Tracking Stations

One night in February 1962, John H. Glenn, Jr., flew over Australia. The man in the Mercury（水星）capsule（宇宙飞行容器）was alone, but friendly voices reached him by radio. Over the dark land 100 miles below, he saw sparkling lights.  It marked the city of Perth, where people had turned on their lights as a greeting to him.

"In Friendship 7," Glenn radioed, "the lights show up very well. Thank everybody for turning them on." His capsule needed on to the east.

During his three orbits of the earth, Glenn could always reach one of the eighteen tracking stations. Some of them were on ships at sea. Others were in the United States.

Many of the stations had been built with the help of other countries. These countries allowed Americans to bring in radio equipment and set it up. Without the help of such lands as Nigeria, Zanzibar, and Mexico, there would have been breaks in the worldwide radio network. John Glenn, Jr., was the first American to orbit the earth. For his flight, the tracking network（跟踪网络）covered 60,000 land or statute miles（法定英里）. Five hundred men worked in the stations along the route. Since his flight, the network has grown. Today, it covers more than 100, 000 statute or land miles and has about one hundred stations. One-third of these stations are outside the United States.

66．This passage is mainly about________.

A．talking to ships at sea around the world

B．breaks in the worldwide network

C．the first American to orbit the earth

D．a satellite which fell into the ocean

67．From the passage we can see that________.

A．Friendship 7 stopped in Perth, Australia

B．all tracking stations are inside the United States

C．radio equipment is important in space flight

D．many people could see Glenn in his capsule when he made the flight

68．During his flight Glenn could always________.

A．see lights turned on the ground      B．reach ships at sea

C．reach one of the tracking stations    D．arrive at Mercury in his Friendship 7

69．Why did people in Perth turn on the lights?

A．They wanted to guide him to land.

B．It was too dark for them to see in the room.

C．They wanted to see the Friendship 7．

D．They wanted to greet Glenn.

70．Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Countries must work together to track satellites.

B．There are now about 30 tracking stations outside the United States.

C．The tracking network covers many more statute miles now than before.

D．Nobody has orbited the earth except Glenn.

   One night in February 1962, John H. Glenn, Jr. flew over Australia. The man in the Mercury  (水星) capsule was alone, but friendly voices reached him by radio. Over the dark land 100 miles below, he saw sparkling lights. It marked the city of Perth, where people had turned on their lights as a greeting to him.

   In Friendship 7, Glenn radioed, "The lights show up very well. Thank everybody for turning them on." His capsule moved on to the east.

   "During his three orbits of the earth, Glenn could always reach one of the 18 tracking stations. Some of them were on ships at sea. Others were in the United States.

   Many of the stations had been built with the help of other countries. These countries allowed  Americans to bring in radio equipment and set it up. Without the help of such lands as Nigeria,  Zanzibar and Mexico, there would have been breaks in the worldwide radio network. John Glenn, Jr. was the first American to orbit the earth. For his flight, the tracking network covered 60,000  statute miles (法定英里). 500 men worked in the stations along the route. Since his flight, the  network has grown. Today, it covers more than 100,000 statute miles and has about 100 stations. One-third of these stations are outside the United States.

36. People in the city of Perth turned on lights to ________.

   A. greet Glenn

   B. see Friendship 7

   C. guide Glenn to land

   D. celebrate the date of Glenn's flight

37. During his flight Glenn could __

   A. reach the ships at sea

   B. visit the tracking stations

   C. see lights on the ground clearly

   D. get in touch with people on land

38. From the text we know that tracking stations have the duty to

   A. serve the worldwide radio network                     

   B. decide the direction of Friendship 7

   C. help flying ships move around the earth

   D. connect people on land with those at sea

39. How many tracking stations are there in the US?

   A. About 18.        B. About 35.          C. About 65.          D. About 100.

This brief book is aimed at high school students, but speaks to anyone learning at any stage of life.
Its formal, serious style closely matches its content, a school-masterly book on schooling. The author, W. H. Armstrong, starts with the basics: reading and writing. In his opinion, reading doesn’t just mean recognizing each word on the page; it means taking in the information, digesting it and incorporating it into oneself just as one digests a sandwich and makes it a part of himself. The goal is to bring the information back to life, not just to treat it as dead facts on paper from dead trees. Reading and writing cannot be completely separated from each other; in fact, the aim of reading is to express the information you have got from the text. I’ve seen it again and again: someone who can’t express an idea after reading a text is just as ineffective as someone who hasn’t read it at all.
Only a third of the book remains after that discussion, which Armstrong devotes to specific tips for studying languages, math, science and history. He generally handles these topics thoroughly  and equally, except for some weakness in the science and math sections and a bit too much passion regarding history. Well, he was a history teacher —if conveyed only a tenth of his passion to his students, that was a hundred times more than my history teachers ever got across.
To my disappointment, in this part of the book he ignores the arts．As a matter of fact, they demand all the concentration, and study that math arid science do, though the study differs slightly in kind．Although it's commonly believed that the arts can only be naturally acquired, actually, learning the arts is no more natural than learning French or mathematics．
My other comment is that tke text aged．The first edition apparently dates to the 1960s—none of the references （参考文献） seem newer than the late 1950s．As a result, the discussion misses the entire computer age．
These are small points, though, and don't affect the main discussion．I recommend it to any student and any teacher, including the self-taught student．
【小题1】According to Armstrong, the goal of reading is to ____       .