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The Mir Space Station
1. The Russian Mir Space Station, which came down in 2001 at last after 15 years of pioneering the concept of long-term human space flight, is remembered for its accomplishments in the human space flight history. It can be credited with many firsts in space.

2. During Mir's lifetime, Russia spent about US$4.2 billion to build and maintain the station.

3. The Soviet Union launched Mir, which was designed to last from three to five years, on February 20, 1986, and housed 104 astronauts over 12 years and seven months, most of whom were not Russian. In fact, it became the first international space station by playing host to 62 people from 11 countries. From 1955 through 1998, seven astronauts from the United States took turns living on Mir for up to six months each. They were among the 37 Americans who visited the station during nine stopovers by space shuttles.

4. The more than 400 million the United States provided Russian for the visits not only kept Mir operating, but also gave the Americans and their partners in the international station project valuable experience in long-term flight and multinational operations.

5. A debate continues over Mir¡¯s contributions to science. During its existence, Mir was the laboratory for 23,000 experiments and carried scientific equipment, estimated to be worth $80 million, from many nations. Experiments on Mir are credited with a range of findings, from the first solid measurement of the ration of heavy helium atoms in space to how to grow wheat in space. But for those favouring human space exploration, Mir showed that people could live and work in space long enough for a trip to Mars. The longest single stay in space is the 437. 7 days that Russian astronaut Valery Polyakov spent on Mir from 1994 to 1995. And Sergie Avdeyev accumulated 747.6 days in space in three trips to the space station. The longest American stay was that of Shannon Lucid, who spent 188 days aboard Mir in 1996.

6. Despite the many firsts Mir accomplished, 1997 was a bad year out of 15 for Mir. In 1997, an oxygen generator caught fire. Later, the main computer system broke down, causing the station to drift several times and there were power failures.
7. Most of these problems were repaired, with American help and suppliers, but Mir's reputation as a space station was ruined.

8. Mir¡¯s setbacks are nothing, though, when we compare them with its accomplishments. Mire was a tremendous success, which will be remembered as a milestone in space exploration and the space station that showed long-term human habitation in space was possible. But it's time to move on to the next generation. The International Space Station being built will be better, but it owes a great debt to Mir.

Á·Ï°£º
1. Paragraph 4 ______________
2. Paragraph 5 ______________
3. Paragraph 6 ______________
4. Paragraph 8 ______________

A. Undeniable Mir¡¯s achievements
B. Rewards following the U. S. financial injection
C. Mir's problem year
D. Mir regarded as a complete failure
E. Mir¡¯s firsts in scientific experiments and space exploration
F. A great debt owned to the International Space Station

5. Mir enhanced the confidence in the scientists that humans living in space for a long time was ___________________.
6. In Mir, the U. S. astronauts created ______________.
7. When we think of Mir in terms of its achievements, its setbacks are ______________.
8. The writer tend to think that Mir was ______________.

A. everything
B. a great success
C. a tremendous failure
D. nothing
E. many firsts
F. quite possible
A Bit Good News for Fat People
1. Certainly there are millions who need to lose weight.  But there are also millions who only imagine they need to. Compulsive and continuous dieting, not to mention eating disorders, shows that some of us will do anything to reduce our bodies down to the currently desirable shape. But is being underweight really desirable?

2. Scientists have long been looking into the effects of under-nutrition. These studies¡ªrats and mice have been the subjects, not humans¡ªindicate that carefully controlled food restriction with adequate vitamins and minerals slows the aging process. In experiment after experiment, thin animals consistently outlive there all-you-can-eat cousins, sometimes doubling their average life span. They seem to age more slowly too. The level of cholesterol in their blood stays lower longer. Their bodies stay responsive to certain hormones longer. Their immune systems stay healthier longer. Underfed rats and mice are also less likely to suffer form age-related diseases like cancer, kidney and heart disease.

3. But we still know little about the effect of scientifically controlled under-nutrition on people. Researchers have kept studying large numbers of people, linking their weight with their health over long periods of time. In direct contrast to the laboratory experiments, these population studies suggest that being underweight can actually be dangerous to your health.

4. In a major National Institutes of Health study that followed more than 5, 000 men and women for 24 years, scientists discovered that the thinnest people ran the highest rate of dying. The thinnest group of men had the highest death rates from cancer and all other diseases except those of the cardiovascular system. It is also found that thinness does not mean wellness. Men 15 percent below average weight die more often from pneumonia, influenza, heart disease and suicide than their weightier counterparts. Women 15 percent less than average are easy to get pneumonia, influenza and digestive system diseases. An American Cancer Society study found that those 20 percent underweight died more often from strokes and digestive disease than their average weight counterparts. In a California study of 7,000 men and women, the highest death rates were among those 10 percent underweight.

5. Conversely, these and other studies are finding that being slightly or moderately overweight, even as much as 35 percent above standard weight, is good for your health.

Á·Ï°£º
1. Paragraph 2 ______________
2. Paragraph 3 ______________
3. Paragraph 4 ______________
4. Paragraph 5 ______________

A. Good things about being a little overweight
B. Fashion of being underweight
C. Experiments on animals regarding under-nutrition
D. Some negative effects of being underweight
E. Contrast between experiments on animals and on people
F. Health of women under nutrition

5. A great many people go on a diet to ______________.
6. Those all-you-can-eat animals often have ______________.
7. People 15 percent underweight suffer more from ______________.
8. The thinnest group of men are less likely to suffer from ______________.

A. diseases of the cardiovascular system
B. have a body shape that all people will admire
C. longer life-time
D. digestive system diseases
E. a shorter life span
F. pneumonia and influenza