五. On The Earth or into the Sky? With the Shenzhou No.6 successfully soaring into the sky and returning to the earth safely, China’s space flight has stepped further forward. But there arises a controversy: does it merit all the large sum of money and efforts (put in to achieve the success)?
Given the poor conditions in rural China, the children not being able to go to school, the husbands struggling to sustain a family, the old having difficulty living a healthy and happy life, some critics hold that the money, which has gone to the research of space flight, should have been taken better advantage of to improve people’s lives in the not so developed areas in China. They wonder what on earth the significance is to these people as far as the space flight is concerned.
But tastes differ. Those who approve of space flight maintain that it not only indicates our country’s progress in science and technology but also benefits all of us in that it helps in other scientific areas, Additionally, to compete in the world, we have to invest in space exploration to win worldwide attention and respect.
From my point of view, what we should give priority to is people’s lives, as it is the fundamental problem of almost every country. On the other hand, we should keep pace with the world in science and technology, space flight included. Only in this way can we have an advanced and harmonious society to live in.