Which is sillier: denying we ever went to the moon or trying to convince the true nonbelievers?
Once upon a time – July 20, 1969, to be specific – two men got out of their little spaceship and wandered around on the moon for a while. Ten more men walked on the moon over the next three and a half years. The end.
Unfortunately, not quite. A fair number of Americans think that this whole business of moon landings really is a fairy tale. They believe that the landings were a big hoax (骗局) staged in the Mojave Desert, to convince everyone that U.S. technology was the “bestest” in the whole wide world.
Which is the harder thing to do: Send men to the moon or make believe we did? The fact is the physics behind sending people to the moon is simple. You can do it with computers whose entire memory capacities can now fit on chips the size of postage stamps and that cost about as much as, well, a postage stamp. I know you can because we did.
However, last fall NASA considered spending 15,000onapublic−relationscampaigntoconvincetheunimpressedthatAmericanshadinfactgonetothemoon.ThatideawasmostlyareactiontoaFoxtelevisionprogram,firstairedinFebruary2001,thatclaimedtoexposethehoax.Theshow′screatorisapublicityhound(猎狗)whohasliveduptothenameinmorewaysthanonebyhoundingBuzzAldrin,thesecondmanonthemoon.Mr.X(asIwillcallhim,therebydenyinghimthejoyoussightofhisnameinprint)recentlyfollowedBuzzAldrinaroundandcalledhim“athief,liarandcoward”untilthe72−year−oldastronautfinallylostitandhitthe37−year−oldMr.Xintheface.Anyway,NASA′spublicitycampaignbegantoslowdown.ThenonbelieverstookthecampaignasNASA′sefforttohidesomethingwhilethebelieverssaidthat15,000onapublic−relationscampaigntoconvincetheunimpressedthatAmericanshadinfactgonetothemoon.ThatideawasmostlyareactiontoaFoxtelevisionprogram,firstairedinFebruary2001,thatclaimedtoexposethehoax.Theshow′screatorisapublicityhound(猎狗)whohasliveduptothenameinmorewaysthanonebyhoundingBuzzAldrin,thesecondmanonthemoon.Mr.X(asIwillcallhim,therebydenyinghimthejoyoussightofhisnameinprint)recentlyfollowedBuzzAldrinaroundandcalledhim“athief,liarandcoward”untilthe72−year−oldastronautfinallylostitandhitthe37−year−oldMr.Xintheface.Anyway,NASA′spublicitycampaignbegantoslowdown.ThenonbelieverstookthecampaignasNASA′sefforttohidesomethingwhilethebelieverssaidthat15,000 to convince people that the world was round — I mean, that we had gone to the moon — was simply a waste of money. (Actually, the $15,000 was supposed to pay for an article by James E. Oberg, an astronomy writer who, with Aldrin, has contributed to Scientific American.)
If NASA’s not paying Oberg, perhaps it could put the money to good use by hiring two big guys to drag Neil Armstrong out of the house. Armstrong is an extremely private man, but he is also the first man on the moon, so maybe he has a duty to be a bit more outspoken about the experience. Or NASA could just buy Aldrin a commemorate plaque (纪念匾) for his recent touch on the face of Mr. X.
【小题1】We can learn from Paragraphs 2 and 3 that some Americans believe _______.
【小题2】According to the writer, which of the following is to blame for the story about the hoax?
【小题3】According to the writer, Mr. X _______.
【小题4】The believers think that NASA’s publicity campaign is ________.
【小题5】The tone of the article is _______.
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e little girl who- was- not- little- anymore left her home and went into the world. As she learned more about herself, she learned more about the man. She saw that he truly was great and strong, for now she recognized his strengths. One of his strengths was his ability to express his love to his family. It didn’t matter where she went in the world, the man would call her and say, “ I love you, little girl.”
t the words that his mouth could no longer say…
n after the daughter’s return.