Have you ever had that fantasy to visit the moon, grab a rock and throw it into space so it would float forever? Soon, if you have got the cash, you can!

Enter the Artemis Project. This new and exciting project is a private one that will “establish a permanent, self-supporting manned lunar base,” which translates into a community on the moon for people to live in. “It’s not a question of whether it’ll work, but rather how long it will take.” according to Gregory Bennett, the founder of the Artemis Project

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. That moment became a great achievement in both the space community and for humanity itself. Despite the significance of occasion, almost certainly when viewers saw images of his weightless, bouncing (彈跳) figure they thought, “That looks like fun!”

So the Artemis team is taking realistic approach to a human fantasy: they are marketing the project of a lunar base as pure entertainment.

Veronis, Suhler & Associates are investment bankers for the communications and media industry. Their research found that Americans spent over 40 billion dollars to be entertained in the movies, through home videos and television in 1999.

California investor, Dennis Tito, recently took a trip to the International Space Station, after donating $20 million dollars to the Russian Space program. Wealthy celebrities like Canadian director James Cameron and the brothers of rock band Oasis have also voiced their interest to visit the big ball in the sky. In the same report by Veronis, Suhler & Associates, consumers spent close to 4 billion dollars on video-game software alone. So, for $1.42 billion dollars the Artemis Project is a drop in the entertainment bucket.

University student, Al Dharsee says, “I would certainly go to the moon, if given the opportunity, so that I could look at the earth and laugh. But with the way we treat our own planet, I don’t think we deserve to set foot on any planets or moons for that matter.

However, if you’re one of those ready to book a flight, don’t pack your bags quite yet, your flight is not scheduled to depart for at least a couple of decades.

1.What is the Artemis Project aimed at?

A. Maintaining a manned lunar base.

B. Providing a new kind of entertainment.

C. Offering some community-based facilities.

D. Finding facts about the first exploration to the moon.

2. What did Veronis, Suhler& Associates find through their research?

A. Wealthy celebrities donated a lot of space programs.

B. The Artemis Project would cost less than $1.42 billion dollars.

C. Americans paid a large amount of money for entertainment.

D. More than $40 billion are spent on communications and media industries in 1999.

3.What does Al DHarsee imply?

A. Most planets deserve to be employed.

B. Human beings may destroy the moon.

C. It costs too much to destroy the environment.

D. The trip to the moon doesn’t appeal to him.

4.This text may be taken from .

A. a fiction story.

B. an advertisement.

C. an entertainment report.

D. a business survey.

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In 1992, I had just launched a new business called Video News International.

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I thought about it for two seconds.

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Idiot!

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