Question 56 to 60 are based on the following passage：

　　It looked just like another aircraft from the outside .The pilot told his young passengers that it was built in 1964.But appearances were deceptive，and the 13 students from Europe and the USA who boarded the aircraft were in for the flight of their lives.

　　Inside the area that normally had seats had become a long white tunnel. Heavily padded（填塞）from floor to ceiling，it looked a bit strange. There were almost no windows，but lights along the padded walls illuminated it. Most of the seats had been taken out apart from a few at the back where the young scientists quickly took their places with a look of fear.

　　For 12 months，science students from across the continents had competed to win a place on the flight at the invitation of the European Space Agency .The challenge had been to suggest imaginative experiments to be conducted in weightless conditions.

　　For the next two hours the flight resembled that of an enormous bird which had lose its reason，shooting upwards towards the heavens before rushing towards Earth. The invention was to Achieve weightlessness for a few seconds.

　　The aircraft took off smoothly enough. But any feelings that I and the young scientists had that we were on anything like a scheduled passenger service were quickly dismissed when the pilot put the plane into a 45 degree climb which lasted around 20 seconds. Then the engines cut our and we became weightless. Everything became confused and left or right，up or down no longer had any meaning. After ten seconds of free fall descent the pilot pulled the aircraft out of its nosedive. The return of gravity was less immediate than its loss. but was still sudden enough to ensure that some students came down with a bump.

　　Each time the pilot cut the engines and we became weightless，a new team conducted its experiment. First it was the Ducth who wanted to discover how it is that cats always land on their feet. Then the German team who conducted a successful experiment on a traditional building method to see if could be used for building a further space station .the Americans had an idea to create solar sails that could be used by satellites.

　　After two hours of going up and down in the lane doing their experiments，the predominate feeling was one of excitement rather than sickness. Most of the students thought it was an unforgettable experience and one they would be keen to repeat.

　　56、What did the writer say about the plane？。

　　A、It had no seats.

　　B、It was painted white.

　　C、It had no windows.

　　D、The outside was misleading.

　　57、According to the writer，how did the young scientists feel before the flight？

　　A、sick 　B、keen　 C、nervous 　D、impatient

　　58、what did the pilot do with the plane after it took off？

　　A、He quickly climbed and then stopped the engines.

　　B、He climbed and then made the plane fall slowly.

　　C、He took off normally and then cut the engines for 20 seconds.

　　D、He climbed and then made the plane turn over.

　　59.Acoording to the passage，the purpose of being weightless was to

　　A. see what conditions are like in space

　　B. prepare the young scientists for future work in space

　　C.  show the judges of the competition what they could do

　　D.   make the teams try out their ideas

　　60.this passage was written to

　　A. encourage young people to take up science

　　B. describe the process of a scientific competition

　　C.  show scientists what young people can do

　　D.   report on a new scientific technique

　　Section IV Translation（20 point）

　　Directions：in this section there is a passage in English. translate the five underlined sentences into Chinese and write your translation on the ANSWER SHEET

　　The smooth landing of shuttle（航天飞机）Discovery ended a flight that was successful in almost every respect but one：the dislodging of a big chunk of foam，like the one that doomed the Columbia. This flight was supposed to vault the shuttle fleet back into space after a prolonged grounding for repairs. But given the repeat of the very problem that two years of retooling was supposed to resolve，the verdict is necessarily mixed.（61）Once again，the space agency has been forced to put off the flight until it can find a solution to the problem，and no one seems willing to guess how that may take .

　　The Discovery astronauts performed superbly during their two-week mission，and the shuttle looked better than ever in some respects.（62）space officials were justifiably happy that so much had gone well，despite daily worries over possible risks. the flight clearly achieved its prime objectives.

　　The astronauts transferred tons of cargo to the international space station，which has been limping along overhead with a reduced crew and limited supplies carried up on smaller Russian spacecraft .（63）They replaced a broken device .repaired another and carted away a load of rubbish that had been left on the station，showing the shuttle can bring full loads back down from space.

　　This was the most scrutinized shuttle flight ever. with the vehicle undergoing close inspection while still in orbit.（64）New sensing and photographic equipment to look for potentially dangerous damage to the sensitive external skin proved valuable .A new back flip maneuver allowed station astronauts to photograph the shuttle‘s underbelly .and an extra-long robotic arm enabled astronauts see parts of the shuttle that were previously out of sight .

　　（65）。The flood of images and the openness in discussing its uncertainties about potential hazards sometimes made it appear that the shuttle was about to fall apart，In the end the damage was clearly tolerable . A much-touted spacewalk to repair the shuttle‘s skin the first of its kind moved an astronaut close enough to pluck out some protruding material with his hand Preliminary evidence indicates that Discovery has far fewer nicks and gouges than shuttles on previous flights.

　　perhaps showing that improvements to reduce the shedding of debris from the external fuel tank have had some success .

　　Section V Writing（20 points）

　　Directions：in this section .you are asked to write an essay based on the following diagram.

　　Describe the diagram and analyze the possible causes .You should write at least 150 words on the ANSWER SHEET

　　1998-2004年全国工程硕士硕士录取人数

　　工程硕士：Master of Engineering

　　参考答案：　　

　　词汇：

　　1——5 D A D C D 　6——10 B A D A C　11——15 B B D A B　 16——20 A B C B C

　　完型填空：

　　21——25 C D B C B　26——30 A C D B A　31——35 D D A B C　 36——40 D A C A D

　　阅读理解：

　　41——45 C B C A D 　46——50 A A D B C　51——55 A C C A C 　56——60 A C A D A

　　61）航天部门被迫再次推迟飞行，直到找到问题的解决办法。似乎也没有人愿意揣测那要多久。

　　62）航空部官员理所当然感到庆幸，虽然他们每天担忧可能会出现什么样的危险，但结果却一切进展顺利。此次飞行完成了首要任务。

　　63）他们换掉了破损的设备，修好了另一个设备，清理掉太空站上的垃圾，表明航天飞机可以满载太空站上的物品，返回地球。

　　64）事实证明，用新的感应和照片拍摄设备来查找对敏感的外层表皮带来可能的损伤，这是非常有价值的。

　　65）大量的图像，以及公开谈论难以确定的潜在危险，有时让人觉得航天飞机马上会解体。最终，所造成的损伤明显是可以忍受的。