Between 1977 and 1981, three groups of American women, numbering 27 in all, between the age of 35 and 65, were given month-long tests to determine how they would respond to conditions resembling those aboard the space shuttle. Though carefully selected from among many applicants, the women were volunteers and the pay was barely above the minimum wage. They were not allowed to smoke or drink alcohol during the tests, and they were expected to tolerate each others company at close quarters for the entire period. Among other things they had to stand pressure three times the force of gravity and carry out both physical and mental tasks whole exhausted from strenuous physical exercise. At the end of ten days, they had to spend a further twenty days absolutely confined to bed, during which time they suffered backaches and other discomforts, and when they were finally allowed up, the more physically active women were especially subject to pain due to a slight calcium loss. Results of the tests suggest that women will have significant advantages over man in space. They need less food and less oxygen and they stand up to radiation better. Men's advantages in terms of strength and stamina, meanwhile, are virtually wiped out by the zero-gravity condition in space.

单选题 What were those American women tested for during the whole month?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：题干意为“那些美国妇女进行为期一个月的试验是为了什么?”由文章第一段可知，27名年龄不等的妇女接受了为期一个月的试验，以检测女性处于模拟宇宙飞船环境下的反应。文章中对一批美国妇女的筛选不是为了选择有责任心的人，所以不选A：不是为了测试不同组别妇女的情况，排除B；文章没有提及试验是为了看这些妇女是否适应太空作业，排除C；故选D。

单选题 From the passage we can learn that______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：题干意为“从这篇文章，我们可以得到______。”由第二段第一句可知，许多妇女自愿参加这项试验，27人是从中仔细挑选出来的。试验期间她们不允许吸烟、饮酒；报酬相当低；而且要适应群体生活，有忍耐力，故选A。

单选题 Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A、 They had to stand under the pressure three times the force of gravity.
B、 Ten days later in the test, they had to spend other twenty days in bed.
C、 During the whole test, they suffered backaches and other discomforts.
D、 Some of the women suffered great loss of calcium.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：题干意为“下列哪个说法正确?”第二段中描述妇女要忍受三倍地球引力，不是在处于三倍地球引力情况下站立，故A错误；27名妇女在试验后期的二十天里而不是整个试验期内都背痛不适，排除C；缺钙并不严重，不选D；故选B。

单选题 According to the passage, ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：题干意为“根据文章，______。”第二段第二句描述27名妇女试验期间没有私人空间，要适应群体生活。由此可知她们一直在一起；文中没有说大部分妇女比较活跃，排除B；而C和D文章中没有相关叙述，故选A。

单选题 What is the best title for this passage?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：题干意为“文章最好的标题是什么?”由文章第一段就可知，选择27名美国妇女进行为期一个月试验的目的是为了测试她们在模拟宇宙飞船条件下的反应，二、三段都是对这个实验的过程和结果的描述，故C项正确。错误选项说明：A，文章不是为了说明女性的力量；B，此主题范围太广；D，试验针对女性，并没有说男性不能再进入太空。