Science fiction writers and special effect artists on recent films help today's students realize that unseen worlds of space are real places—not abstract concepts. Today's students are citizens of a more real, more vast cosmos than conceptualized by students of a decade ago.

　　In designing this edition, the Wadsworh editors and I have tried to respond to these developments. Rather than jumping at the start into murky waters of cosmology (宇宙论)，I have begun with the viewpoint of ancient people on Earth and worked outward across the universe. This method of organization automatically (if loosely) reflects the order of humanity's discoveries about astronomy and provides a unifying theme of increasing distance and scale.

　　16. This passage is most probably taken from .A.an article of popular scienceB.the introduction of a book of astronomy C.a lecture given by the author to astronomy students D.the preface of a piece of science fiction

　　17. The author's purpose in presenting the first paragraph is .A.to explain the background and new features of today's astronomyB.to discuss in detail the most recent achievements in space researchC.to introduce some newly established space stations D.to illustrate that the world today is different in many aspects from that of a generations ago

　　18. The author thinks that the growing interest in space exploration among people on Earth will probably lead to .A.all people having chances of travelling in spaceB.the realization of permanent settlement on other planetsC.more disturbance not only on Earth but also in outer spaceD.orders, harmony and peace on our planet Earth

　　19. The author believes that today's astronomy students .A.are much brighter than students of a generation agoB.no longer care about astronomical factsC.are better-informed about the unseen worlds of spaceD.may learn more about man and his research in various fields through the study of astronomy

　　20. In the last paragraph, the underlined expression“these developments”refers to all of the following EXCEPT .A.the development of science fiction and special effects of filmsB.the new concepts about the universe acquired by today's astronomy students C.the world-wide involvement in space explorationD.humanity's new achievements in the field of astronomy

　　Part III Vocabulary (20 minutes)

　　Directions: There are 30 incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there are four choices marked A), B), C)and D). Choose the ONE that best completes the sentence. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.