{"id":9686,"date":"2019-07-26T11:21:37","date_gmt":"2019-07-26T17:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/?p=9686"},"modified":"2022-02-15T22:29:37","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T04:29:37","slug":"the-50th-anniversary-of-the-apollo-11-moon-landing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/richyrocks.com\/coolenglish\/the-50th-anniversary-of-the-apollo-11-moon-landing\/","title":{"rendered":"on the 50th anniversary of the apollo 11 moon landing, deniers still claim it was a hoax"},"content":{"rendered":"

last weekend was the 50th anniversary of the apollo 11<\/strong><\/span> moon landing.<\/em> it means different things to different people.<\/p>\n a commemoration of the apollo 11 moon landing<\/u> (catalog.usmint.gov)\n

by olivia mckelvey<\/strong> on floridatoday.com<\/strong> explains there was a huge national celebration of the anniversary…<\/p>\n

yet<\/em> half a century later, despite<\/em> other moon landings<\/em>, moon rocks and firsthand<\/em> accounts from countless<\/em> members of the 400,000-strong<\/em> workforce who helped achieve<\/em> jfk’s goal, some still believe the moon landings<\/em> were staged<\/em> in a hollywood studio. the deniers<\/em> claim<\/em> the government and cia are behind the cover-up<\/em> to deceive<\/em> americans.<\/h4>\n

<\/em><\/strong> in this context is like <\/span><\/span>but<\/em>. spanish has a specific word for landing on the surface of the moon<\/em> (alunizar<\/strong>); english does not– moon<\/em> landing <\/a><\/em><\/strong>is the expression. <\/span><\/span>firsthand<\/em><\/strong> means <\/span><\/span>from people who were there<\/em>. <\/span><\/span>countless<\/em><\/strong> means <\/span><\/span>a really big, unspecified number<\/em>. <\/span><\/span>strong<\/em><\/strong> emphasizes the size<\/em> of the number 400,000. achieve<\/a><\/em><\/strong> means reach<\/em>, get<\/em>, have success<\/em>. were staged<\/em><\/strong> is <\/strong> in the past tense. who staged<\/em> the event (the subject of the sentence) is not mentioned. stage<\/em><\/strong> means produce, perform<\/em>. <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em>are people who don’t believe it<\/em>. <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em> means all the other evidence <\/span><\/span>doesn’t matter<\/em> to the <\/span><\/span>deniers<\/em>. <\/span><\/span>deceive<\/em><\/strong> means <\/span><\/span>intentionally give the wrong idea<\/em>. <\/span><\/span>cover-up<\/em><\/strong> means<\/span> preserve and protect a lie.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"astronaut<\/p>\n

a moon <\/em>landing<\/em><\/u>. or a <\/em>hoax<\/em><\/u>. (reuters)<\/em><\/h5>\n

mckelvey focuses on one particular denier<\/em>.<\/p>\n

in the running<\/em> for most famous of the deniers<\/em> might<\/em> be bart sibrel, a 55-year-old<\/em> tennessee resident notorious for having been punched<\/em> in the face by [apollo 11 astronaut] buzz aldrin in 2002 after sibrel confronted aldrin in person<\/em>, calling him a liar, coward<\/em> and thief<\/em>. aldrin was not prosecuted<\/em> as police determined he’d been provoked<\/em>, and that punch earned<\/em> him accolades<\/em> from many fed up<\/em> with [the deniers].<\/h4>\n

<\/em><\/strong> is a modal auxiliary verb<\/strong> that means possibly<\/em>. bart sibrel is 55 years old, but when he is described as a 55-year-old <\/em>tennessee resident, year<\/em> is singular because it is a measure used as an adjective<\/a><\/strong>. having been punched<\/em><\/strong> is present perfect<\/a><\/strong> and passive voice<\/a><\/strong>; sibrel received aldrin’s action (a punch). the auxiliary have<\/em> is in the -ing form because it’s after the <\/a>preposition<\/a><\/strong> for<\/a><\/em>.<\/a> in person<\/em><\/strong> means face to face<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"buzz<\/p>\n

astronaut buzz aldrin (wikipedia)<\/em><\/h5>\n

a coward<\/a><\/em><\/strong> is afraid<\/em>. a thief<\/em><\/strong> steals<\/em>. prosecute<\/em><\/strong> means take legal action against<\/em>. he’d<\/em><\/strong> is a contraction<\/strong> of he had<\/em> and he’d been provoked<\/em><\/strong> is past perfect<\/a><\/strong> and passive voice. in this case aldrin received sibrel’s action (a provocation). was not prosecuted<\/em><\/strong> is another example of passive voice in the past tense. accolade<\/a><\/strong><\/em> is recognition<\/em>, appreciation<\/em>. earn<\/a><\/em><\/strong> means the public felt he deserved<\/a><\/em> approval for punching the denier<\/em> in the face. fed up<\/a><\/strong><\/em> is extremely angry<\/em>, annoyed<\/a><\/em>. in the running<\/em><\/strong> means sibrel could be<\/em> one of the most famous deniers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

this cartoon dog is a <\/em>coward<\/em><\/u> but ironically his name is <\/em>courage<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/h5>\n

the article includes comments from sibrel that <\/span><\/p>\n

the moon landing<\/em> was a “cold war<\/em> cia and nixon administration deception<\/em>,” [and] he has a compilation of “riveting<\/em>” and “compelling<\/em>” evidence that reveals the entire space program to be a hoax<\/em>.<\/span><\/h4>\n

and sibrel adds…<\/p>\n

i am not the story, the fake<\/em> moon landings are the story.<\/span><\/h4>\n

the cold war <\/i><\/strong>was the post world war ii confrontation between the u.s. and the soviet union that lasted almost 50 years. it was called a cold<\/em> war because despite<\/em> the tension, there were no direct military confrontations. both nations were serious about space exploration. deception<\/i><\/strong> is the noun equivalent of <\/span>deceive<\/em>. <\/span>riveting<\/em><\/strong> and <\/span>compelling<\/em><\/strong> are synonyms that mean <\/span>fascinating<\/em>, <\/span>very interesting<\/em>. a <\/span>hoax<\/em><\/strong> is a <\/span>fraud<\/em>, a <\/span>trick<\/em>. <\/span>fake<\/em><\/strong> means <\/span>not real<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"selma<\/p>\n

something in this picture seems like it might be <\/em>fake<\/em><\/u>.<\/em><\/h5>\n

did sibrel’s opinions convince the greatest shooter in the history of the nba? the article says<\/p>\n

even<\/em> nba player s<\/span>tephen curry, point guard for the golden state warriors, has chimed in<\/em> on the topic. in a december 2018 interview on a podcast called \u201cwinging it,” curry said he doesn’t believe that humans actually<\/em> landed on the moon.<\/span><\/h4>\n

<\/em><\/strong> is used for emphasis to show how many people, including celebrity athletes, have doubts about the apollo 11 landing<\/em>. chime in<\/em><\/strong> means give an opinion<\/em>, usually to agree<\/em>. actually<\/a><\/strong><\/em> means really<\/em>. curry later said he wasn’t serious.<\/p>\n

\"\" \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\"two<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

later in the season steph curry wore a pair of “moon landing” shoes (sc30) <\/em><\/h5>\n

on the other hand, nasa<\/strong> historian, bill barry<\/strong> thinks it’s impossible that apollo 11 didn’t get to the moon…<\/p>\n

the moon landing had people working on the project from all over the world not just in the u.s. 400,000 people in america were working on that project, how could you have possibly kept<\/em> a secret like that?<\/h4>\n

could have kept<\/em><\/strong> is an example of a modal (could) used to express a hypothetical example in the past. for barry, the reality is that it wasn’t a hoax<\/em>, so covering up<\/em> the secret was never necessary.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

buzz aldrin and the rest of the apollo 11 crew [leaning] on <\/em>the moon. (ralph morse\/getty images)<\/em><\/h5>\n

what do u think? was the apollo 11 moon landing<\/em> a great moment in human history? or was it a hoax<\/em>? share your thoughts under leave a reply<\/strong><\/p>\n