文档介绍：COLLEGE ENGLISH INTENSIVE READING BOOK II
UNIT ONE
IS THERE LIFE ON EARTH?
There was great excitement on the of Venus this week. For the first time Venusian scientists managed to land a satellite on the Earth, and it has been sending back signals as well as photographs ever since.
The satellite was directed into an area known as Manhattan(named after the great Venusian astronomer Prof. Manhattan, who first discovered it with his telescope 20,000 light years ago.)
Because of excellent weather conditions and extremely strong signals, Venusian scientists were able to get valuable information as to the feasibility of a manned flying saucer landing on Earth. A press conference was held at the Venus Institute of Technology.
“We e to the conclusion, based on last week’s satellite landing,” said, “that there is no life on Earth.”
“How do you know this?” the science reporter of the Venus Evening Star asked.
“For one thing, Earth’s surface in the area of Manhattan posed of solid concrete and nothing can grow there. For another, the atmosphere is filled with carbon monoxide and other deadly gases and nobody could possibly breathe this air and survive.”
“What does this mean as far as our flying saucer program is concerned?”
“We shall have to take our own oxygen with us, which means a much heavier flying saucer than we originally planned.”
“Are there any other hazards that you discovered in your studies?”
“Take a look at this photo. You see this dark black cloud hovering over the surface of Earth? We call this the Consolidated Edison Belt. We don’t know what it is made of, but it could give us a lot of trouble and we shall have to make further tests before we send a Venus Being there.
“Over here you will notice what seems to be a river, but the satellite findings indicate it is polluted and the water is unfit to drink. This means we shall have to carry our own water, which will add even greater weight to the saucer.”
“Sir, what are all those tiny black s