四. 阅读理解(共15小题，每小题3分，满分45分)

　　A

　　Houston, Texas (June8,2002)---In 2004, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) will send two robots to separate place of Mars to seek out past or present signs of water. It is an exciting idea to send two robots driving over very different places of Mars at the same time, to be able to see what is on the other side of the hill.

　　Last month, NASA announced it was sending one robot to Mars, but after two weeks, it decided there was enough money for two. The robots will be sent up within two weeks of each other in May and June of 2002 from Kennedy Space Center. If all goes will, the two spacecraft will touch down on Mars, after a seven-and-a-half-month space flight, on January 2 and 20, 2004.

　　The robots, each weighing 150 kilograms, can cover 100 meters per day. They are designed to be able to examine the mineral content of the soil, and their special camera will be under control from Earth, the robots are able to move more freely compared to those sent up before them.

　　The actual landing points have not been determined yet, but the scientists say it will be in areas where they hope to find water.

　　41.According to the news report, scientists plan to send robots up to Mars to _____.

　　A. find out whether there is water on Mars B. see if robots can find minerals there

　　C. test how fast robots can drive there D. prove that robots can work on Mars

　　42. How long in between will the two robots be sent to Mars?

　　A. 1 year. B. 7.5 months. C. 2 months. D. 2 weeks.

　　43. One of the important jobs for the robots on Mars is to _____.

　　A. study the soil B. walk everywhere C. test the new camera

　　D. find a suitable landing point

　　44. We can infer from the last sentence that scientists_____.

　　A. have changed the landing points many times

　　B. hope to land the robots on the surface of water

　　C. are still working on the plan

　　D. know where they can find water