Section II Reading Comprehension
Part A
Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.
Text 1
A Californian startup called Reflect Orbital wants to make night optional. Having raised more than $28m since it was founded in 2021, the firm plans to send tens of thousands of highly reflective mirrors into orbit and use them to beam sunlight onto chosen patches of Earth after dark. Possible uses include extending solar-power generation past sunset, assisting with disaster relief, and even replacing streetlights in cities.
The idea is not as far-fetched as it sounds. A rocketry pioneer first proposed it in the 1920s, and NASA studied it in some detail decades later. Russia even tested the concept: in 1993 a satellite unfurled a 20-metre mirror that cast a faint, five-kilometre-wide spotlight onto Earth's surface — but it burned up in the atmosphere after just a few hours.
Reflect hopes to launch its own first test satellite this year. Once in orbit, long booms should extend from the craft, stretching a sheet of reflective material between them to create a mirror roughly the size of a volleyball court. The firm calculates that 76 such satellites, properly positioned, would be enough to deliver moonlight-level illumination to any point on Earth on demand; a fleet of tens of thousands, flown eventually, would produce far brighter light.
Electricity generation is central to the business case. By focusing extra sunlight onto solar panels in the early morning and evening — when grid demand peaks but solar output is naturally low — the satellites could boost production exactly when it is most valuable. Critics note that batteries already shift solar power across the day, and are getting cheaper; but the firm argues its satellites would complement batteries rather than replace them, since backup batteries kept mainly for rare, high-demand moments grow disproportionately costly as more solar is added to a grid, and stretching the useful hours of sunlight would ease that need.
Whether any of this is realistic depends on three converging trends, according to one engineer who studies the idea: rising demand for solar power, falling rocket-launch costs, and growing appetite for large space structures. A study published in 2022 concluded that a constellation of mirror satellites could indeed be economically viable — but only if launch costs fall to roughly a third of their current level, something that may yet happen as bigger, cheaper rockets come into service.
Astronomers are far less enthusiastic. Existing satellite constellations already interfere with telescope images, and mirrors built specifically to reflect light could be considerably worse: one recent study estimates that no stars would be visible from within a single large satellite's beam, and that hundreds combining their beams could produce a glow visible from 80km away. The firm insists its satellites can simply be switched off by reorientation and kept clear of major telescopes — while conceding that, without careful management, the whole venture could be regulated out of existence.
21. Why does the author mention the 1920s proposal, NASA's study and Russia's 1993 test in Paragraph 2?
A. To prove that no country has managed to make the idea work.
B. To explain why Reflect Orbital chose 2021 as its founding year.
C. To argue that Reflect Orbital's technology is now outdated.
D. To show that the underlying idea has a genuine technical history.
22. According to Paragraph 4, Reflect Orbital argues that its satellites would benefit solar-power systems mainly by
A. reducing how much rarely used backup battery capacity is needed
B. eliminating the difference between morning and evening demand
C. replacing the need for batteries in solar-power grids
D. making batteries considerably cheaper to manufacture
23. According to Paragraph 5, the 2022 study concluded that a fleet of mirror satellites
A. would definitely prove more economical than rocket launches
B. was less promising than the growing appetite for space structures suggested
C. could be commercially viable only under a specific condition
D. had already reduced launch costs by two-thirds
24. What does the study on light pollution mentioned in Paragraph 6 find?
A. Astronomers have already stopped complaining about satellite interference.
B. A single satellite's beam would make stars impossible to see nearby.
C. The glow from combined satellites would be visible only from space.
D. Only satellites combined in groups of exactly 400 cause any glow.
25. What can be inferred about Reflect Orbital's own attitude toward the astronomers' concerns?
A. It dismisses the concerns as exaggerated and scientifically unfounded.
B. It believes regulation will make the technology commercially impossible.
C. It is unaware that its satellites could affect astronomical research.
D. It takes the concerns seriously enough to plan concrete safeguards.
附注：根据历年考研英语真题阅读题源外刊等，摘选最新文章，模拟仿真出题。
参考答案见以下。
Quick look: DACBD
21.【正确答案】D
【解析】题型：例证/功能推理题
定位：第二段 "The idea is not as far-fetched as it sounds. A rocketry pioneer first proposed it in the 1920s, and NASA studied it in some detail decades later. Russia even tested the concept..."
分析：作者先给出总括判断"这个想法没有听起来那么异想天开"，随后依次列举提出者、研究机构、实测案例三层递进证据，目的是为这一看似科幻的商业计划提供真实的技术渊源，增强其可信度。D项准确概括这一功能。
干扰项：[A]"证明没有国家成功实现过"以偏概全，原文明确俄罗斯的卫星确实成功展开镜面并投射出光斑，只是几小时后坠入大气层烧毁，是"短暂成功"而非"完全失败"；[B]"解释为何选择2021年成立"无中生有，历史渊源与公司成立年份之间原文未建立任何联系；[C]"证明该技术已经过时"与原文态度相反，历史渊源是用来证明想法"靠谱"而非"过时"。
22.【正确答案】A
【解析】题型：细节理解题（因果链）
定位：第四段 "the firm argues its satellites would complement batteries rather than replace them, since backup batteries kept mainly for rare, high-demand moments grow disproportionately costly as more solar is added to a grid, and stretching the useful hours of sunlight would ease that need."
分析：本段论证链条是：备用电池仅在少数高需求时刻使用却成本高昂 → 卫星延长了阳光可被有效利用的时段 → 从而减轻了对这类"备用电池"的依赖。A项精准对应这一因果结论。
干扰项：[B]"消除早晚需求差异"偷换概念，原文强调卫星"聚焦"于早晚这类高需求、低光照时段发力，而非"消除"早晚需求本身的差异；[C]"取代电池"与原文"complement... rather than replace"（互补而非取代）直接相反；[D]"让电池制造成本降低"张冠李戴，原文中"电池变得更便宜"是批评者提到的独立背景信息，并非卫星系统带来的效果。
23.【正确答案】C
【解析】题型：细节理解题（条件限定）
定位：第五段 "A study published in 2022 concluded that a constellation of mirror satellites could indeed be economically viable — but only if launch costs fall to roughly a third of their current level..."
分析：原文用"could... but only if"给出的是一个附带明确前提条件的判断，并非无条件的肯定结论。C项"只有在特定条件下才可能商业可行"准确对应这一限定关系，是本文条件句设题最典型的一处。
干扰项：[A]"肯定会比火箭发射更经济"程度夸大，原文只是"可能经济可行"且附带条件，并非"肯定更经济"这一比较判断；[B]"不如三大趋势暗示的那么乐观"因果颠倒，三大趋势在原文中是支撑该设想可行性的正面依据，并非削弱其可信度的反证；[D]"发射成本已经降低了三分之二"偷换时态与事实，原文说的是成本需要降到目前的三分之一（即降低约三分之二）"才可能"实现，是尚未发生的假设条件，而非已经达成的事实。
24.【正确答案】B
【解析】题型：细节理解题
定位：第六段 "one recent study estimates that no stars would be visible from within a single large satellite's beam, and that hundreds combining their beams could produce a glow visible from 80km away."
分析：该研究给出两层具体数据：单颗大型卫星的光束范围内将看不到任何星星；数百颗卫星光束叠加后产生的光晕在80公里外仍可见。B项准确对应第一层结论。
干扰项：[A]"天文学家已经不再抱怨卫星干扰"与原文相反，原文开篇即指出"Astronomers are far less enthusiastic"，暗示忧虑仍在持续；[C]"合并后的光晕只能从太空中看到"与原文相反，原文明确该光晕"visible from 80km away"，即在地面80公里范围内即可看见，并非只能从太空观测；[D]"恰好400颗卫星组合才会产生光晕"无中生有，原文只说"数百颗（hundreds）"，并未给出精确数字，属于编造虚假细节的干扰项。
25.【正确答案】D
【解析】题型：态度推理题（主旨归纳）
定位：第六段末句 "The firm insists its satellites can simply be switched off by reorientation and kept clear of major telescopes — while conceding that, without careful management, the whole venture could be regulated out of existence."
分析：末句包含两层信息——公司一方面提出具体应对措施（可调向关闭、避开大型天文台），另一方面也坦承若管理不善整个项目可能被监管叫停。两层合在一起说明公司并未轻视天文学界的担忧，而是认真对待并主动规划了具体应对方案。D项准确概括这一态度。
干扰项：[A]"认为担忧被夸大、缺乏科学依据"与原文相反，公司的回应方式（提出具体避让措施）恰恰说明它并未否定担忧的合理性；[B]"认为监管必将使该技术无法商业化"程度夸大，原文用的是条件句"without careful management...could be regulated out of existence"，即"若管理不善才可能"，并非断言监管必然导致失败；[C]"没有意识到卫星可能影响天文研究"与原文相反，公司主动提出多项应对措施，恰恰说明其对这一影响有清楚认知。
【参考译文】
一家名为 Reflect Orbital 的加州初创公司希望让“黑夜”变得可有可无。自 2021 年成立以来，该公司已筹集超过 2800 万美元资金，计划将数以万计的高反射率镜面送入轨道，利用它们在夜间将阳光反射到地球上的特定区域。潜在用途包括延长太阳能发电时间（使其在日落后继续发电）、辅助救灾，甚至替代城市路灯。
这一构想并非听起来那么天马行空。早在 20 世纪 20 年代，一位火箭先驱就提出了这一概念，几十年后，美国国家航空航天局（NASA）也对其进行了详细研究。俄罗斯甚至曾对该概念进行过测试：1993 年，一颗卫星展开了一面 20 米宽的镜子，向地球表面投射了一束直径 5 公里、光线微弱的光斑——但这面镜子在运行仅数小时后便在大气层中烧毁了。
Reflect 公司希望在今年发射其首颗测试卫星。卫星进入轨道后，长臂将从星体伸出，并在其间拉开一张反射材料薄膜，形成一面大约相当于排球场大小的镜子。该公司测算，若部署 76 颗此类卫星并进行适当定位，便足以按需为地球上任何地点提供相当于月光亮度的照明；而如果最终部署由数万颗卫星组成的卫星群，则能产生远为明亮的光线。
发电是其商业模式的核心。通过在清晨和傍晚——即电网需求高峰期但太阳能发电量自然较低的时段——将额外的阳光聚焦到太阳能电池板上，这些卫星可以在电力价值最高的时刻提升发电量。尽管批评人士指出，电池技术已能实现太阳能的跨时段调节且成本正不断下降，但该公司认为其卫星将与电池形成互补而非替代关系；这是因为随着电网中太阳能占比的提高，为应对罕见的高需求时刻而储备的备用电池成本会不成比例地增加，而延长有效日照时间则能缓解这一需求压力。
一位研究该构想的工程师表示，这一计划能否成为现实，取决于三大趋势的交汇：太阳能需求的增长、火箭发射成本的下降，以及对大型空间结构需求的日益增加。 2022年发表的一项研究得出结论：由反射镜卫星组成的卫星群在经济上确实可行——但这有一个前提，即发射成本需降至当前水平的三分之一左右；随着更大、更廉价的火箭投入使用，这一目标或许有望实现。
天文学家对此则持相当消极的态度。现有的卫星群已对望远镜观测图像造成了干扰，而专门用于反射光线的卫星可能会带来更严重的问题：近期一项研究估算，在单颗大型卫星的光束覆盖范围内将无法观测到任何恒星，而数百颗卫星汇聚光束所产生的光亮，甚至在80公里外都清晰可见。该企业坚称，只需调整卫星朝向即可将其“关闭”，并能避开主要望远镜的观测区域；不过，该公司也承认，若缺乏妥善管理，整个项目可能会因监管限制而被迫终止。
附注：