单选题 Escaping from the Earth
The Earth has a force that pulls things toward itself. We call this force gravity(地心引力). This is something we live with all the time, and we take it for granted and hardly ever think about it. But it is a most important factor in rocket operation and must be overcome if we are to get anywhere in space, or off the ground at all.
Take the throwing of a hall as an example. The harder the ball is thrown, the faster and higher it will go. What is the secret? Its speed. If we could throw the ball hard enough it would go up and up forever and never come down. The speed at which it would have to be thrown to do this is known as escape speed. Of course, we cannot throw a ball hard enough because the speed required to escape completely from the Earth's gravity is seven miles per second, or over twenty-five thousand miles per hour.
Once escape speed has been reached by a spacecraft(宇宙飞船), no further power is needed. A rocket aimed at the Moon, for instance, will "coast"(滑行) the rest of the way be cause the Earth's gravity cannot then pull it back, and there is no air resistance(阻力) in space to slow it down. This "coasting" is known as "free fall". That does not mean the rocket is falling down towards the Earth but that it is traveling freely in space without the aid of power, like a bicycle coasting downhill.
Free fall is an important feature of space travel: it would be impossible to carry enough fuel to provide powered flight all the time.

单选题 What is the most important factor for a rocket to escape from the Earth?
A. To travel as fast as it can.
B. To overcome the Earth gravity.
C. To get away from the air resistance.
D. To have strong power in its operation.

单选题 How fast will a rocket go to escape completely from the Earth's gravity?
A. Seventy miles per second.
B. Seven thousand miles per hour.
C. Twenty-five thousand miles per second.
D. Twenty-five thousand miles per hour.

单选题 As there is always the Earth's gravitational(地心引力的)pull, people ______.
A. accept it without questioning it
B. never notice its presence
C. hardly think about how to use it
D. often try to escape from it

单选题 When a bicycle "coasts" downhill, it ______.
A. runs along the hillside
B. does not need any further power
C. runs freely to all directions
D. does not meet with air resistance

单选题 Why is it not necessary to provide powered flight in space all the time?
A. Few spacecrafts complete their flight operations.
B. The Earth's gravity cannot be overcome.
C. No future power is needed after the escape speed is reached.
D. "Free fall" takes the place of the Earth's gravity pull.