English for Science and

Technology
Week 3
Pre-listening
• 1. Do you know what space junk is?

• 2. What may be the source(s) of space junk?

Vocabulary
• 1. propellant (n.): a substance that causes something to
move
• 2. clutter (v.): cover or fill (something) with an untidy
collection of things
• 3. stall (v.): (of a motor vehicle or its engine) stop running
• 4. debris (n.): scattered pieces of rubbish or remains
• 5. collision (n.): a crash in which two or more things or
people hit each other
Vocabulary
• 6. constellation (n.): a group of associated or similar people
or things.
• 7. geostationary (adj.): at a fixed distance in three
dimensions relative to a particular point on the Earth's
surface
• 8. deorbit (v.): go out of orbit
• 9. tether (n.): a rope or chain that is used to tie an animal to
a post, wall, etc., so that it will stay in a particular area
• 10. congestion (n.): the state of being too full or crowded
with something
 Let's clean up the space junk orbiting Earth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=501FEzbB1JI
Comprehension Questions
• 1. What is the major problem that the speaker focuses on?
• 2. What is the cause of the problem?
• 3. What are some possible solutions to this problem
according to the speaker?
• 4. Why does the speaker mention Mount Everest in the
speech?
• 5. What is the speaker's final evaluation?
Discussion Questions
• 1. Do you think that space junk is a serious problem for us? Should we
care about this issue? Why or why not?
•
• 2. In your opinion, who (individuals, countries or organizations)
should be responsible for cleaning up space junk? Why?