义题。从文章第三、四段可知，太空旅行会向更多人敞开大门，而保险公司Allianz将推出一种保险产品，这使太空旅行成为旅游业的标志，故C项正确。答案 C
【小题5】解析 推理判断题。从文章最后一段最后一句话可推知，Ms.Garrett认为未来太空旅行会像计划坐飞机去洛杉矶一样司空见惯，故选A。答案 A