2012高考英语 考前30天之备战 专题三阅读理解 第二节阅读理解梯度进阶训练（3）原创学案VIP专享

第二节阅读理解梯度进阶训练（3）（原创） Kennedy Space Center, Florida July 21, 2011—The Space Shuttle Atlantis and its fourperson crew landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida just before dawn, bringing to a close a program that began in 1981 and leaving the United States temporarily with no vehicle to transport astronauts into space. It was a day of mixed emotions for people who gathered there to witness the last landing． As thousands of people along the centralFlorida Atlantic Ocean coastline huddled in the predawn darkness to watch, Atlantis came in from the southwest, a small spark of light in the dark sky. NASA commentator Rob Navias announced the end of the mission and the space shuttle program． NAVIAS: “Nose gear touchdown. Having fired the imagination of a generation, a ship like no other, its place in history secured, the space shuttle pulls into port for the last time, its voyage at an end.” Hundreds of people gathered at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center to watch the shuttle return. But many visitors expressed uneasiness with the decision to end the space shuttle program before any other vehicle has been developed to replace it. Tony Diaz, who rode his motorcycle up from Miami to watch the landing, is one of the disgruntled space enthusiasts． “I am really not very happy with what they have done to the space program… because we are leaders and the United States should always be up there in space,” said Diaz． Maria, who came with her family from Dallas, Texas, regrets that her children will never be able to see another shuttle mission. “It is pretty sad that this is the last time kids will be able to experience something like this,” she said． P...