Text D  The Space Race

1.  During Eisenhower's second term, outer space had become an arena for U. S.-Soviet competition. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik - an artificial satellite thereby demonstrating it could build more powerful rockets than the United States. The United States launched its first satellite, Explorer I, in 1958. But three months after Kennedy became president, the U.S.S.R. put the first man in orbit. Kennedy responded by committing the United States to land a man on the moon and bring him back “before this decade is out”. With Project Mercury in 1962, John Glenn became the first U. S. astronaut to orbit the Earth.

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human member to enter space, making the Soviet Union defeat the United States again. 

2.  After Kennedy's death, President Lyndon Johnson enthusiastically supported the space program. In the mid-1960s, U.S. scientists developed the two-person Gemini spacecraft. Gemini achieved several firsts, including an eight-day mission in August 1965--- the longest space flight at that time and in November1966，the first automatically controlled reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere. Gemini also accomplished the first manned linkup of two spacecraft in flight as well as the first U.S. walks in space. 

3.  The three-person Apollo spacecraft achieved Kennedy's goal and demonstrated to the world that the United States had surpassed Soviet capabilities in space. On July 20, 1969,  with hundreds of millions of television viewers watching around the world, Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon. 

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, in Apollo XI, were the first men to walk on the moon in 1969.

4.  Other Apollo flights followed, but many Americans began to question the value of manned space flight. In the early 1970s, as other priorities became more pressing, the United States scaled down the space program. Some Apollo missions were scrapped; only one of two proposed Skylab space stations was built.

 

Questions for Discussion or Reflection

(1) What is Sputnik?

(2) Who was the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth?

(3) What demonstrated to the world that the United States had 

     surpassed Soviet in space?

(4) Who was the first man to walk on the surface of the moon?

(5) Do you think that the space race is justifiable?

 

Proper Names

 

Alan Shepard  艾伦·谢泼德 (美国第一位进入太空的宇航员)

Buzz Aldrin  巴兹·奥尔德林 (第二位登上月球的宇航员)

Fidel Castro  菲德尔·卡斯特罗

Martin Luther King   马丁·路德·金

Neil Armstrong       尼尔·阿姆斯特朗(第一位登上月球的宇航员)

Stokely Carmichael   斯托克利·卡迈克尔 (黑人民权领袖)

the Bay of Pigs invasion  猪湾事件

The Civil Rights Act   《美国民权法案》

the Paris Peace Accords  《巴黎和平协议》

the Space Race      太空竞赛

the Vietnam War       越南战争

the Woodstock Festival    伍德斯托克音乐节

 

Notes

1. The Bay of Pigs Invasion: It is an unsuccessful attempt 

    by United States -- backed Cuban exiles to overthrow the 

    government of Fidel Castro. Increasing friction between the U. S. 

    government and Castro’s administration led President 

    Dwight D. Eisenhower to break off diplomatic relations with Cuba 

    in January1961. Even before that, however, the Central 

    Intelligence Agency had been training anti-revolutionary Cuban 

    exiles for a possible invasion of the island. The invasion plan was 

    approved by Eisenhower’s successor, John F. Kennedy.

 

2. The Civil Rights Act ( 1964): This act, signed into  

    law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964，prohibited 

    discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of 

    schools and other public facilities, and made employment 

    discrimination illegal. This document was the most sweeping civil 

    rights legislation since Reconstruction.

 

3. Hippies:The hippie subculture originally a youth 

   was movement that began in the United States during the 

   early 1960s and spread around the world. These people inherited 

   the countercultural values of the Beat Generation, created their own 

   communities, listened to psychedelic rock, embraced the sexual 

   revolution, and used drugs to explore alternative states of 

   consciousness.

 

4. Hispanic Americans: Hispanic and Latino Americans 

   are Americans of origins in Hispanic countries of Latin America or 

   in Spain. The group encompasses distinct sub-groups by national 

   origin and race, and there is much diversity of race and ancestry 

   within national origin groups as well. Hispanic and Latino 

   Americans are the largest ethnic minority in the United States; 

   African Americans, in turn, are the largest racial minority after 

   white Americans in general.

 

5. The Woodstock Festival: Woodstock is a music festival. The 

   festival exemplified the counterculture of the late 1960s to early 

   1970s and the “hippie era”. Thirty-two of the best-known 

   musicians of the day appeared during the sometimes rainy weekend 

   in front of nearly half a million concertgoers. Although attempts 

   have been made over the years to emulate the festival, the original 

   event has proven to be unique and legendary. It is widely regarded 

   as one of the greatest moments in popular music history and was 

   listed on “Rolling Stone's 50 Moments That Changed the History 

   of Rock and Roll”.

 

6. Stokely Carmichael: He is an American black activist active in 

   the1960s American Civil Rights Movement. He rose to 

   prominence first as a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating

   Committee (SNCC).