3105期高中基础音频 Space: the Final Frontier There’s no shortage of headlines about rocket launches, orbiting (绕轨道运行的) satellites, or some country making a leap into the cosmos. China just launched its Shenzhou-19 spaceship, Japan’s first wooden satellite is traveling around Earth (you read that right: wooden), and SpaceX has caught massive rocket boosters (助推器) with giant robotic “chopsticks.” We find space exploration fascinating, but why? Why do we keep spending so much time and money trying to conquer the universe? Humans have always been explorers. First, it was caves and forests. Then, our curiosity took us further afield and across oceans. Now, it’s out of this world, literally! Just as our ancestors ventured (冒险) beyond the horizon to understand more and improve their lives, we now explore space to expand our understanding and hopefully live a better life on Earth. NASA puts it best: “Our reasons for exploring the universe are as vast as space itself.” Curiosity is baked into our DNA; it’s why we invent, innovate and risk our lives to learn something new. For many people, the question “What’s out there?” is simply irresistible (无法抗拒的). It’s not just starry-eyed curiosity, though. There are actual benefits to space exploration. Groundbreaking technology from space missions has become part of our daily lives. Just think of your phone camera, which was developed using early imaging tech meant to capture pictures of distant planets. Then there are the medical advancements which have given us better imaging techniques, safer materials and even ways to fight cancer. Another reason we reach for the stars is resources. Earth has limited minerals (矿物) and other substances, but space doesn’t. It’s practically a goldmine. Scientists believe some asteroids (小行星) are packed with precious metals like gold and platinum (白金), which could one day help us address resource shortages here at home. But maybe the best reason to keep exploring space is that it inspires us. Watching rockets launch, rovers rolling over the surface of Mars, or astronauts floating around in the International Space Station fuels our imagination and reminds us of humanity’s potential. It tells us that we’re capable of incredible things, and that our home planet is part of something much, much bigger. Space exploration is our final frontier — for now, at least. Until we’ve answered all our cosmic questions, we’ll keep exploring, discovering and reaching for the stars. We can’t help ourselves. It’s human nature. How the Return of Li Ziqi Broke the Internet On November 12, Li Ziqi, one of China’s most popular influencers, suddenly dropped her first videos in more than three years. Fans around the world went crazy for her return. Li first gained fame for posting videos about her life in the countryside of Sichuan, where she was born. This content, which often featured Li cooking and making handicrafts against a peaceful countryside background, quickly found a large audience both in China and abroad. Li’s popularity springs from several different sources. Her content about calming countryside life provided some relief to people, especially millennials and Gen Z, who have been under the increasing pressures of city life. In addition, her effort to preserve traditional Chinese culture attracted a broader audience. Then, of course, there is the drama of her recent career.By 2021, Li had tens of millions of fans on Chinese social media. She had also become the most popular Chinese-language influencer on YouTube. But her accounts suddenly went dark as she was reportedly caught in a contract dispute with her agency, Weinian. In 2017, Li and the agency set up a company to manage her rapidly growing content empire. Li reportedly held a 49% stake in the company. Later, the two parties were embroiled in a lawsuit over the company. While the exact reasons behind the dispute remain unclear, some said that it was probably because Li didn’t want her work to be overly commercialized. In 2022, Weinian announced that they had reached a settlement with Li. This allowed the influencer to own a 99% stake in the company, giving her control over her own content. In January 2023, Weinian entirely withdrew from its shareholding position in the company. But Li didn’t restart posting videos until last Tuesday, when she unexpectedly posted two new videos to her channels. Li appears to have been preparing her comeback for some time. Her first video, which runs for 14 minutes, records a months-long effort to build a purple lacquered wardrobe (衣柜) for her grandmother. She made the lacquerware from scratch, as she had done with everything in her earlier videos. During the years away from social media, Li traveled around China to deepen her knowledge of traditional cultural forms. She visited more than 100 experts in 20 different provinces. Li plans to continue promoting traditional Chinese culture. A series of videos are in the works, developed with many different artisans. A Swimmer to Remember Gertrude Ederle waded into the waters of the English Channel on August 6, 1926. It was her second attempt to swim the 21-mile stretch of sea between France and England. No woman had ever completed the feat (壮举) before. This time, she figured she would either succeed or die trying. The weather was calm that morning. However, as Ederle swam through the water, the sky darkened. More than halfway across the Channel, the seas became so choppy (波涛汹涌的) that the captain of her support boat started to get nervous. The wind screamed, the waves rose as high as 1.8 meters, and rain continued to pour down. Ederle, just 19 years old at the time, was happily riding the waves up and gliding back down, singing popular tunes in her head. Ederle had surprised the world right from the start of her career. She was only 15 when she took part in her first major race, the Day Cup, a 3.5-mile international women’s race between Manhattan Beach and Brighton Beach. She entered as a complete unknown and beat the reigning (当时的) American and European champions. At the time, it wasn’t common for girls to learn to swim. Ederle’s father was a successful man who bought a vacation home on the New Jersey shore, where he encouraged his daughters to swim. It turned out that Gertrude, the third daughter of the family, loved the sport. She suffered from a hearing impairment (障碍) from a disease at age five. Her disability made her feel socially awkward, but in the water, she found comfort. Back then, the public belief was that women simply weren’t capable of swimming the English Channel. The weather was too changeable, the distance too long and the tides merciless (无情的). Besides, only five men had ever achieved the feat, and there’d been dozens of failed attempts. Unlike many women swimmers at the time who trained in pools, Ederle had developed unusual strength and stamina (耐力) from playing in the ocean all day. She was also blessed with a strong, broad-shouldered physique (体格) that gave her an advantage as a swimmer. Apart from the violent storm, Ederle braved the threat of sharks and jellyfish and a tongue swollen (肿胀) from the salt. Fourteen hours and 31 minutes after leaving France, Ederle stumbled (蹒跚而行) onto shore. Despite the terrible conditions, she had done it nearly two hours faster than any of the five men before her. News of Ederle’s victory spread across Europe and North America. Job offers and invitations to fancy events poured in. When she came back to New York City, hundreds of thousands of people showed up to greet her in a ticker-tape parade (纸带游行). Women soon began to participate in more sporting events and become professional athletes. Historians credit this partly to Ederle’s groundbreaking (开创性的) swim.
