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What is the most fun you can have in 21 hours and 23 minutes? On 15 October 2003, Yang Liwei answered this question. His voyage in space took him 600,000 kilometres in orbit,around the Earth 14 times, in just over 21 hours.It made him China's first astronaut in space. He had worked towards this achievement for many years.Born in 1965, Yang had wanted to fly since he was a young boy.His friends and teachers from Suizhong in north-east of Liaoning Province have all said that he loved science and technology from a young age. He always had a strong desire to learn how to fly.His dream was encouraged by his parents as well as his older sister and younger brother. In 1983, he joined the army, and went to flight school.He graduated in 1987 and became a pilot.In 1998, he applied to be a member of Project 921, which is now called Shenzhou.He was one of the only 14 selected from 1,500 candidates. The team spent the next five years being trained.They not only studied all the subjects required to be an astronaut, but also learnt survival skills and all about how spaceships and rockets are built. Yang scored among the very top in everything the group studied. In September 2003, only three out of the 14 candidates were picked for the Chinese space adventure, and Yang was one of them. He took all kinds of tests to prove he was fit for this important task. Although Yang did not get the best scores on every single test, it was his high scores on the psychological tests that finally won him the status of China's first astronaut. Yang was described by his superiors as hard-working and always in control of himself.Because of these qualities, they were optimistic he would be successful. In the end, Yang was indeed a success.His name will go down in history with those of Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard.The people of China can be proud of Yang Liwei, and young people all over the world can look up to him as an example of a man who managed to live his dream. 在21小时23分里你能做的最有趣的事情是什么？ 2003年10月15日，杨利伟回答了这个问题。 他的太空旅行在轨道中运行60万公里，环绕地球14圈，仅用了21个多小时。这次太空旅行使他成为了中国航天第一人。他为这一成就努力奋斗了多年。 杨出生于1965年，很小的时候就想飞上天空。从辽宁省东北部绥中县来的朋友和老师都说他小时候就热爱科学和技术。对于学习飞上天的方法，他总是有着很强烈的愿望。他的梦想得到了父母以及姐姐、弟弟的鼓励。 1983年杨利伟参军，并进入飞行学校学习。1987年毕业并成为了一名飞行员。1998年，他申请了921计划成为其中一名成员，也就是现在的神州。他是从1500名候选人中脱颖而出的14人之一。 这支队伍用接下来的5年时间进行训练。他们不仅学习作为一名宇航员所要求的所有学科，而且还学习生存技巧以及所有航天飞船和火箭的建造方法。杨在队伍所学的各科中都取得很高的分数。 2003年9月，14名候选人中仅选出3人进行中国太空探险，杨利伟就是其中之一。为证明有资格做这项重大任务，他接受了各种测试。尽管杨利伟并不是每项测试都得了最高分，但他各项心理测试所得的高分，使他最终赢得了中国首名宇航员的席位。 杨的指挥官这样形容杨利伟：工作努力、自我控制力强。由于具备这些素质，指挥官确信他能够成功。 最终，杨利伟成功了。他的名字会同俄罗斯宇航员尤里·加加林和美国宇航员艾伦·谢泼德一并载入史册。中国人民以杨利伟为骄傲，全世界的年轻人也将他视为努力实现梦想的榜样。 |
