2 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
A. habitable B. sensible C. potential D. compete E.accommodate F. concept
G. draw H. advocated I. survival J. expanse K. received |
Mars -- the next frontier
It sounds like something from the fields of science fiction--a space expedition into the vast 1 of space, heading towards the Red Planet. While we're not quite ready to put a person on land, the question we ask today is: why are so many countries interested in going to Mars?
The space race saw the USA and USSR 2 to achieve firsts in spaceflight. The Soviet Union released Sputnik 1, an artificial satellite, before anyone else, and the US landed on the Moon first. Now it appears that Mars is the celestial body of desire. While the honour of being the first nation to touchdown is an obvious 3 , there are other reasons we want to get there.
One of these could be the 4 of our species. You only have to look at the fossilised remains of the dinosaurs to see the benefit of finding another 5 planet. While Mars doesn't have the right conditions to call it home just yet, there's always the idea of terraforming-- changing the environment of a planet to 6 our needs to live.
However, not everyone agrees. Leading astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has said the 7 of altering habitability of another planet because of the damage we have done to Earth is not 8 when we can simply terraform Earth.
It seems he main reason at the moment is the search for signs of life. It has long been believed that, at one time, Mars was abundant with life. Now seemingly dead, the 9 fossils could answer questions about our own evolution and that of our planet. One theory is that bacterial life on our planet didn't start here, but was transferred via asteroid (小行星) from Mars.
One benefit 10 by scientists like Neil deGrasse Tyson is that landing on Mars may inspire more people to become interested in science and astronomy. Surely inspiring a new generation to visit the stars is reason enough.
