2019学年度外研版选修八Module 5 SectionⅠIntroduction & Reading学案设计

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were in competition with each other to see who had the better technology in space. After World War Ⅱboth the United States and the Soviet Union realized how important rocket research would be to the military. They each employed the top rocket scientists from Germany to help with their research. Soon both sides were making progress in rocket technology.

The Space Race began in 1955 when both countries announced that they would soon launch satellites into orbit. The Soviets took the US announcement as a challenge and even set up a commission whose goal was to beat the US in putting a satellite into space. On Oct. 4th, 1957 the Russians placed the first successful satellite called SputnikⅠinto orbit. Thus, the Russians had taken the lead in the Space Race. Four months later, the Americans successfully launched their first satellite called the ExplorerⅠ. However, the Soviets again won the race for putting the first man into space. On Apr. 12th, 1961, Yuri Gagarin was the first man to orbit the Earth in the spacecraft VostokⅠ. Three weeks later, the US launched the Freedom 7 and astronaut Alan Shepherd became the first American in space. However, Shepherd's craft did not orbit the Earth. It was nearly a year later that the first American, John Glenn, orbited the Earth on the Friendship 7 spacecraft.

The Americans were embarrassed at being behind the Space Race. In 1961, President Kennedy announced that he wanted to be the first to put a man on the Moon. He thought this was important for the country and the western world, so the Apollo Moon program was launched.

With the Apollo programs launched, the US had taken a huge lead in the Space Race. In July of 1975 with relations between the US and the Soviet Union beginning to thaw (关系缓和), the first US­Soviet joint mission occurred with the Apollo­Soyez project. The Space Race was effectively over.

Section_Ⅰ Introduction & Reading - Pre­reading

[原文呈现]

Space: the Final Frontier

Part 1

Ever since Neil Armstrong first set foot on① the Moon back on 21st July, 1969②， people have become accustomed③ to the idea of space travel. Millions of④ people watched that first moon landing on television, their hearts in their mouths, aware⑤ of how difficult and dangerous an adventure it was, and what risks⑥ had to be taken. With Armstrong's now famous words："That's one small step for man, one giant⑦ leap for mankind"， a dream was achieved. All three astronauts made it safely back to Earth, using a spaceship computer that was much less powerful than the ones used by the average school students today⑧.

There were several more journeys into space over the next few years but the single spaceships were very expensive ⑨as they could not take off⑩ more than once⑪. People were no longer so enthusiastic about⑫ a space travel programme that was