I don't believe that today's wonders are similar in kind to thewonders of the Ancient World. They were all buildings, suchas the Pyramids in Egypt, or other architectural structures.Over the past 100 years, we have seen amazingtechnological and scientific achievements. These are surelyour modern wonders.1It is everywhere. More than half a billion people use it, andthe number of people who are online increases by 100 millionevery year. In 1994 there were only a few hundred webpages. Today there are billions.It has revolutionized the way we live and work. But we arestill in the early days. Soon there will be more and moreinteractivity between the user and the website, and we will beable to give instructions using speech.2In 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped out of his space capsuleonto the surface of the moon and made his famousstatement: ‘That's one small step for a man, one giant leapfor mankind'. Since then, there have been space probes toMars, Jupiter, Saturn, and even to the sun. One day, a spaceobservatory will study how the first stars and galaxies began.So far, it seems that we are alone in the universe. There areno signs yet that there is intelligent life outside our own solarsystem. But who knows what the future holds?3Surely nothing has done more for the comfort and happinessof the human race than the advances in health care! Howmany millions of people have benefited from the humbleaspirin? How many lives has penicillin saved? Average lifeexpectancy worldwide has risen dramatically over the past100 years, from about 47 years in 1900 to about 77 yearstoday.4We are a world on the move. Airlines carry more than 1.5billion people to their destinations every year. It is estimatedthat, at any one time these days, there are as many peopletravelling in aeroplanes as the total number of people whotravelled abroad in the whole of the nineteenth century (but Ihave no idea how they worked this out!).5It is true that they are now commercialized, and there isgreed and drug abuse. However, it is a competition in whichalmost every country in the world takes part. Every fouryears, for a brief moment, we see the world come together inpeace and friendship. We feel hope again for the future ofmankind.6In 1724, Jonathan Swift wrote, ‘Whoever makes two bladesof grass or two ears of corn grow where only one grew beforeserves mankind better than the whole race of politicians'. InEurope our farmers have done this. In 1709, whole villages inFrance died of hunger. Now in Europe, we can't eat all thefood we produce.If only politicians could find a way to share it with those partsof the world where there is famine.7 We are still here!The last wonder of the modern world is simply that we are stillhere. We have had nuclear weapons for over 50 years thatcould destroy the world, but we haven't used them to do it.Điều này chắc chắn là sự kỳ diệu vĩ đại nhất của tất cả.
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