Ever thought of moving to a new country? How about starting a new country? Patri Friedman is planning to do just that. He left Google years ago to set up the Seasteading Institute. And his dream is to build seasteads-----floating micro-nations in the middle of the ocean.
So, what will life on a seastead be like? Probably a bit like life on a cruise liner (游轮), but much larger, with shops, gyms, swimming pools, schools and other areas. In fact, the early seasteads may actually be specially-rebuilt cruise liners. But as science advances, Friedman believes they’ll become more like floating cities, with several hundred people.
Seasteading raises a lot of questions. First of all, how will the new countries make money? The Seasteading Institute has suggested several money-making ideas, including ocean-based theme parks, casinos (赌场) and fish farming. There’s also the questions of safety. With storms, typhoons and pirates (海盗) , the high seas are a dangerous place. However, the Institute says that it can stand bad weather and prevent crimes with its well-designed systems.
So, is this just a day dream? Well, maybe not. One of the people behind the project is Peter Thiel. He founded PayPal and was one of the first investors (投资者) in Facebook. So far, he’s donated $ 500,000 to the project.
And Friedman isn’t wasting any time. He recently announced the creation of the Poseidon Award. This will be given to the first seastead with fifty people. Friedman is hoping to hand out the award in 2015.
小题1:Where did Friedman use to work?
A.In Facebook. | B.In Seastead Institute . | C.In PayPal. | D.In Google. |
小题2:A future seastead may be most likely to look like ___________________.
A.a cruise liner | B.a floating city | C.a theme park | D.a fishing farm |
小题3:What can we infer from the passage?
A.Friedman is planning to move to a new country. |
B.Friedman is worried about the safety of seasteads. |
C.Friedman has got some supporters for his project. |
D.Friedman has already won the Poseidon Award. |
小题4:Which of the following can be the best titles of this passage?
A.Seasteading: a new idea of living |
B.Seasteading: a wild way of farming |
C.Peter Thiel: a man behind the project |
D.Patri Friedman: a crazy day dreamer |