TOPICREADING.doc

TOPIC READING
The International Space Station
国际空间站是在国际合作基础上建造的最大载人空间站，为人类进行科学研究和天文观测提供了技术保障。
The International Space Station (ISS) will be a little “city in space” orbiting (沿轨道运转) 250 miles above the earth. About the size of two football fields, the space station will be a place where people from around the world can live and study in space over long periods of time. The ISS is an extremely expensive project, but it will someday serve as a stepping-stone for future space exploration.
Sixteen countries from around the world are working together on the International Space Station. These international partners are the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan, Brazil and European Space Agency (Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland).
Risking the dangers of space, the sixteen countries are spending billions of dollars and many years building the space station because they believe they can benefit a lot from it. Perhaps the most important benefit is that the space station allows humans to live and study for long periods in microgravity (微重力), or a “weightless” environment.
Think of the space station as a stepping-stone to the stars. If humans are ever going to travel to other planets, such as Mars, we must understand the effects of such long journeys on the human body. We’ve learned from past space travel that living in microgravity leads to the weakening of bones and muscles. The space station will allow scientists to understand these effects and study possible solutions for long-term space travel.
But studying in microgravity is not the only reason for the space station. For the first time, we will be able to observe the earth from different angles (角度) over long periods of time. The space station will allow us to watch changes in the environment to better understand our own planet. The space station will also give us an opportunity to study the environment of space.
Answer the following questions.
1. Why do the sixteen countries spend a lot of money building the International Space Station?
2. What is the effect of living in microgravity on human bodies?

Key:
1. Because they believe the benefits of the station will be great.
2. It leads to the weakening of bones and muscles.