Level 1 Reading 4B

Ch.8 Reading 4B

第8章 阅读4B

LIVING IN SPACE Stephen Hawking, one of the world's most famous scientists, believed that to survive, humans will one day have to move into space. "Once we spread out into space and establish independent colonies, our future should be safe," he said. Today, the United States, Europe, Russia, China, and Japan are all planning to send astronauts back to Earth's closest neighbor: the moon. Some of these countries want to create space stations there within the next 10 years. These stations will prepare humans to visit and later live on Mars or other Earthlike planets. Robert Zubrin, a rocket scientist, thinks humans should colonize space. He wants to start with Mars. Why? He thinks sending people to Mars will allow us to learn a lot of things— for example, the ability of humans to live in a very different environment. Eventually, we could create new human societies on other planets. In addition, any advances we make in the fields of science, technology, medicine, and health will benefit people here on Earth. SpaceX is a company that builds rockets. Its founder and CEO, Elon Musk, also believes we should colonize Mars. He doesn't want to send just "one little mission," though. His long-term goal is to put one million people on the planet in case something bad happens to us here on Earth. Not everyone thinks sending humans into space is a smart idea. Many say it's too expensive. Also, most space trips are not short. A one-way trip to Mars, for example, would take at least six months. People traveling this kind of distance could face many health problems. In addition, these first people would find life extremely difficult in space. On the moon's surface, for example, the sun's rays are very dangerous. People would have to stay indoors most of the time. Despite these concerns, sending people into space seems certain. In the future, we might see lunar cities or even new human cultures on other planets. First stop: the moon.

在太空生活 斯蒂芬·霍金，世界上最著名的科学家之一， 人们相信，为了生存，人类总有一天必须进入太空。 他说：“一旦我们扩展到太空并建立独立的殖民地，我们的未来应该是安全的。”。 今天，美国、欧洲、俄罗斯、中国和日本都在计划将宇航员送回地球上最近的邻居：月球。 其中一些国家希望在未来10年内在那里建立空间站。 这些空间站将为人类访问火星或其他类地行星做好准备，并在以后生活。 火箭科学家罗伯特·祖布林认为人类应该在太空中殖民。 他想从火星开始。 为什么？ 他认为把人送到火星会让我们学到很多东西-- 例如人类在非常不同的环境中生活的能力。 最终，我们可以在其他星球上创造新的人类社会。 此外，我们在科学、技术、医学和健康领域取得的任何进步都将使地球上的人们受益。 SpaceX是一家制造火箭的公司。 它的创始人兼首席执行官埃隆·马斯克也认为我们应该殖民火星。 不过，他不想只发送“一个小任务”。 他的长期目标是在地球上安置100万人，以防地球上发生不好的事情。 并非所有人都认为将人类送入太空是一个明智的想法。 很多人说它太贵了。 此外，大多数太空旅行都不短。 例如，单程火星之旅至少需要六个月的时间。 走这么远的人可能会面临许多健康问题。 此外，这些第一批人会发现太空生活极其困难。 例如，在月球表面，太阳光线非常危险。 人们大部分时间都必须待在室内。 尽管存在这些担忧，但将人们送入太空似乎是肯定的。 在未来，我们可能会在其他星球上看到月球城市，甚至新的人类文化。 第一站：月球。

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