Many countries spend large amounts of money and time     1    (explore) space. Some people are convinced that it’s     2     waste of time and money.    3    , others think space exploration is of great significance. Firstly, it has helped rid the world     4     hunger. Many satellites     5     (orbit) Earth can record data on land and weather patterns     6    (provide) useful advice for farmers. Secondly, space exploration needs advanced technology to make high-end products,     7     has promoted technological improvements. Finally, because our planet’s     8    (resource) are insufficient, scientists are trying to find other planets that could be our new home in the future. In closing, exploring space     9    (benefit) the world in many ways. By doing this, we can find more and     10    (good ) solutions to our problems.

China launched a remote-sensing satellite, the Gaofen 12D, for Earth observation. The Gaofen 12D,     1     successfully arrived in its orbit at last,     2     (carry) by a Long March 4C rocket that lifted off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gobi Desert.

Remote-sensing satellites refer to those     3     (task) with observing, surveying and measuring objects on land or at sea as well as monitoring weather. Developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, the Gaofen 12D is equipped with microwave payloads and its data will be used     4     (help) with land mapping, urban planning, agricultural yield forecasting, and disaster prevention.

China launched the Gaofen program ten years ago and listed it     5     one of the 16 national important projects in science and technology. By now, the program     6     (establish) a massive space-based system with more than 30 satellites in active service. Images and data from the Gaofen satellites have been     7     (wide) used at thousands of research bodies and enterprises in dozens of industries across China and have helped reduce the country’s     8     (dependent) on foreign remote-sensing products.

The Long March 4C rocket, also     9     product of the Shanghai academy, is capable of     10     (transport) satellites with a combined weight of 3 metric tons to a typical sun-synchronous orbit 700 kilometers above the earth.

“Hello, everyone! Welcome to Tiangong Class.” With this greeting,     1     special lecture began on Tiangong space station on Dec 9. Lasting for about an hour, the space lecture     2    (broadcast) live to students. There astronauts from the Shenzhou XIII gave the lecture, showing the space station     3     they live and work and conducting some interesting experiments.

This is the second live space lecture in China.     4    (compare) with the class eight years ago, this year’s space lecture is greatly different. The “classroom” is     5    (big). This year Wang Yaping gave the space lecture in the Tianhe space core module,     6     is the biggest spacecraft developed by China. The quality of space-to-ground     7    (communicate) is also much improved. With the development of technology, the whole lecture has run smoothly. These changes show that Chinese space industry     8    (make) great progress in the past eight years.

Along with the technological progress, this year’s space lecture covered more topics.     9     various topics, the aim behind the lectures has never changed. The space lectures aim to spread knowledge and inspire interest in science among young people.     10    (hope), space activities can help them build the spirit of exploring science and facing challenges.