On 19th September 1783, Pilatre De Rozier, a scientist, sent the first hot air balloon. The passengers were three animals and the balloon stayed in the air for about 15 minutes before hitting back to the ground.

The first manned(载人的) flight was about 2 months later, with a balloon made by 2 French brothers. The balloon flew for a period of 20 minutes.

Sailing through the sky in the balloon, high above buildings and trees, you can't feel or hear the wind because you're traveling in the same direction and at the same speed as it is.

A hot air balloon has three main parts: the balloon, called an envelope; a basket, where passengers ride; and a burner system, which supplies the hot air.

Most balloon envelopes are made of strong, lightweight nylon(尼龙). They are different in size and shape, but they have to be really, really big to lift even one person. Most weigh more than an adult man.

The basket is usually made of wicker(柳条), which is strong but not too hard. It needs to bend a bit for a soft landing, just like a good jumper bends her legs instead of keeping them straight when she lands.

The hot air balloon works on the theory that hot air rises faster than cooler air. When the burner system is turned on, it makes a noisy sound, but once the balloon is flying, the burner can be turned off. The air in the envelope will then cool, and the balloon will slowly go down unless the pilot starts the burner system again.

To control a hot air balloon, a pilot adds hot air to it to go up or lets the air out to go down until he finds a wind blowing in the direction he wants to fly. But no matter which way the wind blows, the passengers have an amazing bird's-eye view of the world.

   As space science develops, man has learned more and more about space. Space is not only amazing but also dangerous. While working in space, spacemen are facing danger as well as success.

Scientists have found out that the radiation(辐射) is the greatest danger to spacemen in space. When spacemen are working in space, they are in danger of the radiation from the sun and other stars, which is bad for their health. The harm of the radiation won't be found until their children even grandchildren are born. Some special medicine may work a little, but no really effective medicine has been found so far.

Space rubbish is also thought to be a great danger to spacemen. It's reported that there were 9,000 man-made things flying in space. About 30% of these are satellites, 10% are spaceships, and the rest are space rubbish. An explosion(爆炸) in space in 1999 made a cloud of 300,000 fragments, each at least 4 mm in size. A small piece of these even knocked a spaceship window and caused some damage(损坏). Scientists are watching and reporting any possible danger all the time. They are working to deal with space rubbish.

Although space is really dangerous, it interests many people on the earth. In the near future, it may become possible for people to spend a few days in a space hotel. We may even choose to leave the earth and live in space in a few years. So we should do something to help improve the space environment.

China's second female astronaut, Wang Yaping, has given the country's first-ever video lecture from space. The whole lecture lasted about 40 minutes.

Speaking to students through live video, from the Tiangong-I space laboratory, Ms. Wang used spinning tops (旋转的陀螺), a ball and some water to explain physics in zero-gravity(失重), with the help of a fellow astronaut.

Ms. Wang used different experiments to demonstrate the concepts of weight and mass (重量和质量的概念) in space. Towards the end of the class, Ms. Wang made a film(薄膜) of water using a metal ring. She then turned the film of water into a water ball by pouring more water onto it.

Around 330 primary and secondary school students watched the lecture from a special classroom in Beijing, where they could also ask Ms. Wang questions through live video. From time to time, the students greeted her lecture with warm applause(掌声).

When answering a student's question, Ms. Wang described what she could see in space. "The stars we see are much brighter, but they do not twinkle(闪烁)," she said, "The sky we see isn't blue, but black. And every day, we can see the sun rise 16 times because we circle the Earth every 90 minutes."

About 60 million students and teachers around China also watched the lecture live on TV.

   Some people wonder why countries spend millions of dollars on space projects. They want to know how space research helps people on Earth. Actually, space technology helps people on Earth every day. This is called “spinoff technology”. Spinoff technology is space technology that is now used on Earth.

In early space programs, such as the Apollo missions(任务) of the 1960s and 1970s, and in the space shuttle missions today, scientists developed objects for the astronauts to use on the moon and in space. We now use some of these objects every day. For example, we have Quartz clocks and watches with an accuracy of one minute a year. We purify the water we drink with a water filter(过滤器) designed for the astronauts' use in space. The cordless, hand-held tools we use in our homes, such as cleaners, flashlights, drills, and irons came from the technology of these early space programs.

On cold winter days, we can stay warm with battery - operated shoes and socks, and insulated(绝缘的) coats and jackets. All of these clothes are similar to the spacesuit designs that keep astronauts comfortable in the temperatures of the moon, and are spinoffs from space technology.

These products are only a few examples of the many ways space technology helps us in our everyday life. No one knows how new spinoff technology from the International Space Station will help us in the future.

   Twenty-five-year-old South African DJ Mandla Maseko has been chosen as one of 23 people who will get to go to space! Maseko, a _________ African, can't wait to become the first black South African to go to _________!

He and 22 others were some of over one million who _________the Lynx Apollo Space Academy competition to win a ticket to space. When he was _________ why he wanted to go to space, Maseko's answer was _________, "want to fight against the rules of gravity(引力)."

He will start to do so on a Lynx mark II space ship in 2015, not only fighting against gravity but also realising his childhood _________ of becoming an astronaut when he grew up.

"We blacks also _________ with dreams. You dreamed of being a policeman or a teacher but you know you won't get as far as a pilot or an astronaut. Then I went to the space camp and I told _________that I could be an astronaut," said Maseko.

During the first week of December, Maseko, two other South Africans, _________more than 100 international contestants(选手) went to the space camp in Orlando, Florida to test if they are _________ enough to go to space.

Maseko knows there is a long way to go before he finally goes into space. "I'll be the first black South African and the first black African to go into space. When I think of the firsts, the first black presidents—Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, I tell myself to try my best.”