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Is Exploring Space a Waste of Time and Money?
探索太空是在浪费时间和金钱吗？
Countries around the globe are spending billions of dollars and lots of time on various space missions, whether to Mars or other planets much further away.
在探索火星和更遥远的星球等各种太空任务上，世界各国都花费了数十亿美元，也投入了大量的时间。
Some people argue that we should stop wasting time and money exploring space.
有人认为，我们不应该再浪费时间和金钱来探索太空了。
Instead, we should feed the world's poor and find immediate solutions to other problems, such as pollution and fatal diseases.
相反，我们应该补贴世界上的穷人，还应该立即解决环境污染和绝症等其他问题。
However, others feel this is a shallow view which fails to realise how exploring space helps us.
但其他人则认为这个观点很肤浅，因为他们并未意识到探索太空给我们带来的帮助。
Firstly, exploring space has already made a difference in the fight against world hunger.
首先，探索太空已经在解决世界饥荒问题上发挥了作用。
It has directly resulted in the many satellites that now orbit Earth.
这正是如今有许多卫星绕地球飞行的直接原因。
A number of the satellites record data on land and weather patterns. Then the data is transmitted to scientists on Earth.
许多卫星记录了有关土地和气候模式的数据，然后将数据传送给地球上的科学家。
After careful analysis, the scientists can provide useful recommendations and advice for farmers.
经过认真分析，科学家们可以为农民提供有用的建议。
As a result, space-based science has helped farming in its efforts to grow enough food to feed Earth's increasing population.
因此，太空科学对农业是有益的，它可以帮助种出足够的粮食来养活地球上不断增长的人口。
Secondly, space exploration has already promoted technological improvements that benefit us all.
其次，太空探索已经促进了对全人类有益的科技进步。
High-end products around the world are made to a higher standard now because of advanced technology which was first created to meet the requirements for space exploration.
由于先进技术首次出现是为了满足太空探索的要求，所以全球高端产品的生产标准都更高了。
For example, space technologies have helped the research and development of different types of new material.
例如，太空技术已经帮助研发出不同种类的新材料。
They have also helped companies make better heart monitors and other machines that doctors regularly use.
太空技术还帮助公司制造出更好的心脏监视器和医生常用的其他机器。
Today, space technologies are widely used in all kinds of industries, and everyday products such as GPS, memory foam pillows, and smartphone cameras are changing our lives.
如今，太空技术已广泛应用于各行各业以及全球定位系统、记忆泡沫枕头和智能手机相机等日常用品。
Finally, sending astronauts into space has helped people to think about the world's problems and even to find ways to solve them.
最后一点，将宇航员送往太空帮助人们思考了世界上的难题，甚至找到了解决它们的方法。
Seeing pictures of our planet as an island in a black sea made people realise that our planet's resources are limited.
看到我们的星球是黑海中的一座岛屿的图片，人们就会意识到我们星球的资源是有限的。
In order to provide for such a rapidly increasing population, scientists are trying to find other planets that could one day be our new home.
考虑到快速增长的人口，科学家们试图寻找有可能成为我们未来新家园的行星。
The greatest attention at present is on Mars because it is closer to Earth. In the future, humans may live on both planets.
目前最受关注的行星是火星，因为它离地球更近。未来，人类可能生活在两个星球上。
In closing, exploring space provides the world with many different benefits.
总之，探索太空能为地球带来诸多好处。
Therefore, it should continue so as to provide new and better solutions to people's short-term and long-term problems.
因此，太空探索应该继续下去，这样才能为人类遇到的短期和长期问题提供新的、更好的解决方案。
