Almost every day we see something in the papers about the latest exciting developments in the space race. Photographs are regularly flashed to the earth from thousands and even millions of miles away. They are printed in our newspapers and shown on our television screens as a visible proof of the mans newest achievements. The photographs neatly sum up the results of these massive efforts to conquer space and at the same time they exposed the absurdity of the undertaking. All we can see is an indistinguishable blob which is supposed to represent a planet seen from several thousand miles away. we are going to end up with a little moon-dust and a few stones which will be put behind glass in some museum. This is hardly value for money when you think that our own earth ca provide countless sights which are infinitely more exciting and spectacular.

　　The space race is not simply the objective search for knowledge it is often made out to be. It is just an extension of the race for power on earth. Only the wealthiest nations can compete and they do so in the name of pure scientific research. But in reality, all they are interested in is power and prestige. They want to impress us, their spectators, with a magnificent show of strength. Man has played the power game ever since the appeared on earth. Now he is playing it as it has never been played before. The space race is just another aspect of the age-old argument that might is right.

　　We are often told that technological know-how, acquired in attempting to get us into orbit, will be utilized to make better on earth. but what has the space race done to relieve the suffering of the earths starving millions? In what way has it raised the standard of living of any one of us? As far as the layman is concerned, the practical results of all this expenditure of money and efforts are negligible. Thanks to space research, we can now see television pictures transmitted live half-way across the globe and the housewife can use non-stick frying-pans in the kitchen. The whole thing becomes utterly absurd when you think that no matter what problems man overcomes, it is unlikely that he will ever be able to travel even to the nearest star.

　　Poverty, hunger, disease and war are mans greatest enemies and the world would be an infinitely better place if the powerful nations devoted half as much money and effort to those problems as they do to the space race. For the first time in his history, man has the overwhelming resources to combat human suffering, yet he squanders them on meaningless pursuits.

　　If a man deprived himself and his family of food in order to buy and run a car, we would consider him mad. Individuals with limited budgets usually get their priorities right: they provide themselves with necessities before trying to obtain luxuries. Why cans great nations act in the same sensible way? Let us put our house in order first and let space look after itself.

　　嚴師點評：

　　考官朋友推薦的一篇難得一見的9分作文.經典的地方實在太多了，比如開頭，比如結尾, 比如論證手法.作者看似選了一個不容易處理的結構-單支，但由于有強大的語言實力，不僅做到了自圓其說，而且論證充分，文筆生動有力.按小五大六的方法做個范文筆記，你會大有收獲......比如，作者3次提到太空研究的一個弱項----投資的性價比不高，有3個精彩的也是大量作文絕對要用的經典表達，你能找出幾個?

　　Almost every day we see something in the papers about the latest exciting developments in the space race. Photographs are regularly flashed to the earth from thousands and even millions of miles away. They are printed in our newspapers and shown on our television screens as a visible proof of the mans newest achievements. The photographs neatly sum up the results of these massive efforts to conquer space and at the same time they exposed the absurdity of the undertaking. All we can see is an indistinguishable blob which is supposed to represent a planet seen from several thousand miles away. we are going to end up with a little moon-dust and a few stones which will be put behind glass in some museum. This is hardly value for money when you think that our own earth ca provide countless sights which are infinitely more exciting and spectacular.

　　The space race is not simply the objective search for knowledge it is often made out to be. It is just an extension of the race for power on earth. Only the wealthiest nations can compete and they do so in the name of pure scientific research. But in reality, all they are interested in is power and prestige. They want to impress us, their spectators, with a magnificent show of strength. Man has played the power game ever since the appeared on earth. Now he is playing it as it has never been played before. The space race is just another aspect of the age-old argument that might is right.

　　We are often told that technological know-how, acquired in attempting to get us into orbit, will be utilized to make better on earth. but what has the space race done to relieve the suffering of the earths starving millions? In what way has it raised the standard of living of any one of us? As far as the layman is concerned, the practical results of all this expenditure of money and efforts are negligible. Thanks to space research, we can now see television pictures transmitted live half-way across the globe and the housewife can use non-stick frying-pans in the kitchen. The whole thing becomes utterly absurd when you think that no matter what problems man overcomes, it is unlikely that he will ever be able to travel even to the nearest star.

　　Poverty, hunger, disease and war are mans greatest enemies and the world would be an infinitely better place if the powerful nations devoted half as much money and effort to those problems as they do to the space race. For the first time in his history, man has the overwhelming resources to combat human suffering, yet he squanders them on meaningless pursuits.

　　If a man deprived himself and his family of food in order to buy and run a car, we would consider him mad. Individuals with limited budgets usually get their priorities right: they provide themselves with necessities before trying to obtain luxuries. Why cans great nations act in the same sensible way? Let us put our house in order first and let space look after itself.

　　嚴師點評：

　　考官朋友推薦的一篇難得一見的9分作文.經典的地方實在太多了，比如開頭，比如結尾, 比如論證手法.作者看似選了一個不容易處理的結構-單支，但由于有強大的語言實力，不僅做到了自圓其說，而且論證充分，文筆生動有力.按小五大六的方法做個范文筆記，你會大有收獲......比如，作者3次提到太空研究的一個弱項----投資的性價比不高，有3個精彩的也是大量作文絕對要用的經典表達，你能找出幾個?