[00:00.00]357 Now That's Really a Long Distance Call
[00:06.14]In a live telephone link from the Shenzhou-V.
[00:10.29]astronaut Yang Liwei last night told his family he felt "very good" in space.
[00:16.56]"I promise to fulfill this mission smoothly.
[00:19.54]Wait for my good news," Yang said confidently.
[00:22.80]The talk was held at 7:58pm between the 3g-year-old Yang and his family members,
[00:30.09]who watched him carefully at the tracking and control hall at Beijing Aerospace Control Centre.
[00:36.75]"So pround of you," said Zhang Yurnei, Yang's wife.
[00:41.25]"Our parents, your son and I are looking at you now.
[00:45.19]What does the outside of the module took like?"
[00:48.30]"Splendid!" replied Yang. "The scenery outside is very beautiful, and I can see our beautiful home planet.
[00:56.50]The inner environment of the craft is very good."
[01:00.13]"Dear Daddy, how are you? Have you written diaries?
[01:04.08]What did you eat?" asked the astronaut's 8-year-old son Yang Ningkang.
[01:09.80]"Thank you, my dear son," Yang said. "The condition of my body is pretty good.
[01:14.95]I have written down everything about the work here and what I saw.
[01:18.92]I ate the so-called space food in the module," he added humorously.
[01:24.45]Yang rocketed into space at 9:00 am yesterday.
[01:28.50]He took with him Chinese dishes like eight-treasure rice pudding,
[01:32.76]stir-fried diced chickens with chili and peanuts,
[01:36.39]fish-flavoured shred-ded pork and a tonic drink containing traditional Chinese medicine.
[01:42.37]358 The First "Astronaut", a Russian Dog Named Laika
[01:51.12]In 1961, a Soviet Union rocket blasted off and began one of the greatest adventures in history--the conquest of space.
[02:01.21]Yuri Gagarin, the cosmonaut inside the rocket, became the first per-son to orbit the earth.
[02:07.14]The most dramatic event in the short histo-ry of space flight occurred in 1969
[02:13.15]when an American astronaut named Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.
[02:19.00]These history-making events were important steps on our journey toward the stars.
[02:24.67]The first step in this fantastic journey took place in 1957 when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik,
[02:32.14]the first satellite, which had a great effect on the entire world.
[02:36.26]In the same year, the first "astronaut" was sent into space, a Russian dog named Laika.
[02:42.87]The first American-built rocket was launched the following year.
[02:47.00]In 1964,
[02:49.43]another important goal was reached when both countries launched satellite headed for the far side of the moon.
[02:55.60]These satellite gave us our first look at the moon's hidden face.
[03:00.06]These spacecraft were followed by others that orbited the moon and transmitted thousands of photographs to earth.
[03:07.32]From these photographs, scientists selected the landing sites for the Apollo moon landing program.
[03:13.75]359 An Analysis of Population
[03:20.33]The advantages and disadvantages of a large population have long been a subject of discussion among economists.
[03:28.30]It has been argued that the supply of good land is limited.
[03:32.30]To feed a large population, inferior land must be cultivated and the good land worked intensively.
[03:39.53]Thus,
[03:40.50]each person produces less and this means a lower average income than could be obtained with a smaller population.
[03:47.84]Other economists have argued that a large population gives more scope for specialization
[03:54.14]and the develop-ment of facilities such as ports, roads and railways,
[03:59.02]which are not likely to be built unless there is a big demand to justify them.
[04:03.80]One of the difficulties in carrying out a world-wide birth control program
[04:09.26]lies in the fact that official attitudes to population growth vary from country to country depending
[04:15.11]on the level of industrial development and the availability of food and raw mate-rials.
[04:21.96]In the developing country where a vastly expanded popula-tion is pressing hard upon the limits of food,
[04:28.51]space and natural resources, it will be the first concern of government to place a limit on the birthrate,
[04:35.64]whatever the consequences may be.
[04:37.94]In a highly industrialized society the problem may be more complex.
[04:43.32]A decreasing birthrate may lead to unemployment because it re-sults in a declining market for manufactured goods.
[04:50.90]When the pressure of population on housing declines, prices also decline and the building industry is weakened.
[04:58.63]Faced with considerations such as these,
[05:01.82]the government of a developed country may well prefer to see a slowly increasing population,
[05:07.80]rather than one which is stable or in decline.
[05:12.45]360 Teenage Marriage
[05:18.77]Here are some startling facts about teenage marriages:
[05:23.45]There are twice as many teenage marriages today as there were 20 years ago.
[05:28.23]About two out of five of today' s bride are 15 to 18 years old.
[05:33.27]Half of today's teenage marriages are in divorce in five years.
[05:37.45]What is the story behind these figures? Why are more young people marrying earlier?
[05:44.24]1. Young people grow up faster than they used to, say the ex-perts.
[05:49.34]Often, girls are dating at 11. At 14 they're going steady.
[05:54.40]The next logical step seems to be engagement, then marriage.
[05:58.84]2. For some teenagers, marriage is an escape. Sometimes boys and girls marry to getaway from an unhappy home.
[06:07.80]Lonely young man or women may think that marriage will solve all their
problems.
[06:12.45]Being married gives them a sense of security, some-one to "lean on." The outside world seems less unfriendly then.
[06:20.50]3. Many young people, though, marry to prove that they are grown up.
[06:26.27]They want to get out on their own and become independent.
[06:29.88]4. Popular music, magazine, movies, and TV programs of-ten paint a romantic picture of marriage.
[06:38.18]They picture a dreamy wedding in white, a "happy ever after" marriage.
[06:42.39]This tempts many teenagers.
[06:44.40]What goes wrong with many teenage marriages?
[06:48.89]1. Money is often a big problem.
[06:51.82]Young people who marry before they finish school are not likely to get good-paying jobs.
[06:56.76]Struggling to make both ends meet puts strain on the marriage.
[07:01.12]2. As young couple grows up and develops other interests, they often grow apart rather than together.
[07:08.98]They may start out with a lot in common, but they may later find that they are very different from each other.
[07:14.99]3. Many young couples aren't prepared for marriage.
[07:19.33]They are shocked at the real-life problem of getting along with another
person.
[07:24.50]361 Wastes
[07:28.71]Mankind is wasting things everywhere and everyday.
[07:33.07]Wher-ever we go, we can see that paper, bottles and cans are thrown away;
[07:38.19]food is wasted just because of poor taste; clothes are dis-carded simply due to their old fashion.
[07:44.90]Not only things and mon-ey are wasted, but natural resources are abused as well.
[07:50.60]Trees are cut down merely for fuel; wild animals are killed simply for meat; oil and coal exploited in a bad way.
[07:59.53]The worst example of man's waste is the waste of time.
[08:03.79]Many people tend to spend their time on worthless things, such as wandering about in the street,
[08:10.21]gossiping in the office, sleeping too much during the day.
[08:14.16]As we know, time is so precious to use that it passes by and never returns.
[08:20.30]The waste of time amounts to the waste of life.
[08:23.95]It is time to call for an end to the waste.
[08:27.32]On one hand, we must save natural resources and make full use of them;
[08:32.18]otherwise human beings will be faced with the shortage of natural resources
[08:37.04]and suffer from the pollution caused by wastes.
[08:40.39]On the other hand, we must treasure our time.
[08:43.65]Only with our time to be de-voted to the study and the work for the people, will we never re-gret the life we have had.
[08:53.50]362 The Grain Crisis in the 21 st Century
[09:00.55]Nowadays the whole world is experiencing a grain crisis.
[09:05.99]As reported, 30% of the population in the world suffer from the shortage of grain,
[09:11.65]especially in the developing countries, such as some areas in Africa and Asia.
[09:18.18]There are many reasons for the widespread grain crisis.
[09:21.24]For one reason, there is an automatic increase due to population growth,
[09:26.23]it said that in 20 years' time the demand for grain will be roughly double.
[09:30.70]Another reason for the grain crisis is that peo-ple feed cattle the grain, instead of eating the grain themselves.
[09:37.67]In addition, large amount of farmland has been wasted because of the building construction.
[09:43.60]Finally, the not-so-advanced sci-ence and technology is also responsible
[09:48.51]for the poor production of grain in developing countries.
[09:51.46]Faced with such a situation, it is obvious that everybody should be well educated not to waste a bit of grain.
[09:59.22]Also the de-veloping countries should try to learn the advanced science
[10:04.63]and technology from the developed countries and improve their pro-duction of grain.
[10:08.78]Maybe another important step should be taken is to control the birth rate.
[10:14.06]However, I'm sure the grain crisis will be overcome as long as the world as a whole try to fight a-gainst it.
[10:20.93]363 The Police and the Public
[10:26.81]The police claim that their relationship with the public is getting better.
[10:31.33]They have regular meetings with social workers, community leaders and health officers.
[10:36.37]They visit schools and talk to the children.
[10:39.97]In some districts primary schools have "adopted" police officers who take on a school as their special responsibility.
[10:48.44]They play with the children and talk to them
[10:51.36]and try to show them that the police are their friends to whom they can go if they are in trouble.
[10:57.24]It is now part of the training of every police officer to learn something about
[11:02.47]the background of the immigrant communities.
[11:05.34]However, in many places this is still hostility and suspicion be-tween the police and black immigrants.
[11:12.68]This is partly because of the high unemployment rate of immigrants.
[11:17.04]They have nowhere to go and nothing to do, and so wander about the streets together in groups.
[11:23.15]Many of them have problems at home, and they often live in very poor housing.
[11:28.38]When the police see them together on the streets, they tend to expect trouble,
[11:33.32]and often stop and ques-tion these young people,
[11:36.29]who are angered by this interference with their freedom as citizens.
[11:40.55]The relationship between the police
[11:42.77]and the non-whites may improve as more uniformed officers patrol their districts on foot.
[11:49.25]In addition,
[11:50.24]since there has been a considerable rise in pay many more people are applying for work with the police force.
[11:57.09]This means that there is a better wider choice and only the most suit-able people are chosen.
[12:03.33]364 Share Your Blood with Others
[12:08.16]A grown-up person has ten or eleven pints of blood inside his or her body.
[12:13.99]We can lose a pint of blood without feeling anything, but if we lose a great deal of blood, we feel weak.
[12:20.28]Our face becomes pale. We may die.
[12:23.68]This is what often happens when somebody is hurt in an ac-cident, or a soldier is wounded in a battle.
[12:30.29]Many people used to die in this way.
[12:33.06]But nowadays they can be taken to hospital and given more blood. Almost at once they feel better.
[12:40.06]Their faces are no longer pale. They do not die.
[12:43.87]Where does this blood come from?
[12:46.93]People who are healthy give some blood so that it can be used in this way.
[12:51.55]Every three months they go to a place where blood is collected.
[12:55.47]A special kind of needle is put into the arm.
[12:58.61]It does not hurt you much.
[13:00.38]The blood runs through the needle and through a rubber tube into a bottle.
[13:04.43]A pint of blood is taken.
[13:06.44]Then the person who has giv-en the blood drinks a cup of tea or coffee.
[13:10.60]He sits down for a few minutes.
[13:12.53]Then he feels quite well and goes off.
[13:14.83]Three months later he comes back and gives another pint.
[13:18.98]A person who contributes blood feels happy.
[13:22.46]He knows that his blood will be used to save someone's life.
[13:25.77]Perhaps one day he himself will be used to save someone's life.
[13:29.82]Perhaps one day he himself will need another person's blood.
[13:33.85]When you are old enough, you may decide to give blood to save others.
[13:38.10]But you cannot do this until you are 18 years old.
[13:43.22]365 The Safety Belt
[13:47.06]According to the American Automobile Association,
[13:50.72]since 1964 cars sold in the United States have been equipped with seat belts.
[13:56.28](They are also called safety belts.)
[13:58.79]Many studies of auto- mobile accidents have shown that safety belts can save lives.
[14:04.30]One study showed that forty percent of those killed in auto acci-dents
[14:09.35]could have been saved if they had been wearing seat belts.
[14:12.95]Unfortunately belts are worn only by a small percentage of drivers and passengers--about fifteen percent in cities,
[14:21.81]and only nine percent in small towns.
[14:24.47]And safety belts cannot protect peo-ple who do not wear them.
[14:28.49]In order to find out what kinds of people do wear seat belts, a study was made in several cities of the United States.
[14:36.75]The fol-lowing facts were learned about those who use their safety belts:
[14:40.98]1) They do not smoke while driving.
[14:44.01]2) They have had more education than non-users.
[14:47.80]3) They know someone who was injured (but not killed) in an automobile accident.
[14:54.04]Advertisements based on these facts have been printed in newspapers and magazines
[14:59.76]in order to teach people the impor-tance of using seat belts.
[15:03.68]But these advertisements have not helped much.
[15:06.82]Some people believe there should be a law requir-ing drivers and passengers to use safety belts.
[15:13.24]In Australia, where there is such a law, deaths in auto accidents have decreased twenty four percent. |