Read the text and

match the profession with the correct speaker. One profession cannot be matched to any of the

four speakers in the text and should be marked ‘Not given’.

Not enough space? 

Four people share their opinions on space junk 

A. Mitch, 37 

It’s just another excuse to spend money on rubbish, isn’t it? I don’t see the need for space exploration in general,

so I don’t see what all the fuss is about. Debris in space is only an issue if we keep going up there. Instead of

worrying about space junk, I think we should look into ways of sending more rubbish into space. I’m a binman,

and you wouldn’t believe what some people throw away. Landfill sites are filling up, and recycling isn’t really

working. What if we could send all of our waste into space instead? We could use another planet as a sort of giant

dump. Maybe I should start my own company. I’d call it Space Trash! 

B. Myra, 29 

One of the reasons I became an astronaut is because I wanted to explore places that haven’t been ruined by human

beings. Well, guess what? We’ve started to ruin space, too. Sometimes it feels like we are a virus, destroying

everything we touch in our rush to consume more and more. Okay, that’s a bit extreme – at the moment, most

of the junk up there is a result of space exploration – but I can see a future in which somebody comes up with

the bright idea of dumping all of our waste into space. If this happens, we won’t be able to go up there. We’d end

up trapped on a planet surrounded by a wall of rubbish. I suppose that would be a fitting end for human beings,

wouldn’t it? Hopefully, more companies will step forward to come up with solutions before we get to that point.

C. Mei Ling, 18 

Studying environmental sciences has made me both excited and worried for our future. I’m only in my second

year, but we’re already looking into possible solutions for waste disposal. I wrote a paper on waste last term. The

title was, "What is waste?" and my lecturer really liked it! I think our relationship with waste, and our disposal

habits all come from our early years. If your parents teach you to throw things away or to recycle as a young child,

and to care for the environment, then you might have a positive attitude towards rubbish. On the other hand, I

had some friends growing up who thought it was okay to throw food wrappers on the ground or stick chewing

gum under desks. This translates to companies, too, both on Earth and in space. We should all learn how to tidy

up after ourselves! 

D. Jacob, 58 

I suppose I won’t get to go into space, not at my age. I do have hopes for my son, though, and that’s why I set

up the company. We’re looking into new ways of gathering space debris using a machine that we’re developing

ourselves. I can’t go into many details, of course, as our competitors might be reading this! I have to say that I’m

excited – we’ve already been approached by two governments and an independent space agency, and the money

they’re offering – should we be successful – would be enough to send my children to space when commercial

flights become available. That’s what this is all about, really. We’re focused on the future. A time may come when

we have to abandon our planet and look for a new one. Our children and our grandchildren could be the first

settlers on Mars or beyond. In order for that to happen, though, we need to clean up our act.