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1、Unit8TextWouldyouchoosetoliveundergroundifyoucouldgainmanyadvantagesfromdoingso?Weatherwouldnolongertroubleyou.Temperaturewouldremainthesamealltheyearround.Artificiallightingcouldmaketherhythmofourlifeuniformeverywhere.Andtheecologyofthenaturalworldabovegroundwouldbegreatlyimproved.Still,t
2、heprospectofmovingundergroundmaynotbeappealingtomanypeople.THENEWCAVESIsaacAsimovDuringtheiceages,humanbeingsexposedtothecoldertemperaturesofthetimewouldoftenmaketheirhomesincaves.Theretheyfoundgreatercomfortandsecuritythantheywouldhaveintheopen.Westillliveincavescalledhouses,againforcomfo
3、rtandsecurity.Virtuallynoonewouldwillinglysleeponthegroundunderthestars.Isitpossiblethatsomedaywemayseektoaddfurthertoourcomfortandsecuritybybuildingourhousesunderground--innew,manmadecaves?Itmaynotseemapalatablesuggestion,atfirstthough.Wehavesomanyevilassociationswiththeunderground.Inourm
4、ythsandlegends,theundergroundistherealmofevilspiritsandofthedead,andisoftenthelocationofanafterlifeoftorment.(Thismaybebecausedeadbodiesareburiedunderground,andbecausevolcaniceruptionsmaketheundergroundappeartobeahellishplaceoffireandnoxiousgases.)Yetthereareadvantagestoundergroundlife,too
5、,andsomethingtobesaidforimaginingwholecities,evenmankindgenerally,movingdownward;ofhavingtheoutermostmileoftheEarth'scrusthoneycombedwithpassagesandstructures,likeagiganticanthill.First,weatherwouldnolongerbeimportant,since,itisprimarilyaphenomenonoftheatmosphere.Rain,snow,sleet,fogwouldno
6、ttroubletheundergroundworld.Eventemperaturevariationsarelimitedtotheopensurfaceandwouldnotexistunderground.Whetherdayornight,summerorwinter,temperaturesintheundergroundworldremainequableandnearlyconstant.Thevastamountsofenergynowexpendedinwarmingoursurfacesurroundingswhentheyaretoocold,and
7、coolingthemwhentheyaretoowarm,couldbesaved.Thedamagedonetomanmadestructuresandtohumanbeingsbyweatherwouldbegone.Transportationoverlocaldistanceswouldbesimplified.(Earthquakeswouldremainadanger,ofcourse.)Second,localtimewouldnolongerbeimportant.Onthesurface,the
