B.Scientists have been surprised by how the soil on Mars behaves.

 C.Scientists have been trying to find out if there is life supporting material on Mars.

 D.Scientists have been trying to know if water ice will melt.

参考答案： C     答案解析： They are from both America and Canada.

4Where are the scientists involved in the research from?

 A.They are from America.

 B.They are from Canada.

 C.They are from both America and Canada.

 D.They are from neither America nor Canada.

参考答案： A     答案解析： It imitates human vision and is able to capture three-dimensional images.

5Which of the following do you think is the best description of Phoenix''s Surface Stereo Imager camera, according to your understanding of the passage?

 A.It imitates human vision and is able to capture three-dimensional images.

 B.It imitates human voice and is able to record slight sounds while taking photos.

 C.It takes clear photos that show every detail of the object.

 D.It is this particular type of camera that can take wide angle pictures

  3、Black Holes Trigger Stars to Self-Destruct

　　Scientists have long understood that super massive black holes weighing millions or billions of suns can tear apart stars that come too close. The black hole''s gravity pulls harder on the nearest part of the star, an imbalance that pulls the star apart over a period of minutes or hours, once it gets close enough.

　　Scientists say this uneven pulling is not the only hazard facing the star. The strain of these unbalanced forces can also trigger a nuclear explosion powerful enough to destroy the star from within. Matthieu Brassart and Jean-Pierre Luminet of the Observatoire de Paris in Meudon, France1, carried out computer simulations of the final moments of such an unfortunate star''s life, as it veered towards a super massive black hole.

　　When the star gets close enough, the uneven forces flatten it into a pancake shape. Some previous studies had suggested this flattening would increase the density and temperature inside the star enough to trigger intense nuclear reactions that would tear it apart. But other studies had suggested that the picture would be complicated by shock waves generated during the flattening process and that no nuclear explosion should occur.

　　The new simulations investigated the effects of shock waves in detail, and found that even when their effects are included, the conditions favor a nuclear explosion. "There will be an explosion of the star — it will be completely destroyed," Brassart says. Although the explosion obliterates the star, it saves some of the star''s matter from being devoured by the black hole. The explosion is powerful enough to hurl much of the star''s matter out of the black hole''s reach, he says.

　　The devouring of stars by black holes may already have been observed, although at a much later stage. It is thought that several months after the event that rips the star apart, its matter starts swirling into the hole itself. It heats up as it does so, releasing ultraviolet light and X-rays.

　　If stars disrupted near black holes really do explode, then they could in principle allow these events to be detected at a much earlier stage, says Jules Halpern of Columbia University in New York, US2. "It may make it possible to see the disruption of that star immediately if it gets hot enough," he says.

　　Brassart agrees. "Perhaps it can b