1 . “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” is a popular song for children. But have you ever wondered why the stars twinkle? I’m afraid many adults don’t understand this question, let’s unlock the mystery of the stars!
When we look up to the sky on a clear, dark night, our eyes can see about 6,000 stars in the sky. Some stars look like they are always twinkling and winkling. They are very beautiful. In fact, most of the stars are shining with a steady (稳定的) light. Not all stars twinkle. The stars that twinkle are generally stars. In addition to the Sun, the nearest star to the Earth, the neighboring star (比邻星), is also more than 4 light years away from Earth. Because the distance is too far, the stars we see are only a small point. Also, from the distant star travels a long way through the atmosphere (大气) down to us on Earth. At the same time, air is moving in the atmosphere of Earth. The movement of air causes the starlight to get slightly bent. To our eyes, this makes the star to twinkle. You will notice that stars closer to the horizon appear to twinkle more than other stars. This is because there is more atmosphere between you and a star near the horizon. However, there is no atmosphere in space to make the stars seem to twinkle. That’s why the Hubble telescope (哈勃望远镜), which is in space, can take such clear pictures of other galaxies (星系).
Go out tonight and take a look at the stars twinkling in the sky!
1. On a clear, dark night, our eyes can see _________ stars in the sky.| A．less than 6,000 | B．around 6,000 | C．more than 6,000 | D．Not mentioned in the article |
| A．bright | B．colourful | C．fixed | D．flashing |
| A．The movement of air in the atmosphere of Earth. |
| B．Air on Earth. |
| C．The long distance between stars and Earth. |
| D．The movement of stars. |
| A．Because stars twinkle in space. | B．Because air is not moving in space. |
| C．Because the telescope is close to stars. | D．Because there is no atmosphere in space. |
| A．Why are many stars so dim at night? | B．Which song do children like best? |
| C．How to observe the stars from Earth? | D．What do stars look like? |
Which planet is the most beautiful in our solar system? Many people may answer “Saturn(土星).” Saturn is a funny-looking planet. It has beautiful rings. Of the planets in the solar system. Saturn’s rings are the biggest and brightest. According to scientists, however, these rings will one day disappear completely.
How did Saturn get its rings in the first place? Science has no sure answer. But there’s a popular idea. Some comets (彗星) or small planets ran into each other with Saturn’s moons. Earth has only one moon. But Saturn has at least 60 moons. And this left behind a large amount of ice and rock pieces. These pieces are different in size. Some are as small as a grain of sand. Others are as large as a house.
These pieces began to travel around Saturn. Saturn’s gravity(重力) pulled them toward it. At the same time, the speed of their orbit(轨道) tried to throw them into space. Over time, these pieces of ice and rock formed rings around Saturn.
A new study, however, suggests that Saturn’s gravity is winning. About ten tons of “ring matter” is falling into Saturn every second. If this continues, the planet’s ring system will no longer exist in 100 million to 300 million years’ time.
According to scientists, Saturn’s rings are between 10 million and 100 million years old. “We’re lucky to be able to see Saturn’s huge ring system,” one of the scientists said. “Some of the planets in our solar system only have very thin rings today. Perhaps we just missed out on seeing their huge ring systems!”
1. What are Saturn’s rings made up of?| A．Lots of moons. | B．Lots of comets. |
| C．Small planets. | D．Pieces of ice and rock. |
| A．In the next 10 million years. | B．In the next 30 million years. |
| C．In the next 100 million years. | D．In the next 300 million years. |
| A．Saturn’s gravity is causing its rings to lose more matter. |
| B．Most of Saturn’s ring matter is being thrown into space. |
| C．Saturn’s gravity is making the ring matter run into small planets. |
| D．The speed of the ring matter’s orbit is making the rings disappear. |
| A．Scientists don’t clearly know how Saturn’s rings were formed. |
| B．About ten tons of Saturn’s ring matter disappears every minute. |
| C．Saturn's rings are thicker than those of some other planets in our solar system. |
| D．In the past, people didn’t know that Saturn’s ring system would one day disappear. |
| A．How Saturn’s rings form. | B．What Saturn’s rings are made of. |
| C．The disappearing Saturn’s rings. | D．A new study on Saturn. |
3 . Scientists have long believed that there is a black hole in the center of our galaxy(星系), the Milky Way. But last Thursday, scientists released the first image(画像) ever of this black hole. The scientists hope the image will help them learn more about black holes and how they work.
All the stars you see in the night sky are part of our galaxy. And in the center of our galaxy is a black hole. It’s called Sagittarius (人马座) A.
A black hole is a place where matter is so dense that the pull of its gravity(引力) is very, very strong. The gravity from a black hole is so strong that even light cannot get away from it.
The scientists actually take a picture of its shadow and the ring of light around the hole called the “event horizon(视界)”. It’s between the hole and the light that is beyond the pull of the hole’s gravity.
The scientists responsible for the picture of the black hole are part of a group called the Event Horizon Telescope project. About 300 scientists in 20 countries have been working on the project for over 12 years.
The telescope the scientists use isn’t really a telescope, but several large radio telescopes around the world. This allows the scientists to later use computers to process the radio signals from the telescopes into a single image.
Sagittarius A is much closer than many other black holes in space, since it’s in our own galaxy. However, it’s changing very rapidly. One scientist described getting a good image of it as “like trying to take a clear picture of a dog quickly chasing its tail”.
The information for the picture of Sagittarius A was collected at the same time. But it took far longer to process the information to create the new image.
Now the scientists have successfully captured the image!
1. What is Sagittarius A according to the passage?| A．All the parts of our galaxy. | B．One of the stars in the night sky. |
| C．The center of our solar system. | D．A black hole in our galaxy. |
| A．遥远的 | B．密集的 | C．古老的 | D．稀薄的 |
| A．They took the picture of the black hole directly. |
| B．It took them a lot of time and effort to get the image. |
| C．They actually processed lots of radio signals into one image. |
| D．They have been working on the project for over 12 years. |
| A．Scientists’ new study about our galaxy. | B．Facts about black holes and how they work. |
| C．First picture of the Milky Way’s black hole. | D．Event Horizon Telescope project. |
We all know the sun is important. It makes life on our planet possible. But how does the sun do that? It’s the sun’s energy.
Energy from the sun is called solar energy (太阳能). It comes in the form of light or heat. People have used solar energy for thousands of years. The sun’s energy can be used to heat water and even food. If you own a magnifying glass, your parents have probably warned you not to leave it in the sun. Solar energy can actually make the magnifying glass burn objects underneath it causing a fire. This type of energy from the sun is called solar thermal (热的) energy.
We can also turn the sun’s light into electricity. This is done with solar panels (板). Solar panels are made up of a material called silicon (硅). The silicon is heated and formed into very thin wafers (晶片). When the sunlight hits the solar panel, the electrons in the silicon move and flow through wires (电线). Using this technology, we can run a calculator and even power cars in an easy way.
But what happens on cloudy days? The electrons in the silicon will stop moving, which means the electricity can’t flow. But this doesn’t mean that solar energy can only be used on sunny days. People can use the batteries (电池) which are attached to (附着于) solar panels to store the electricity. So the stored electricity can be used to power cars at night or on cloudy days.
Did you know that solar energy is not as expensive as it used to be? In fact, in the last few years.solar panels have become much more affordable for people to use. Since the sun gives off more energy in one second than people have used, imagine what we could do if we used the sun’s energy to power our planet.
We all know the sun is important. Its energy makes life on our planet |
We live on the planet Earth. The earth is part of the solar (太阳的) system. The solar system is like the earth’s neighborhood. The word “solar” means “related to the sun”. The sun is at the center of the solar system. People used to think the sun moved around the earth. You can understand why. If you look into the sky, it sure looks like the sun moves!
But some early astronomers (天文学家) were against this idea. Nicolaus Copernicus was an astronomer in the 1500s. He was the first person to say that people were wrong. He believed the earth moved around the sun. In the 1600s, another astronomer named Galle o Galilei agreed. He built telescopes (望远镜) and observed the sky. He was sure that the earth moved around the sun. This caused quite a stir (骚乱)! Galileo was arrested (逮捕) .
It turns out that these early astronomers were right! The earth moves around the sun.
So do seven other major planets. These are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. That makes eight major planets.
1. The earth is part of a neighborhood called the solar system.2. The sun is at the center of the solar system.
3. Not all early astronomers agreed that the sun moved around the earth.
4. Nicolaus Copernicus was the first person to build telescopes and observed the sky.
5. The passage is mainly about seven major planets in our solar system.
We can often read interesting “facts” about space online. However, some of them are wrong. The following are some common myths（荒诞说法）about space.
Myth 1: The sun is yellow.
Many people believe the afternoon sun is yellow. However, the light it gives out is white. The earth’s atmosphere （大气层）makes the sun appear yellow and the sky appear blue. This is called Rayleigh scattering（瑞利散射）. The sky is, in fact, as clear as glass.
Myth 2: The asteroid belt（小行星带）is dangerous.
In many movies, the asteroid belt is often described as a dangerous place. It is crowded with rocks that run into each other. However, these movies are wrong. In fact, all the asteroids together weigh only about four percent of the moon. That’s why scientists are excited when they happen to see even one asteroid crashing （碰撞）into another.
Myth 3: The Great Wall of China is the only man-made building that can be seen from space.
It all depends on where you believe space begins above the earth. From the International Space Station （ISS）, you can see the Great Wall and many other man-made buildings. From the moon, you can’t see any buildings, but you may see some city lights.
Myth 4: The moon is very close to the earth.
Sometimes, the moon looks very close. It seems like you can almost touch it. In fact, the moon is about 385000 kilometers away from the earth. If you take a Boeing 747 and fly to the moon at full speed, the journey will take about 17 days!
1.2. According to the underlined sentence, we can infer that the weight of the moon is
3. The Great Wall and many other man-made buildings can
4. It will take
5. After reading the text, what can you learn from it?
Jack: Hi, Mom! We learned about light in physics classes. It travels very fast.
Mom:
Jack: Oh. It travels at a speed of 300,000 kilometers per second. The light from the sun reaches us in less than 9 minutes.
Mom: Is the light from the sun the nearest to the earth?
Jack:
Mom:
Jack: It takes tens of billions of years for light from the farthest star to reach the earth.
Mom: Oh!
Jack: Thank you, Mom!
Mom: I believe you, my son!
| A．How long does it take for light from the farthest star to reach the earth? |
| B．How clever you are! |
| C．How far is it from the earth to the farthest star? |
| D．Do you know how fast it travels? |
| E．I will try my best. |
| F．Yes, it is. |
8 . Tonight our family was going out to play under the full moon.
We first started going on full moon walks for ourselves, because my husband Todd and I, loved them and we needed these little doses of moonlight to stay happy and to function (起作用) in society. But after we became parents, we did this for our children. We wanted Sierra and Bryce to see that there is much magic in the natural world and that most of it is accessible (可达到的) to anyone. We also wanted to show them that it was not necessary to travel far from home to have an adventure, learn, and experience something new. Nearly every month, our family went into the night to “play” by the full moon.
Once we arrived at our location that evening, Sierra and I stood holding hands, waiting to cheer the full moon in its rising. A thin sliver of the apricot (杏黄色) moon poked above the shape of the Blue Mountain Ridge. Everyone stood up and watched its rising. More of the moon came out until it turned into a brilliant orange sphere. Todd explained to Sierra and Bryce that the moon makes no light of its own, but simply acts like a mirror, reflecting (反射) the sunlight back to us long after the sun has sunk below the horizon (地平线).
“Does the moon’s face change?” Bryce asked. I told him that the moon rotates with the earth, but it does not spin on its axis (轴) like the earth does. The same side of the moon is always facing the earth. We never see the other side, the far side of the moon. Sierra said that the moon looked larger and closer when it was rising. I explained that it is an optical illusion (视错觉) because it is so close to the horizon that the moon tricks our eyes into comparing it with nearby objects to create the impression of increased size.
Much of the knowledge that Todd and I shared with the kids had been learned from our past life experiences. If we did not have the knowledge to explain and educate, we looked it up, either beforehand (提前) to improve the experience or afterwards together, after we wondered and came up with a list of questions.
Opportunities (机会) to explore magical experiences and learning is right in your neighbourhood. Sometimes all it takes is going outdoors and looking up at the heavens.
1. How often does the writer go to play under the full moon with his family?| A．Once a year. | B．Once a month. | C．Once a week. | D．Every day. |
| A．Circle. | B．Float. | C．Rise. | D．Drop. |
| A．the distance from the earth is becoming shorter |
| B．the other side of it never faces the earth |
| C．it does not spin on its axis like the earth does |
| D．comparing it with nearby objects creates an illusion |
| A．Never travel far from home to have an adventure. |
| B．Travel far from home to have an adventure more often. |
| C．Good learning opportunities are just around the corner. |
| D．There is much more magic in books and most of it is accessible to anyone. |
9 . We have seen lots of science fiction movies about aliens (外星人). People travel to stars and even fight with aliens in the movies. But are there real aliens in the universe (宇宙)? Most of us think it is impossible, just like fairy tales. But the answer of some scientists is yes. So they have been searching for aliens in outer space for many years. They hope to find life signs of aliens.
Some scientists are used to using radio telescopes (望远镜) to search for aliens in space. In order to find aliens, they have worked hard for over half a century, but so far they have found nothing. Then some scientists guessed aliens might not want to connect us, but aliens could answer our messages. So some scientists sent radio signals into the universe. They hope one day they would be picked up by alien technology. These scientists want to prove (证明) that we are not alone in the universe.
But what should we do if the “alien phone” rings one day? Should we answer it? Stephen Hawking, the famous physicist, thught it could be dangerous to connect aliens. He said that the main purpose of aliens’ visit to the earth could be searching for our resources (资源). But other scientists think we have no need to worry. David Morrison, a NASA scientist, said, “If an alien radio signal reaches the earth from a planet thousands of light-years away, then they almost surely have solved all the problems we still have including the short of resources. Maybe they are much smarter than us, but why do they want to hurt us? I think we can try to connect them.”
1. ________ scientists believe there are aliens.| A．Few | B．All | C．Most | D．Some |
| A．50 years | B．more than 50 years | C．40 years | D．more than 100 years |
| A．are friendly | B．are dangerous | C．can’t be found | D．have been on the earth |
| A．we want to find aliens | B．aliens have many skills |
| C．we want to help aliens | D．aliens are much smarter than us |
| A．Ideas about aliens | B．Protect our earth | C．Stephen Hawking’s idea | D．How to find aliens |
10 . People in many parts of North and South America will be able to see a total lunar eclipse (月食) on Sunday night and early Monday morning. The eclipse is special, and it is called a super blood wolf moon by some people.
The moon will be a little closer than it normally is to the Earth. For this reason, it will appear brighter than usual. Such a moon is called a super moon. When the moon is completely eclipsed, it looks darker and appears to have an orange or even a red color. The sunset on the Earth looks orange for a similar reason. Because of its reddish color, an eclipsed moon is sometimes called a blood moon.
In North America, there are traditional names given to each of the 12 full moons that happen throughout the year. January’s full moon is known as the wolf moon or the great spirit moon.
Is there anything I should get ready when I look up the lunar eclipse?
“There are no precautions (预防措施) you need to take when looking at a lunar eclipse, since the moon is never bright enough to hurt your eyes like the sun,” according to Walter Freeman, a physicist at Syracuse University.
It’s just a wonderful thing for the whole family to see because it’s fairly rare to have all these kinds of things together at the same time.
1. Where can people see the super blood wolf moon?| A．In North America. | B．In South Asia. | C．In West Africa. | D．In East Europe. |
| A．smaller | B．bigger | C．brighter | D．darker |
| A．Monday | B．Sunday | C．January | D．February |
| A．A super moon is farther than it normally is to the Earth. |
| B．You can always see the super blood wolf moon. |
| C．Each of the 12 full moons has a traditional name in each country. |
| D．An eclipsed moon is sometimes called a blood moon because of its reddish color. |
| A．A Lunar Eclipse in the UK | B．A Super Blood Wolf Moon |
| C．The Wolf Moon | D．Preparations for the Lunar Eclipse |
