A student discussion

A student discussion

Listen to two students comparing Mars and Earth to practise and improve your listening skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.

Preparation

Transcript

Teacher: So you've got a few minutes to discuss with your partner.

Student 1: So, as far as I know, the main similarity between Mars and Earth is that they can both support human life.

Student 2: Yeah, but do we know that's actually true? I mean, Mars is much colder than Earth, isn't it? It says here it's about minus 55 degrees most of the time, whereas on Earth only places like Antarctica get that cold.

Student 1: True. Well then, I suppose you could say both planets are a similar distance from the Sun?

Student 2: No way! Mars is much further away! It says here it's about 228 million kilometres, while Earth is about 150 million.

Student 1: Yes, but in space that's not that far. Jupiter is, like, almost 780 million kilometres. That's why we use astronomical units when we talk about distances in space. Earth is 1 astronomical unit from the Sun and Mars is 1.3. The difference doesn't sound so big when you look at it that way.

Student 2: I see what you mean. Jupiter is 5.2 astronomical units so I guess you're right. What other similarities are there between the two planets?

Student 1: Let's see … not the colour, obviously!

Student 2: Yeah! Earth is called the blue planet and Mars is called the red planet for pretty obvious reasons!

Student 1: Their sizes are pretty different. Mars is about half the size of Earth.

Student 2: What about this? It looks like the days on both planets are almost the same length. Earth's day is 24 hours but Mars's is about half an hour longer.

Student 1: You're right. OK, any other things they both share?

Student 2: I suppose you could say they have water in common.

Student 1: Could you? How?

Student 2: Well, Earth is 70 per cent water and Mars probably had huge oceans in the past. It's just that most of the water there now is probably frozen.

Student 1: Ah, I see. I don't think we can say the air is the same, though. Most of Earth's air is nitrogen and oxygen, but Mars …?

Student 2: Mars doesn't really have air, not compared with Earth. It's got about one per cent as much air as Earth.

Student 1: Right, and it's mostly carbon dioxide.

Student 2: Gravity is another difference. I didn't know this, but Mars has higher gravity than the Moon. But it's much less than on Earth, of course.

Student 1: Oh, yes. It says Mars has about 38 per cent of Earth's gravity.

Teacher: OK, let's see what you've found …

Discussion

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Submitted by elesca on Mon, 11/03/2024 - 17:02

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I don't think that human life on Mars could be possible in the future, not the way we think on Eart. 

Earth is our planet, the only perfect made to support life. That's it! 

Science could always study, search informations and do a lot of experiments to learn something else about universe's history and future. 

If we change our way to think and l live, we don't need to look for another planet

Submitted by Winnie0900 on Wed, 28/02/2024 - 18:45

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I don't think so. Earth and Mars can have some similarities but I consider the differences to be strong enough to not allow human life on Mars. For example, with those temperatures too low, people could die of hypothermia. 

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Submitted by Klutuk on Fri, 23/02/2024 - 13:42

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I have a thought that the people on Earth will never have a life on Mars due to the elements on Earth are definitely different with Mars's elements. Like the water, the air, and the temperature. Nowadays, The Earth is the best planet to support the human life. However, in the future we don't know what will happens. If the Earth has damaged the human have to find the solutions how to solve that problem and they will try to do a research on Mars and use the newest technology to support it to appear the spring water, friendly environment, etc. 

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Submitted by Cavid_Said_2011 on Fri, 23/02/2024 - 11:09

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Do you think people will live on Mars one day?

I think yes because the sun is getting hotter and bigger and The Earth will be hotter and all life will be dead and earth would be like Venus and the mars can be like earth for few thosuand years

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Submitted by Namimath on Thu, 15/02/2024 - 17:07

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Do you think people will live on Mars one day?
I am not sure but I think everything on earth would be changed. we should come back to initially.

Submitted by Jim34 on Tue, 13/02/2024 - 17:20

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Do you think people will live on Mars one day? I don't know. I've read about it, and I think it could be possible, but extremely difficult. Factors such as transport and resources are limited. I believe it would be better if the resources and money spent on such endeavors were focused on reversing climate change. I believe that we have the opportunity to save this planet before considering moving to another.

Submitted by ddddsky on Sun, 11/02/2024 - 04:46

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"Do you think people will live on Mars one day?"
I'm not sure. I think it will be hard. Mars is so different from Earth. There must be many experiments and adjustments before humans can live there. Besides, I don't think humans want to abandon their lives and glory on Earth. It will work for something like a vacation, but I think living there will be difficult, and there will be a big war because we need to divide the country and choose the leader again.

Submitted by Khanh_ngkost on Thu, 08/02/2024 - 22:36

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It seems to me that with the advances of technology , NASA has explored the signs of life not only on Mars but also on other planet having the same live condition like the Earth . Maybe in the near future , humans on Mars could conduct far better science than any machine

Submitted by vedatesk on Thu, 08/02/2024 - 22:23

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Humans will take the war to another planet. That's why they should stay on Earth. Let the inhabitants of other planets in space live happily.