高中英文（一）Outside Reading — 533556608
Unit 11 Speed: How Fast Can We Get There?
Part A 閱讀—Reading Section
There was a time in China when you had to hire a man on horseback to deliver a letter to your
loved one 500 kilometers away. The letter might take five days, through five stations, and change
hands ten times before it reached its destination.
But you don’t have to wait for months to hear from friends now. An express letter can now
reach most cities in the world in 48 hours. You can send an e-mail to a friend not 500 kilometers but
5,000 miles away in just seconds, without leaving your comfortable home. And this incredible
speed is available almost to everybody. What is even more remarkable is that new records of speed
are set only to be shattered anytime. The world has become smaller, because humans and
information both travel faster, thanks to modern technology.
Though this may sound unbelievable, the speed achieved by humans and machines serves little
practical purpose for space travel. For many years, scientists have known that man-made objects
can be accelerated to amazing speeds in space, but even the fastest rocket today comes nowhere
near the speed of light, the winner against whose record all other challengers must be measured.
Many scientists, Einstein included, have argued that conquering space is out of the question until
we can begin to travel at the speed of light. When the spacecraft Pioneer 10 left the solar system
on June 13, 1983, it was traveling at a comfortable speed of 280,000 miles per hour heading toward
the constellation Taurus, the Bull, 68 light years away. It will take the Pioneer over two million
years to hit the Bull’s eye.
So, how fast can we travel in space? There is no easy answer to the question. Scientists are
now studying models of a solar sail which may be launched in as early as 2010. Gently but
continuously accelerated by sunlight, this awkward-looking sail can travel five times faster than
ordinary rockets. In as little as eight years, it will overtake Voyager I, having then journeyed the
same distance which will have taken the slower Voyager I forty-one years to conquer. But even this
space sailboat would be very slow when the nearest star is 4.2 light years away!
On July 20, 1969, millions around the world were bursting with joy as astronaut Neil
Armstrong carefully put his foot on the moon, 230 thousand miles away in space. The image was
instantly relayed to the world. For the first time in history, a man has truly left his home.
Perhaps we will watch again, in the distant future, as a group of ordinary travelers from Earth
fly above Aldebaran for a closer look at the red eye of the Bull.
--Written by David Wible--
express letter [Ik`sprEs `lEtK] n. 限時專送
incredible [In`krEdJbL] adj. 不可思議的
remarkable [rI`markJbL] adj. 值得注意的
shatter [`SAtK] v.t. 打破
practical [`prAktIkL] adj. 實用的
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高中英文（一）Outside Reading — 533556608
accelerate [Ak`sElJ"ret] v.t. 加速
conquer [`kaGkK] v.t. 征服
Pioneer 10 ["pZIJ`nIrY`tEn] n. 先驅者十號
solar system [`solK sIstJm] n. 太陽系
constellation ["kanstJ`leSJn] n. 星座
on horseback 騎馬
measure sb/sth against sb/sth （以他物）量；比
be out of the question 不可能的
Taurus [`tOrJs] n. 金牛座
launch [lOntS] v.t. 發射；送入空中或太空
awkward-looking ["OkwKd`lUkIG] adj. 其貌不揚的
overtake ["ovK`tek] v.t. 追上
sailboat [`sel"bot] n. 帆船
astronaut [`AstrJ"nOt] n. 太空人
Neil Armstrong [nel `armstrOG] n. 阿姆斯壯
relay [rI`le] v.t. 轉播
Aldebaran [Al`dEbJrJn] n. 畢宿五（金牛座中最亮的一顆星）
in the distant future 在遙遠的未來
Part B 讀後練習—Post-reading Practice
Ⅰ True or False: Mark T for a true statement and F for a false statement.
Ｔ
Ｆ
Ｔ
Ｆ
1. It takes less than 48 hours to send a mail from Taipei to almost every city in the world.
2. The world has become smaller because of recent natural disasters.
3. The solar sail will travel faster than the rocket.
4. The nearest star is 68 light years away.
Ⅱ Comprehension Questions: Choose the best answer to each question.
Ｃ
1. The champion against whose record all other challengers must be measured is
Ｃ
(A) the spaceship
(B) sound
(C) light
(D) the Concorde
2. According to scientists, when could human beings conquer space?
Ｄ
(A) When people begin to ride on horseback.
(B) When the space sailboat launched in 2010.
(C) When we begin to travel at the speed of light.
(D) Whenever we are confident of ourselves.
3. Which of the following statements is true?
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高中英文（一）Outside Reading — 533556608
(A) We now can reach the Taurus easily.
(B) Einstein is capable of conquering space.
(C) The author holds a negative view toward the space travel.
(D) Neil Armstrong is the first man who landed on the moon.
Part C 字彙練習—Vocabulary Practice
Fill in the blanks with proper vocabulary.
remarkable
1. Ken set a r
e record that shocked everyone in the community.
conquer
2. Joanna tries to do everything possible to c
r Peter’s heart.
relayed
3. The baseball game will be r
yed on TV throughout Taiwan.
launch
shattered
4. The United States planned to l
5. His dream to study abroad is s
h another space shuttle to the space.
red because of his father’s sudden death.
Part D 片語填空—Idiom and Phrase Practice
1. 小時候，我喜歡到鄉下的農場騎馬。
When I was very little, I liked to ride
on
2. 想在一夕間精通英語是不可能的事。
horseback
on the ranch in the countryside.
It is
out
of
the
question
to master English overnight.
3. 在遙遠的未來，人們可能只需透過虹膜感應就能買東西了。
People might make a purchase only by iris sensor
-3-
in
the
distant
future .