A
A few hours after my first mission, returning to Earth on the space shuttle Endeavour, I completed all of my medical tests after flight, met with NASA officials, and reunited with my family. Finally, I was alone in any office room in astronaut crew quarters at the Kennedy Space Center, exhausted and ready for bed. And 1 did what anyone does when they return to their hotel room on a business trip: I turned on the TV. The television news started up: Such and such had happened, people were shocked, blah blah blah. Sports scores. Silly commercials.
It didn't take more than a minute before I had to turn it off. It felt like my body was rejecting all this input, just as it would reject an organ donation that had the wrong blood type. All of this noise was just completely foreign to who I was-or, more appropriately, who I had become. A few hours before, I had been orbiting Earth, seeing our planet from space, flying the most amazing machine ever built by human hands, working with a team that was the absolute success of human. And now here in my room watching what was being sold as news, and with my newfound perspective, I just could not stomach it. My worldview was changed forever in a profound(深刻的)way.
The biggest change by far and the one for which I will always be most grateful is this big-picture perspective. That will stick with me for the rest of my life.
Whenever I feel the pressure of modern life, the stress about work, or worry about the future, I remember my time in the space station. Back to seeing the sun set. Or watching our galaxy rise on the horizon. Or seeing a sea of lightning flash a hundred times a second. Or simply back to floating weightlessly.
When I'm there in my mind and realize how many billions of these beautiful sunsets there have been and will be in the future, the cares of the world just don't seem that pressing. It goes that, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. " Living daily life down here
on the planet is so much better with this attitude!
21. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word stomach in paragraph 2?
A. Access. B. Attend. C. Accept. D. Afford.
22. What is the most important change to the writer?
A. He has a broader view of the world.
B. He doesn't like watching TV any more.
C. He will always be most grateful for everything.
D. He can fly the most amazing machine by hands.
23. What attitude to life does the writer tend to have?
A. A caged bird longs for clouds.
C. Let bygones be bygones.
B. Live in the present moment.
D. Time works great changes.
