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Around the country and around the world, there is no shortage of human suffering. Poverty, disease, violence, hurricanes, wildfire and more are constantly troubling humanity, and even our best efforts thus far can’t address all of everybody’s needs. Many are looking for places to cut funding, and one of the first places that comes up in conversation is excessive spending on space exploration. What good is it to conduct microgravity experiments repeatedly when children are starving? Why launch so many space-related projects when nuclear war threatens our planet?

This is a line of thinking that has been coming up throughout history. Yes, it’s short-sighted, in that it fails to recognize that our greatest problems require long-term investment, and that society’s greatest advances come about through hard work, research, development of decades after that is made. Investing in science is investing in the betterment of humanity.

Over these years, much of the results of the space research have been adapted to be applicable to our daily lives. For example, NASA’s advancements in the areas of robotics have given manufacturers an additional basis for the development of more advanced artificial limbs. Additionally, certain nutritional enrichment ingredients that were developed by NASA have been integrated into baby food formula.

Space technology has also helped improve economies. Within the next three years, the space exploration and space tourism industry are expected to be valued at 3 trillion USD. It is true that for every dollar we spend on the space program, the US economy receives about $8 of economic benefit. Space exploration can also serve as amotivation for children to enter the fields of science and engineering.

To many people, the idea of space travel may still seem far from practical. However, I believe that it is important that we keep going forward or we’ll risk delaying further discoveries and technological advancements that will be beneficial for us.

1．According to paragraph 1, what do some people think of space exploration?

A．Useless.	B．Wasteful.
C．Beneficial.	D．Harmful.

2．What does the underlined word “that” in the second paragraph refer to?

A．The advance.	B．The development.
C．The investment.	D．The problem.

3．How does NASA’s advancements contribute to the development of artificial limbs?

A．By providing a foundation.

B．By adding certain materials.

C．By acting as a driving force.

D．By helping realize the mass production.

4．What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?

A．The payback of space programs is very high.

B．Space travel appears to be within people’s reach.

C．More and more children are interested in science.

D．New technological discoveries have been delayed.