1. (2023七下·广州月考)  阅读理解

Although visiting outer space is still a far dream for anyone who isn't an astronaut, a day trip to stars is already open for people to order!

A new company, Space Perspective, is planning tests with passengers. It has big plans to run up to 500 flightsfrom different places across the USA by 2024. If successful, reaching the outer side of space could be as easy as flying abroad in a few years' time. Spacemen and passengers will travel in Neptune, a capsule (航天舱) tied to a huge balloon.

They will move slowly upwards right to the side of space, 30 km away from the Earth. There, space tourists will be able to look back at the Earth and out to dark space and the sight of millions of stars. Because the capsule remains within the Earth's atmosphere (大气层), special clothing or training is not needed. It means that older people or those with health problems will be included.

One problem may be the method of landing back on the Earth. The balloon moves back down from space until it falls down in the sea. Passengers, spacemen, the capsule and the balloon are then sent back by ship. 

Now Neptune faces competition from the Stratollite, a balloon being developed by a company called World View Enterprises, while the super-rich Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are all pouring money into developing business space flying machines. The advantage of the balloon is that it will be cheaper than a space plane. 

Space travel may soon be a reality, but how visitors get there is still a very open question. 

1. （1） What does the underlined word "flights" in the second paragraph mean in English?

   A . Activities for raising money. B . Journeys in a plane or spaceship C . Studies on space. D . Space stations.
3. （2） Why don't people need special clothing or training when taking the flights?

   A . They are within the Earth's atmosphere. B . They have other tools to help them. C . They haven't paid for the training. D . They can breathe with the help of spacemen.
5. （3） What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?

   A . The passengers in Neptune. B . The reason for Neptune landing C . The way of Neptune landing. D . The price of travelling in Neptune.
7. （4） What can we know from Paragraph 5?

   A . Neptune will beat Stratollite in a short time. B . Space planes will be cheaper in the future. C . World View Enterprises is the biggest company in the world. D . Richard Branson and other people think space flying machines hopeful.