Question

In the science film Sunshine, an astronaut named Mace must leave his spacecraft without a protective suit for 15 seconds. He makes it through with the damage(損害) as a result of being very cold. Have you ever wondered what might happen to your body in space without a spacesuit?

On Earth, our atmosphere (air) protects us from the sun’s harmful UV rays, controls temperatures and also keeps a nice atmosphere pressure. The vacuum (真空) of space, however, is full of dangers.

One of the serious dangers Mace might face in outer space is ebullism (體液沸騰). The pressure in the vacuum of space is so low that the boiling point of the fluids (液體) in your body drops below the body’s normal temperature (37℃), which results in the formation of gas bubbles in your fluids that can really make you feel aching.

Another serious danger is the lack of oxygen. After around 15 seconds, your body would have used up all pf the oxygen in your body and you’d lose consciousness (意識). Some of you may be thinking “But I can hold my breath for minutes!?” The situation in space is a little different than here on Earth because of the lack of outside pressure, and if you held your breath in space without a suit you’d be in a big trouble. This is because any remaining air would rapidly enlarge, breaking the lungs.

After losing consciousness, you’ll probably last a couple of minutes at most before you die. Of course, there’s all that awful UV from the Sun which is going to give you serious sun burn, likely leading to cancer.

Is little damage for coldness a reasonable result of Sunshine’s suit less spacewalk? Actually it’s extremely cold in space, but astronauts wouldn’t immediately freeze because heat leaves the body very slowly in a vacuum. Therefore, the cold wouldn’t cause Mace too much harm in just 15 seconds, even if he faced the very lowest temperatures in space. The more likely damage would be caused from the enlargement and breaking of the skin’s small blood vessels (血管).

Anyway, obviously it’s never a good idea to go into space without some kind of protection. But don’t lose hope because you are probably saved with timely help before you die, so keep up!

1.Where can we read the passage?

A.In a magazine. B.In a diary.

C.In a movie poster. D.In a how-to book.

2.What does the writer think of the air or the vacuum?

A.The vacuum helps astronauts walking and Waving in space.

B.The air supplies living protection and temperature control.

C.The air brings people serious problems sometimes on Earth.

D.The pressure of vacuum in space increases the boiling point.

3.What is the purpose of writing this passage?

A.To encourage readers to watch the film Sunshine.

B.To show the readers many serious air problems.

C.To discuss the causes of cancer from the sunburn.

D.To explain the unreasonable damage in the film.

4.What is the best title of the passage?

A.Keep Alive in Space B.Walking Freely in Space

C.Without a Spacesuit D.Coldness Damage in Space

Answer 1