Famous aquanaut plans undersea human habitat

河北 胡金瑩

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難詞探意

1.aquanaut /'?kw?n??t/ n.海底觀察員

2.conservationist /,k?ns?'ve???n?st/ n.自然環境保護主義者

3.dock /d?k/ v.（使船）進港；進入船塢

4.hollow /'h?l??/ adj.空心的；中空的

5.inhabitant /?n'h?b?t?nt/ n.居民

Fabien Cousteau, a world-famousaquanaut, is planning to build an undersea version of the International Space Station.At present, he is trying to raise money to build Proteus, an underwater laboratory and living space for scientists to help us discover new marine species and better understand oceans and climate change.

Fabien Cousteau grew up exploring the oceans on his grandfather's ships.Like his grandfather, a former French naval officer, ocean explorer, inventor, scientist, filmmaker, photographer, author andconservationist, he's now an aquanaut, conservationist and documentary filmmaker.

In 2014, he lived for 31 days aboard the Aquarius, the world's only underwater research laboratory, which is 19 meters underwater, 14.5 kilometers off the coast of Florida, US.He and his team did scientific research, filmed their activities and held virtual classroom sessions with students around the world.The mission was called Mission 31.

After understanding how much work could be done in just 31 days, Mr Cousteau now wants to build a permanent underwater habitat called Proteus.Plans for Proteus are for it to cover an area of just over 371 sqm, or about twice the size of an average house in Australia.That would make it three or four times the size of any other previous underwater human habitats.

Proteus would be based on a spiral (螺旋形的) shape, with legs anchoring it to the sea flooroff the coast of Cura?ao in the Caribbean,18meters underwater.It would be made up of pods (吊艙) and a centraldockingstation, which Jacques Cousteau called a “liquid door”, for submarines to attach to each other so as to transfer people and supplies.One of the challenges will be to get it underwater, because ahollowstructure filled with air will float.

Proteus could hold twelve people at a time for thirty days with room for work, exercise, sleeping and living.Just like on the International Space Station, there are practical problems with living in an environment new to humans.There needs to be UV light, for instance, to help keep theinhabitantshealthy, and a way to grow and cook food.

Reading Check

1.Why did Fabien intend to set up Proteus?

A.To deal with climate problems.B.To find new marine species.

C.To learn more about the oceans.D.To change the undersea environment.

2.What did Fabien do in Mission 31?

A.He did scientific research.B.He made adventure films.

C.He attended special classes.D.He provided information for students.

3.Why is it difficult for Proteus to reach underwater?

A.There is too much air.B.It is not heavy enough.

C.It has a hollow structure.D.It doesn't have enough supplies.

4.What can we know about Proteus according to the text?

A.It is equipped with UV light.

B.It can contain twenty people at a time.

C.It is twice larger than an ordinary house.

D.It can stay underwater for only a month.

Language Study

Sentence for writing

Proteus would be based on a spiral shape, with legs anchoring it to the sea floor off the coast of Cura?ao in the Caribbean, 18 meters underwater.Proteus將以螺旋形狀為基礎， 用腿將其固定在加勒比海庫拉索海岸的海底水下18米。

【信息提取】with legs anchoring it to the sea floor off the coast of Cura?ao in the Caribbean構成with的復合結構，legs和anchor之間構成邏輯上的主動關系。

【句式仿寫】因為科學家們日夜的努力工作，中國在航天工業上取得了巨大的成就。