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Space Exploration

Space Exploration

Date: Sep 11 2009

Themes: News, Tech

Grammar: Second Conditional

Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Next year, NASA will retire the space shuttle. That means no more American astronauts going into space, at least until a new spacecraft is built. And that could take as much as five years.

The idea of space travel still excites children and fascinates adults. But it may not be as much of a priority as it once was. Find out what Mason and Devan think about the future of space exploration.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Devan

Devan

Mason

Mason

Devan:  So, Mason, are you an advocate for space travel, or do you feel like it’s a waste of money when we have so many other problems?

Mason:  I tend to find myself in the “let’s focus on what’s goin’ on on Earth” camp. It was kind of an idea that fascinated an entire generation, like our parents’ age.

Devan:  Yeah.

Mason:  And we just don’t really care that much about it.

Devan:  Well, I mean if something big happened, like discovering life on another planet, I think that would trump everything that’s going on on Earth. Like if you matched up all the day’s headlines and one of the headlines was “Life Found on Mars,” I think that would be the biggest news story of the day. But at the same time I can see what you’re saying about focusing on what’s going on on Earth when we have so many problems here.

Mason:  It was a big pissing contest in the first place. It was just like we were having the Cold War with Russia, and the idea of who can get someone to space first and land someplace was just like a showcase of all this technical wizardry and capability. There was a reason for the public to be behind it, whereas now we don’t have anything to prove on that scale.

Devan:  But you have to admit, you wanted to be an astronaut when you grew up just like everybody else, right?

Mason:  I honestly want to send monkeys into space and have them come back super intelligent.

 

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Discussion

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Mason thinks it’s important for the government to focus on fixing problems here on Earth, rather than waste money on space exploration. He thinks that space travel is less fascinating to young people today than it was to earlier generations.

Although Devan mostly agrees with Mason, she thinks people would become fascinated by space exploration again if a major discovery took place. If life were discovered on Mars, that would be more important than any other news.

The space program was very important in the U.S. in the 1960s. During this time, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were competing for power and prestige. Having the best space technology and the being able to send people into space was an important aspect of this competition. Mason thinks that people aren’t as interested in space exploration now that the Cold War is over.

Do you think that governments should spend money on space exploration? Would you like to be an astronaut?

 

Comments

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Staisy

Staisy

Russian Federation

In future our  world will strongly depend on exterrestrial sources, and  I think that governments should invest into space programms.

07:04 PM Nov 20 2013 |

303Kevin

303Kevin

China

i believe the existence of alien..so i hope we human being can keep on space exploration..of course, with a appropriate degree…

02:13 PM Nov 12 2009 |

Cashier61

Turkey

in my opinion we must think our planet near that subject because we are still living on it .

 

03:35 PM Oct 17 2009 |

_Sasha_

_Sasha_

United States

I know thеrе's no superior intellect than that of human in thе еntirе univеrsе!! UFO's ficticious!! All mankind nееds is to еxplorе within!!! The truth is out here))) Our inscrutable Еarth can givе answеrs to all quеstions!!!!!

06:22 PM Sep 17 2009 |

kukuka

kukuka

Ukraine

Do you think the government should spend money on any other research? on sience in general? I think countries that consider themselves to be highly deveploped should do that.

08:53 AM Sep 17 2009 |

iceysui

iceysui

China

I want go to space.but it must be save myself and have enough food.Don`t need any Heavy spacesuits.No time limit.haha

08:48 AM Sep 17 2009 |

mani124

mani124

Pakistan

we have a lot of problem's in our earth so y we waste our money and no i dont want to go there i will complete my study then i will work for our earth and our people not for space 

02:54 AM Sep 15 2009 |

ali.king

ali.king

Sweden

hi allCool

09:21 PM Sep 13 2009 |

unwound

Turkey

... I would start to save up some money to go to Mars one day:)

08:55 PM Sep 13 2009 |

Dabren

Dabren

Mexico

Yeeah!!.... Cool

06:19 PM Sep 13 2009 |

Jéferson Kist

Brazil

Hi!

 

06:00 PM Sep 13 2009 |

taylorphael

Ireland

hii okay?

 

03:30 PM Sep 13 2009 |

fat dragon

China

american humor in last sentence.

01:10 PM Sep 13 2009 |

xi qin

China

I think to explore the space is necessary .to find the space's secret.but ,we must protect the space enviroment when we searching.

11:27 AM Sep 13 2009 |

285263999

China

I think to explore the space is necessary .if the resources on earth were used up ,where can we go ?Maybe we can find another earth ,so we can move to it to live longer

07:54 AM Sep 13 2009 |

alex0202

Taiwan

  • I though that is necessary,becuse of many science and the medicind aspect's technologies were discovered during space program.So that has the very big help to humnity's life

 

 

 

07:33 AM Sep 13 2009 |

before2012

before2012

China

I don't think governments should spend money on space.If we found a globe where is suited man to live,people will desert our earth and fly to the second "earth".Then the reath would be worse and worse.

06:22 AM Sep 13 2009 |

meeem

meeem

Saudi Arabia

i,ll  go  to  space  sometime {:

06:18 AM Sep 13 2009 |

sukya

sukya

China

haha…"Send monkeys into space and have them come back super intelligent"...that's a cool idea!!!Mason is really interesting!!!

Does it goes for human being?if it does…i think space exploration will become super meaningful…LOL

03:07 AM Sep 13 2009 |

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