Lesson18 The International Space Station: A World Project
Scientists have built an exciting project 270 miles into space． Sixteencountries from all around the world worked together to plan and construct apermanent space station． The 16 nations included the United States，Canada，Japan，Russia，Brazil, Belgium，Denmark，France，Germany，Italy，theNetherlands，Norway，Spain，Sweden，Switzerland，and the United Kingdom． Infact， the International Space Station (ISS) is the largest internationalscientific project in human history．Construction on the ISS began in 1998and was completed in 2002．Six people from different countries live on the Space Station． It has apermanent laboratory where the scientists conduct research that they cannotdo on Earth． These studies will be possible because the space station isalmost completely outside Earth's gravity． Some of this important researchwill help scientists understand more about human learning and memory． Thescientists will also be able to study Earth systems such as the oceans，weather，climate，and plant growth．These systems affect the quality of lifefor all people today，as well as for our future generation．
construct 建造
permanent 永久的
construction 建造
gravity 重力
国际空间站一项全球性工程
科学家们已经在太空270英里处建造了一项激动人心的工程。世界上16个国家一同努力，设计并建造了一个永久性空间站。这16个国家包含美国、加拿大、日本、俄罗斯、巴西、比利时、丹麦、法国、德国、意大利、荷兰、挪威、西班牙、瑞典、瑞士和英国。
事实上，国际空间站是人类历史上最大的国际性科学项目。国际空间站的建造开始于1998年，完工于2002年。
源于不同国家的六个人居住在空间站中。空间站有一个永久的实验室，在那里科学家可以做他们在地球上没办法做的实验，由于空间站几乎完全不受地心引力影响。其中一些关键的研究将帮助科学家更好地知道人类的学习与记忆。科学家还将研究比如海洋、天气、气候和植物成长等地球系统。这类系统将影响大家所有人及大家后代的生活水平。
