首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Space Tourism [A]Make your reservations now. The space tourism industry is officially open for business, and tickets are goi
Space Tourism [A]Make your reservations now. The space tourism industry is officially open for business, and tickets are goi
admin
2018-08-25
27
问题
Space Tourism
[A]Make your reservations now. The space tourism industry is officially open for business, and tickets are going for a mere $20 million for a one-week stay in space. Despite reluctance from National Air and Space Administration(NASA), Russia made American businessman Dennis Tito the world’s first space tourist. Tito flew into space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket that arrived at the International Space Station(ISS)on April 30, 2001. The second space tourist, South African businessman Mark Shuttleworth, took off aboard the Russian Soyuz on April 25, 2002, also bound for the ISS.
[B]Lance Bass of ’N Sync(an American boy band)was supposed to be the third to make the $20 million trip, but he did not join the three-man crew as they blasted off on October 30, 2002, due to lack of payment. Probably the most incredible aspect of this proposed space tour was that NASA approved of it.
[C]These trips are the beginning of what could be a profitable 21st century industry. There are already several space tourism companies planning to build suborbital vehicles and orbital cities within the next two decades. These companies have invested millions, believing that the space tourism industry is on the verge of taking off.
[D]In 1997, NASA published a report concluding that selling trips into space to private citizens could be worth billions of dollars. A Japanese report supports these findings, and projects that space tourism could be a $10 billion per year industry within the next two decades. The only obstacles to opening up space to tourists are the space agencies, who are concerned with safety and the development of a reliable, reusable launch vehicle.
Space Accommodations
[E]Russia’s Mir space station was supposed to be the first destination for space tourists. But in March 2001, the Russian Aerospace Agency brought Mir down into the Pacific Ocean. As it turned out, bringing down Mir only temporarily delayed the first tourist trip into space.
[F]The Mir crash did cancel plans for a new reality-based game show from NBC, which was going to be called Destination Mir. The Survivor-like TV show was scheduled to air in fall 2001. Participants on the show were to go through training at Russia’s cosmonaut(宇航员)training center, Star City. Each week, one of the participants would be eliminated from the show, with the winner receiving a trip to the Mir space station. The Mir crash has ruled out NBC’s space plans for now. NASA is against beginning space tourism until the International Space Station is completed in 2006.
[G]Russia is not alone in its interest in space tourism. There are several projects underway to commercialize space travel. Space Island Group is going to build a ring-shaped, rotating "commercial space infrastructure(基础结构)" that will resemble the Discovery spacecraft in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey." Space Island says it will build its space city out of empty NASA space-shuttle fuel tanks(to start, it should take around 12 or so), and place it about 400 miles above Earth. The space city will rotate once per minute to create a gravitational pull one-third as strong as Earth’s.
[H]According to their vision statement, Space Adventures plans to "fly tens of thousands of people in space over the next 10-15 years and beyond, around the moon, and back, from spaceports both on Earth and in space, to and from private space stations, and aboard dozens of different vehicles..." Even Hilton Hotels has shown interest in the space tourism industry and the possibility of building or co-funding a space hotel. However, the company did say that it believes such a space hotel is 15 to 20 years away.
[I]Initially, space tourism will offer simple accommodations at best. For instance, if the International Space Station is used as a tourist attraction, guests won’t find the luxurious surroundings of a hotel room on Earth. It has been designed for conducting research, not entertainment. However, the first generation of space hotels should offer tourists a much more comfortable experience.
[J]In regard to a concept for a space hotel initially planned by Space Island, such a hotel could offer guests every convenience they might find at a hotel on Earth, and some they might not. The small gravitational pull created by the rotating space city would allow space-tourists and residents to walk around and function normally within the structure. Everything from running water to a recycling plant to medical facilities would be possible. Additionally, space tourists would even be able to take space walks.
[K]Many of these companies believe that they have to offer an extremely enjoyable experience in order for passengers to pay thousands, if not millions, of dollars to ride into space. So will space create another separation between the haves and have-nots?
The Most Expensive Vacation
[L]Will space be an exotic retreat reserved for only the wealthy? Or will middle-class folks have a chance to take their families to space? Make no mistake about it, going to space will be the most expensive vacation you ever take. Prices right now are in the tens of millions of dollars. Currently, the only vehicles that can take you into space are the space shuttle and the Russian Soyuz, both of which are terribly inefficient Each spacecraft requires millions of pounds of fuel to take off into space, which makes them expensive to launch One pound of payload(有效载重)costs about $10,000 to put into Earth’s orbit.
[M]NASA and Lockheed Martin are currently developing a single-stage-to-orbit launch space plane, called the VentureStar, which could be launched for about a tenth of what the space shuttle costs to launch. If the VentureStar takes off, the number of people who could afford to take a trip into space would move into the millions.
[N]A joint report from NASA and the Space Transportation Association stated that improvements in technology could push fares for space travel as low as $50,000, and possibly down to $20,000 or $10,000 a decade later. The report concluded that at a ticket price of $50,000, there could be 600,000 passengers flying into space each year. While still leaving out many people, these prices would open up space to a tremendous amount of traffic.
[O]Since the beginning of the space race, the general public has said, "Isn’t that great—when do I get to go?" Well, our chance might be closer than ever. Within the next 20 years, space planes could be taking off for the Moon at the same frequency as airplanes flying between New York and Los Angeles.
What makes going to space the most expensive vacation is the enormous cost involved in launching the spacecraft.
选项
答案
L
解析
根据the most expensive vacation,cost involved和launch定位到L段。该段第3句说,到太空去将是最昂贵的假期。倒数第二句说,每架航天飞机起飞到太空都需要数百万磅重的燃料,因此,它们的发射非常昂贵。本题句子是对这两句的概括。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/eWH7777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
Untilrecently,themedicalcommunitybelievedthatmosthearinglosswascausedbyhearcellsintheeardegradingasweage.B
Drought,tsunami,violentcrime,financialmeltdown—theworldisfullofrisks.Thepoorareoftenmost【C1】______totheireffect
FiveMythsaboutCollegeDebt[A]Thetrillion-dollarstudentdebtburdenhascausedmanydebatesaboutthevalueofcollege.
Individualsandbusinesseshavelegalprotectionforintellectualpropertytheycreateandown.Intellectualproperty【C1】______f
Individualsandbusinesseshavelegalprotectionforintellectualpropertytheycreateandown.Intellectualproperty【C1】______f
Individualsandbusinesseshavelegalprotectionforintellectualpropertytheycreateandown.Intellectualproperty【C1】______f
Internationalairlineshaverediscoveredthebusinesstravelers,themanorwomanwhoregularlyjetsfromcountrytocountryas
SouthAfricaSafariTopFiveNationalParksandGameReserves[A]ASouthAfricasafari(游猎)istheidealwildlifetriptogoo
Tsunamis[A]UpuntilDecemberof2004,thephenomenonoftsunamiwasnotonthemindsofmostoftheworld’spopulation.Tha
Tsunamis[A]UpuntilDecemberof2004,thephenomenonoftsunamiwasnotonthemindsofmostoftheworld’spopulation.Tha
随机试题
收入差距现象是一把双刃剑,对社会经济发展的作用具有[a]二重性,即合理、合法且适度的收入差距具有积极意义,而不合理不合法且过大的收入差距会带来消极影响。现在,有人对收入差距问题产生了一些思想困惑,有的甚至提出了收入差距的产生和扩大是[b]了积极性,还是[c
患者,男,35岁。反复发热、咳嗽2个月余,口服多种抗菌药均无效,现出现胸闷、气促,就诊时胸部CT示间质性肺炎;外周血白细胞计数下降,T淋巴细胞下降,CD4+T淋巴细胞450/μl,否认冶游史。该病的治疗方法不包括
调整工程网络计划时,调整内容一般包括()。
产生个人征信异议的原因不包括()。
中国公民张先生是某民营非上市公司的个人大股东,同时也是一位作家。2011年5月取得的部分实物或现金收入如下:(1)公司为其购买了一辆轿车并将车辆所有权办到其名下,该车购买价为35万元。经当地主管税务机关核定,公司在代扣个人所得税税款时允许税前减除的数额为
()
食物链一词是英国动物学家埃尔顿于1927年首次提出的。如果一种有毒物质被食物链的低级部分吸收,如被草吸收,虽然浓度很低,不影响草的生长,但兔子吃草后有毒物质很难排泄,会在它体内积累;鹰吃大量的兔子,有毒物质会在鹰体内进一步积累。美国国鸟白头鹰之所以面临灭绝
慢性病防控的实质是医学问题,也就是说如果医学不能从理论创新上提出慢性病防控的战略措施,其他手段可能都是____________________,而只有医学理论创新才是____________________的核心。填入画横线部分最恰当的一项是:
Allpeoplehavesomeabilitytomanagetheirhealthandthehealthofthosetheycarefor.Meanwhile,withtheincreasing【S1】___
HowHealthyAreYou?Goodhealthisnotsomethingyouareabletobuyatthedrugstore,andyoucan’tdependongettingitb
最新回复
(
0
)