Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. manned (adj.) [mand] – controlled by a person or by people
Example: The Soviet Union sent
the first ever manned spacecraft to
outer space.
2. craft (n.) [kraft, krahft] – a vehicle that carries people inside, used for traveling
Example: The man rode on a
small craft, which carried him over
the river.
3. look into (phrasal
v.) [look in-too] – to check, study or collect information about something
Example: The scientists
promised to look into the creation of
a new kind of spacecraft.
4. no doubt (idiom) [noh dout] – for sure; definitely
Example: No doubt China is planning to be a world leader in the field of science.
5. spokesperson (n.) [spohks-pur-suhn] – someone who represents a group and is responsible for speaking in public
Example: A government spokesperson explained the new law to
the media and public.
Article
Read the text below.
In June, China launched
two great projects in one day: the country’s first manned deep sea mission and first manned space mission. Both
achievements have placed China on the same rank as the US and Russia.
The “Shenzhou-9” spacecraft
carried three Chinese astronauts to a space lab called Tiangong 1. It was the
first time that a manned Chinese craft
had been sent to space. The
spacecraft’s mission was to manually land on the space lab without help of
remote control.
Meanwhile, three Chinese
“oceanauts” inside the submarine
“Jiaolong,” dove 7,020 meters down into the Mariana Trench. The dive, which took 11 hours, involved a three-hour
exploration at the bottom of the sea, where the oceanauts placed markers and
collected samples of water and sediments.
The success of the
space mission is important to China’s plan of building a space station
in 2020. A deep sea station to match the future space station will also be
built to aid the country as it looks
into deep sea mining and oil drilling for commercial purposes.
From a political view,
the successful missions could help bring back the Chinese people’s faith in
the government as the country undergoes a change in leadership later this
year.
No
doubt the successes have
made many Chinese proud. However, some Chinese Internet users question
whether these missions are the best ways to spend China’s money. They say the
government should also focus on the people’s well-being.
According to a spokesperson for the space missions, the
entire program would cost 40 billion yuan (US$6.7 billion). Experts say the missions
are a symbol of China’s investment in technology and a warning to US and
Western Europe that their top position in science is at risk.
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Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
·
How do you think China’s success will affect
other countries, including your own?
·
Do you think China should spend money on
science missions or focus in helping people in the country?
Discussion B
·
What are the advantages of missions into
unknown places like space and deep sea?
·
Do you believe that space and deep sea missions
are necessary? Why or why not?