Two astronauts face a not-so-merry Christmas after being told to ration their food and hope a cargo ship with extra supplies docks on Dec. 21. The crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) only has enough supplies to last a month and must wait until the day after Western Christmas for a Russian cargo ship to deliver new supplies, space officials said on Friday.
Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and American Leroy Chiao have been asked to cut out calories equal to three cans of Coke from their daily diet—around 10 percent of their daily allowance and an amount that would be little noticed, NASA said.
Russian officials, quoted in the local media, have accused the previous crew of overeating during their one-month mission earlier this year, leaving a deficit of meat and milk and a surplus of juice and confectionery（糖果）.
The Dec. 24 launch of the next Progress is now vital for the crew, stationed in orbit since October. It is due to dock with the ISS on Dec. 21.
NASA officials said their situation was not so different from being cut off on Earth, and their lives were not at risk.
“If you get snowed in, you're going to make do,” said Jim Newman, director of NASA's Human Space Flight Program in Russia, who said the shortage pointed to the need for a better food inventory system rather than greedy astronauts.
“If it launches as planned, they will have a very nice holiday season,” he added.
If they do not receive fresh supplies, the astronauts would have to evacuate the station and return to Earth on the Soyuz capsule that is docked there.
“If the Progress is unable to arrive, there is a plan we can put into place for an orderly and safe return,” said Newman.
Russia has been the sole lifeline to the ISS for almost two years when the United States grounded its shuttle fleet after the fatal Columbia accident.
Russia has often complained of its financial struggle to keep the ISS fully serviced single-handedly. Shuttle flights could resume in May, officials have said, but in the meantime Russia will continue to launch all manned and cargo ships.
1. Cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station were told to _____ to last a month.
2. According to Russian officials, a deficit of meat and milk was due to _____.
3. Jim Newman pointed out that the shortage of food supply should be attributed to _____.
4. What would the astronauts do if they do not receive fresh supplies?
5. What has Russia usually complained of in terms of keeping the ISS fully serviced?
文章精要：
文章講述了國(guó)際空間站上宇航員所面臨的困難，尤其是食物短缺的問(wèn)題。文章指出造成這些問(wèn)題的原因是之前的宇航員吃得太多，同時(shí)指出解決這一問(wèn)題的最好方法是建立良好的食物存貨系統(tǒng)。
答案解析：
1. ration their food
細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第一段提到兩名宇航員將要度過(guò)一個(gè)不怎么愉快的圣誕節(jié)，因?yàn)樗麄儽桓嬷糠峙涫澄?，以便在新的食物供給到來(lái)之前能維持一個(gè)月的生活所需。本題答案為ration their food“定量配發(fā)食物”。
2. overeating of the previous crew
細(xì)節(jié)題。第三段提到Russian officials...have accused the previous crew of overeating...，因此可知原因在于之前的宇航員吃得太多，從而導(dǎo)致食物短缺。
考點(diǎn)歸納
● crew意為“全體船員，全體機(jī)務(wù)人員”，如：a spacecraft that was crewed by a team of eight people 一艘包括八個(gè)飛行人員的飛船。
● staff意為“全體雇員，為特定的企事業(yè)工作的人員”，如：the nursing staff of a hospital 醫(yī)院的護(hù)士。
3. the (bad) food inventory system
細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第六段提到...who said the shortage pointed to the need for a better food inventory system...，即Jim Newman認(rèn)為食物短缺的原因在于缺乏更好的食物存貨系統(tǒng)。所以可填入the (bad) food inventory system。
4. They would have to evacuate the station and return to Earth.
細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第八段提到the astronauts would have to evacuate the station and return to Earth...，也就是說(shuō)如果沒(méi)有收到新鮮的食物供給，宇航員們不得不撤出太空站并返回地球。
5. Its financial struggle.
細(xì)節(jié)題。文章在最后一段提到，在談到國(guó)際空間站的維護(hù)問(wèn)題上，俄羅斯經(jīng)常抱怨其財(cái)政危機(jī)，即its financial struggle。
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