2015-10-14
1773
Who do you side with?
Marjorie Tench:
Private companies won’t study the origins of our universe if it costs them billions and shows no financial return. They will abandon science in favour of profits. Permitting the private sector to run free in space may bring back the wild west again. There will be pioneers staking claims on the moon and on asteroids and protecting those claims with force.
Senator Sexton:
Space is no different than any other industry, and keeping the private sector grounded verges on a criminal act. Consider the computer industry, in which we see such an explosion of progress that we can barely keep up from week to week! Why? Because the computer industry is a free-market system: It rewards efficiency and vision with profits. Imagine if the computer industry were government-run? We would still be in the dark ages. We are stagnating in space. We should put space exploration into the hands of the private sector where it belongs. Americans would be stunned by the growth, jobs and realized dreams.
| I find sb/sth... I have the impression that... In my opinion,... | Personally, I... I feel that... I think that... | |
| pragmatic broad-minded enterprising | trustworthy practical (un)reliable | (un)reasonable ambitious irresponsible |
HOME ACTIVITIES (8)
A) Complete the sentences with phrases made of noun combinations given in the box.
| environmental disaster / threat authors / report century / middle challenges / urgency earth / health | destruction / environment group / latest report organization / Sims population / world |
The Earthguard Institute has issued a report warning of the threat of environmental disaster by (1) _________________________ unless we do something soon. “ (2) _________________________ facing us requires action now,” said Dennis Sims, one of (3) _________________ _______________. (4) _______________________ is a watchdog group that regularly issues reports on (5) _________________________ and its people. According to (6) __________________________, rising temperatures, falling water supplies and shrinking forests are problems that will only get worse as (7) __________________________ increases to 9 billion by 2050. “People’s optimism about the future is blinding them to the potential for worldwide disaster,” Sims warned. “We must try to reduce global warming by replacing coal and oil with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. If we continue (8) ______ ________________, our grandchildren will inherit a wasteland.”
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51. Prepare a three-minute talk on “Scientific and industrial development – curse or blessing for the planet”.
| A Step V |
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES (9)
| Give it another brush |
