中学英語教科書の長文で速読練習COLUMBUS 21-3

The Home Planet

　　

Outward

 　We got to the launch pad, and walked to the elevator. We walked more slowly that morning, and  looked around us. We wanted to see everything, because ae knew this might be our last chance to see things on Earth.
   Then they closed the door; it sounded like a prison door. I heard the word, "Ignition!" Then I felt and heard all the great power of the spaceship. Tears were coming down my face.

Space Walk

   I moved slowly out of the door, and gently pushed myself away from it. I moved father and father away from the ship. The spaceship began to turn slowly before my eyes.
   The silence surprised me. It was a great silence. I have never known this kind of silence on Earth, It was so  great and so deep that I began to hear my heartbeat.
   There were millions of stars in the sky. The sky was deep black, but at the same time it was bright with sunlight. The Earth was small, light blue, and all alone. I said to myself, "It is our home, and we must save it!"

Observations

   The first day or so, we all pointed to our own countries. On the third and fourth days, we were pointing to our countries. By the fifth day we were only thinking of one Earth.
   One morning, I woke up and looked out of the window. We were flying over America, and suddenly I saw snow, the first snow we ever saw from space.  "People are getting ready for winter," I said to myself. I have never been to America, but I imagined that the coming of autumn and winter is the same everywhere. We look at different countries, but we find that we are all children of one planet. We are all the Earth's children, and the Earth is our Mother.
                                                                      Aleksandr Aleksandrov
                                                                      USSR