The Race into Space ? ?American millionaire Dennis Tito will always be famous．He was the first tourist in space．“I spent sixty years on Earth and eight days in space and from my viewpoint，it was two separate lives，”Tito explained．He loved his time in space．“Being in space and looking back at earth is one of the most rewarding experiences a human being can have．” ? ?This kind of experience isn’t cheap．It cost $20 million．However，Tito achieved his dream，so he was happy．“For me it was a life dream．It was a dream that began when I didn’t have any money，”he told reporters． ? ?On 30 April 2002，Mark Shuttleworth became the world’s second space tourist．Shuttleworth is a South African businessman．At the age of twenty-eight，he also paid$20 million for the eight-day trip． Both Tito and Shuttleworth bought their tickets from a company called Space Adventures．The company has around 100 people already on their waiting list for flights into space．The spaceship to take them doesn’t exist yet． ? ?Many of the customers are people who like adventure．They are the kind of people who also want to climb Mount Qomolangma．Other customers are people who love space．However，these people are worried．Because it’s so expensive，only very rich people can go into space．They want space travel to be available to more people． ? ?That day may soon be here．Inter Orbital Systems(IOS)plans to send up to four tourists a week into space．The tours will depart from an island in Tonga．The company promises a package that includes forty-five days of astronaut training in Russia and California，seven days in space，and a vacation in Tonga，for $2 million． ? ?However，space flight is still very dangerous．Bill Readdy is NASA’s deputy assistant administrator for space flight．He says that the chances of dying are about 1 in 500．Because of this，it may take time before space tourism really takes off．You might be able to go up，b ut will you come down?

? ?1．Medical scientists are already putting computer chips(芯片)directly into the brain to help people who have Parkinson’s disease，but in what other ways might computer technology be able to help us? RayKurzweil is author of the successful book The Age of Intelligent Machines and is one of the world’s best computer research scientists．He is researching the possibilities． ? ?2．Kurzweil gets computers to recognize voices．An example of this is Ramona，the virtual(虚拟的) hostess of Kurzweil’s homepage，who is programmed to understand what you say．Visitors to the site can have their conversations with her，and Ramona also dances and sings． ? ?3．Kurzweil uses this technology to help people with physical disabilities．One of his ideas is a“seeing machine”．This will be“like a friend that could describe what is going on in the visible world”，he explains．Blind people will use a visual sensor(探测器)which will probably be built into a pair of sunglasses．This sensor will describe to the person everything it sees． ? ?4．Another idea，which is likely to help deaf people，is the“listening machine”．This invention will recognize millions of words and understand any speaker．The listening machine will also be able to translate into other languages，80 even people without hearing problems are likely to be interested in using it． ? ?5．But it is not just about helping people with disabilities．Looking further into the future，Kurzweil sees a time when we will be able to download our entire consciousness onto a computer．This technology probably won’t be ready for at least 50 years，but when it arrives，it means our minds will be able to live forever． ? ?

E．An author and researcher ? ?F．A new pair of ears

? ?1．Medical scientists are already putting computer chips(芯片)directly into the brain to help people who have Parkinson’s disease，but in what other ways might computer technology be able to help us? RayKurzweil is author of the successful book The Age of Intelligent Machines and is one of the world’s best computer research scientists．He is researching the possibilities． ? ?2．Kurzweil gets computers to recognize voices．An example of this is Ramona，the virtual(虚拟的) hostess of Kurzweil’s homepage，who is programmed to understand what you say．Visitors to the site can have their conversations with her，and Ramona also dances and sings． ? ?3．Kurzweil uses this technology to help people with physical disabilities．One of his ideas is a“seeing machine”．This will be“like a friend that could describe what is going on in the visible world”，he explains．Blind people will use a visual sensor(探测器)which will probably be built into a pair of sunglasses．This sensor will describe to the person everything it sees． ? ?4．Another idea，which is likely to help deaf people，is the“listening machine”．This invention will recognize millions of words and understand any speaker．The listening machine will also be able to translate into other languages，80 even people without hearing problems are likely to be interested in using it． ? ?5．But it is not just about helping people with disabilities．Looking further into the future，Kurzweil sees a time when we will be able to download our entire consciousness onto a computer．This technology probably won’t be ready for at least 50 years，but when it arrives，it means our minds will be able to live forever． ? ?

E．An author and researcher ? ?F．A new pair of ears

? ?1．Medical scientists are already putting computer chips(芯片)directly into the brain to help people who have Parkinson’s disease，but in what other ways might computer technology be able to help us? RayKurzweil is author of the successful book The Age of Intelligent Machines and is one of the world’s best computer research scientists．He is researching the possibilities． ? ?2．Kurzweil gets computers to recognize voices．An example of this is Ramona，the virtual(虚拟的) hostess of Kurzweil’s homepage，who is programmed to understand what you say．Visitors to the site can have their conversations with her，and Ramona also dances and sings． ? ?3．Kurzweil uses this technology to help people with physical disabilities．One of his ideas is a“seeing machine”．This will be“like a friend that could describe what is going on in the visible world”，he explains．Blind people will use a visual sensor(探测器)which will probably be built into a pair of sunglasses．This sensor will describe to the person everything it sees． ? ?4．Another idea，which is likely to help deaf people，is the“listening machine”．This invention will recognize millions of words and understand any speaker．The listening machine will also be able to translate into other languages，80 even people without hearing problems are likely to be interested in using it． ? ?5．But it is not just about helping people with disabilities．Looking further into the future，Kurzweil sees a time when we will be able to download our entire consciousness onto a computer．This technology probably won’t be ready for at least 50 years，but when it arrives，it means our minds will be able to live forever． ? ?

E．An author and researcher ? ?F．A new pair of ears

? ?1．Medical scientists are already putting computer chips(芯片)directly into the brain to help people who have Parkinson’s disease，but in what other ways might computer technology be able to help us? RayKurzweil is author of the successful book The Age of Intelligent Machines and is one of the world’s best computer research scientists．He is researching the possibilities． ? ?2．Kurzweil gets computers to recognize voices．An example of this is Ramona，the virtual(虚拟的) hostess of Kurzweil’s homepage，who is programmed to understand what you say．Visitors to the site can have their conversations with her，and Ramona also dances and sings． ? ?3．Kurzweil uses this technology to help people with physical disabilities．One of his ideas is a“seeing machine”．This will be“like a friend that could describe what is going on in the visible world”，he explains．Blind people will use a visual sensor(探测器)which will probably be built into a pair of sunglasses．This sensor will describe to the person everything it sees． ? ?4．Another idea，which is likely to help deaf people，is the“listening machine”．This invention will recognize millions of words and understand any speaker．The listening machine will also be able to translate into other languages，80 even people without hearing problems are likely to be interested in using it． ? ?5．But it is not just about helping people with disabilities．Looking further into the future，Kurzweil sees a time when we will be able to download our entire consciousness onto a computer．This technology probably won’t be ready for at least 50 years，but when it arrives，it means our minds will be able to live forever． ? ?

E．An author and researcher ? ?F．A new pair of ears

Ellen MacArthur started sailing when she was eight，going out on sailing trips with her aunt．She loved it so much that she saved her money for three years to buy her first small sailing boat．When she was 18，she sailed alone around Britain and won the“Young Sailor of the Year”award． ? ?But Ellen really became famous in 2001．Aged only 24，she was one of the only two women who entered the Vendee Globe round the world solo race，which lasts 100 days．Despite many problems，she came second in the race out of 24 competitors and she was given a very warm welcome when she returned． ? ?Ambition and determination have always been a big part of Ellen’s personality．When she was younger，she lived in a kind of hut(棚屋)for three years while she was trying to get sponsorship to compete in a transatlantic race．Then she took a one-way ticket to France，bought a tiny seven meter Class Miniyacht(游艇)，slept under it while she was repairing it，and then she raced it 4，000 kilometres across the Atlantic in 1997，alone for 33 days． ? ?Ellen has had to learn many things，because sailing single-handed means that she has to be her own captain，electrician，sail maker，engineer，doctor，journalist，cameraman and cook．She also has to be very fit，and because of the dangers of sleeping for long periods of time she’s in the middle of the ocean，she has trained herself to sleep for about 20 minutes at a time． ? ?And she needs courage．Once，in the middle of the ocean，she had to climb the mast(桅杆)of a boat to repair the sails-at four o’clock in the morning，with 100kph winds blowing around her．It took her many hours to make the repairs；Ellen says：“I was exhausted when I came down．It’s hard to describe how it feels to be up there．It’s like trying to hold onto a big pole，which for me is just too big to get my arms around，with someone kicking you all the time and trying to shake you off”． ? ?But in her diary，Ellen also describes moments which make it all worthwhile(值得的)：“A beautiful sunrise started the day，with black clouds slowly lit by the bright yellow Sun．I have a very strong feeling of pleasure，being out here on the ocean and having the chance to live this．I just feel lucky to be here”．