王燕

1 An asteroid will hit Earth

一顆小行星將撞擊地球

If all goes according to plan， scientists will hit Earth withpart of an asteroid. That is less alarming than it sounds， for thechunk of rock in question weighs at most a few hundred grams.It will arrive in a small capsule［太空艙］， complete with parachute，that will drift gently to the ground in the Utah desert. Therock is from an asteroid named Bennu， which was visitedin 2018 by an American spacecraft called OSIRIS-REx.The probe will drop its cargo off enroute to anotherasteroid， Apophis， at which it is due to arrive in2029. Astronomers take a great interest inasteroids. The solar system was formedaround 4.5 billion years ago， whena cloud of dust and gas collapsedunder its own gravityinto a disc， which in turnagglomerated［凝聚］ into the sun and itsplanets. Asteroids are leftover［剩余的］ chunksthat never accrued enough mass to becomeplanets. Studying them thus offers a window intothe ancient astronomical past. This will not be the firsttime that bits of asteroids have been brought to Earth.In 2010 Hayabusa， a Japanese spacecraft， visited anasteroid called Itokawa and returned with less than amilligram of it. Its successor， Hayabusa2， was able toprocure five grams of rock from an asteroid namedRyugu in 2020. OSIRIS-RExs dig did not go quiteaccording to plan. Some of the excavated materialis thought to have jammed its digger， allowingsome of the sample to fall back out. But NationalAeronautics and Space Admiristraion（NASA）is confident that the mission has exceededits minimum target of 60 grams.Compared with previousmissions， that will be abounty.

如果一切按計(jì)劃進(jìn)行，科學(xué)家們將用一顆小行星的一部分撞擊地球。這并沒有聽起來那么駭人，因?yàn)檫@塊巖石最多只有幾百克重。它將被裝在一個(gè)小太空艙里，連同降落傘一起抵達(dá)猶他州沙漠，緩緩飄至地面。這塊巖石來自一顆名為“貝努”的小行星，2018 年，美國OSIRIS-REx 探測器曾造訪過這顆小行星。探測器將在前往另一顆小行星阿波菲斯的途中投放貨物，預(yù)計(jì)將于2029 年抵達(dá)。天文學(xué)家對(duì)小行星很感興趣。太陽系大約形成于45 億年前，當(dāng)時(shí)一團(tuán)塵埃和氣體云在自身引力的作用下坍縮成一個(gè)圓盤，然后又聚集成太陽及其行星。那些沒有積累到足夠質(zhì)量成為行星的剩余部分，形成了小行星。因此，研究它們是了解古代天文學(xué)歷史的一扇窗。這將不是人類第一次把小行星的碎片帶到地球上。2010 年，日本的“隼鳥”探測器訪問了一顆名為“糸川”的小行星，并在返回時(shí)帶回了不到一毫克的樣本。它的后繼者“隼鳥2 號(hào)”于2020 年從一顆名為“龍宮”的小行星上獲取了5 克巖石。OSIRIS-REx 的挖掘工作并沒有完全按計(jì)劃進(jìn)行。一些被挖掘出來的材料被認(rèn)為卡住了挖掘機(jī)，使得一些樣本又掉了出來。但美國國家航空航天局相信，這項(xiàng)任務(wù)已經(jīng)超過了60克的最低目標(biāo)。與之前的任務(wù)相比，這次的收獲已經(jīng)相當(dāng)豐厚了。

Fill in the blanks：

The chunk of rock will arrive in a small capsule， complete with parachute， that will ________ gently to the ground in the desert.

2 The prevalence of myopia among Chinese children and teenagers was showing a decline

我國兒童和青少年近視率呈下降趨勢

The prevalence［流行率］ of myopia among Chinesechildren and teenagers was showing a decline， accordingto the statistics released by the National Disease Controland Prevention Administration. The statistics showedthat the overall myopia rate among Chinese children andadolescents［青少年］ was 51.9 percent in 2022， a fall of 0.7percentage points from 52.6 percent in 2021， and alsodropped by 1.7 percentage points from the 53.6 percentof the results of the national myopia survey conducted in2018. Among the students with myopia， the proportions ofmild， moderate， and high myopia were 53.3 percent， 37percent， and 9.7 percent， respectively［分別的；各自的］， with adrop in the proportion of high myopia. The overall myopiarates for primary school， junior high school， and seniorhigh school were 36.7 percent， 71.4 percent， and 81.2percent， respectively. According to the National DiseaseControl and Prevention Administration， the country willcontinue to promote myopia prevention and control work，further strengthening the monitoring and assessment of myopiaamong children and adolescents. Techniques suitable for myopiaprevention and control will be promoted. It will also carry outpromotion work to popularize science， enabling students， parentsand teachers to learn about how to use and protect eyes， andhelping the children and teenagers develop healthy eye habits.

根據(jù)國家疾病預(yù)防控制局發(fā)布的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)，中國兒童和青少年的近視率呈下降趨勢。數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2022 年中國兒童和青少年的總體近視率為51.9%，較2021 年的52.6% 下降了0.7 個(gè)百分點(diǎn)，也比2018 年全國近視調(diào)查結(jié)果的53.6% 下降了1.7 個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。在近視學(xué)生中，輕度、中度和高度近視的比例分別為53.3%、37%和9.7%，高度近視比例有所下降。小學(xué)、初中和高中學(xué)生的總體近視率分別為36.7%、71.4% 和81.2%。國家疾病預(yù)防控制局表示，國家將繼續(xù)推進(jìn)近視防控工作，進(jìn)一步加強(qiáng)對(duì)兒童和青少年近視的監(jiān)測和評(píng)估。國家將推廣適合近視防控的技術(shù)，還將開展科普宣傳工作，使學(xué)生、家長和教師了解如何正確使用和保護(hù)眼睛，幫助兒童和青少年養(yǎng)成良好的用眼習(xí)慣。

Fill in the blanks：

It will also carry out promotion work to help the younger generation develop healthy ________habits.

3 A new world record

一項(xiàng)新的世界紀(jì)錄

Russian Federal Space Agency says cosmonaut Oleg Kononenkohas broken the world record for total time spent in space. Kononenkopassed the record after spending more than 878 days and 12 hours inorbit aboard the International Space Station（ISS）. Kononenko said hisrepeated space trips represent the realization of a childhood dreamto become a cosmonaut. “I fly into space to do what I love， not to setrecords，” he told Information Telegraphic Agency of Russia-TASS. Headded that his continued interest in living and working in orbit “motivates”him to keep flying. Kononenko said he worked out often aboard the ISSto help him deal with the physical effects of weightlessness. He said oneof the most difficult things about being a cosmonaut is getting ready foreach new space flight.

俄羅斯聯(lián)邦航天局表示，宇航員奧列格·科諾年科打破了太空總時(shí)間的世界紀(jì)錄。科諾年科在國際空間站的軌道上度過了878 天12 小時(shí)，打破了這一紀(jì)錄。科諾年科說，他的多次太空旅行代表著兒時(shí)成為宇航員的夢想的實(shí)現(xiàn)。他告訴塔斯社：“我飛上太空是為了做我喜歡的事，而不是為了創(chuàng)造紀(jì)錄?！彼a(bǔ)充說，他對(duì)在軌道上生活和工作的持續(xù)興趣“激勵(lì)”他繼續(xù)飛行?？浦Z年科說，他經(jīng)常在國際空間站上鍛煉，以幫助他應(yīng)對(duì)失重帶來的身體影響。他說，作為一名宇航員，最困難的事情之一就是為每次新的太空飛行做好準(zhǔn)備。

Fill in the blanks：

Kononenko worked out often aboard the ISS to help him deal with the?________?effects of weightlessness.