| nearest, learn, Thanks, includes, far, seen, receiving, smaller, Thanks to, |
The universe (宇宙) is so wide that we still don’t know much about it. It
Our knowledge of the universe has been growing all the time.
2 . Our nearest neighbour is the moon. In the sky, the moon and the sun seem to be of the same size because the moon is much nearer.
The moon makes the tides(潮汐)—the changes in the level of the sea. The moon and the sun together pull the sea. In some parts of the world, the difference between “high tide”(when the sea is very near to the land) and “low tide”(when the sea is far away from the land) is very big. This is very important for ships.
The moon is very different from the earth. Gravity on the moon is six times weaker than that on the earth. There isn’t any air. During the day, it is very, very hot but at night it is very, very cold. Nothing can live on the moon.
If the moon goes between the earth and the sun, we have an eclipse(日食) of the sun. The moon stops the light from the sun and we have night in the day.
If the earth goes between the moon and the sun, we have an eclipse of the moon(月食). The moon goes into the shadow(影子) of the earth and it disappears for a few minutes.
1. When the sea is far away from the land, we call it “________”．| A．high tide | B．low tide | C．shadow | D．gravity |
| A．five | B．six | C．seven | D．eight |
| A．the moon | B．the sun | C．the stars | D．the earth |
| A．The earth goes between the moon and the sun. |
| B．The moon goes into the shadow of the sun. |
| C．The moon goes into the shadow of its own. |
| D．The sun disappears for a few minutes. |
a. The moon and the sun are of the same size.
b. Gravity on the earth is 6 times stronger than that on the moon.
c. The changes in the level of the sea are called tides.
d. The moon itself pulls the sea and makes the tides.
e. When the sea is near to the land, a high tide may happen.
f. It is much hotter in the day but much colder at night on the moon.
| A．abcf | B．bcde |
| C．adef | D．bcef |
3 . When we talk about the space, we know the universe means the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars and the space between them. Many of the stars are so far away that we cannot see them.
Through our geography lessons, we know the earth goes around the sun, and the moon goes around the earth.
We have day and night because the earth keeps turning all the time. Just because the moon is closer to the earth than the sun, it looks much bigger than the sun. The sun is bright enough to give out very strong light. The moon can’t give any light at all, but it looks quite bright too. Why? In fact, the light from the moon comes from the sun. But in fact the stars are much bigger and brighter than the moon.
There are many other planets in the universe. But of all these planets, only on the earth there are living things. People on the earth have been studying space all the time. They’ve sent spaceships into space many times. On November 3rd and 14th, 2011, Chinese scientists let Shenzhou Ⅷ successfully dock with（对接）the Tiangong I twice. This is one of the greatest events in the history of China’s space.
1. Why can’t we see many of the stars?2. Why do we have day and night?
3. Translate the underlined sentence into Chinese.
4. What do you mean by the universe?
5. Choose a proper title.
| A．The universe. | B．The stars at night. |
4 . “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, the 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 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 eves can see ________ stars in the sky.
| A．less than 6,000 | B．more than 6,000 |
| C．around 6,000 | D．not mentioned in the article |
| A．fixed | B．colourful | C．bright | D．flashing |
| A．Air on Earth. |
| B．The movement of air in the atmosphere of 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．What do stars look like? | B．Which song do children like best? |
| C．How to observe the stars from Earth? | D．Why are many stars so dim at night? |
Many kids are crazy about space. Last month, a space agency (机构) told the public that they were
“Dear sirs, my name is Sam Lee. I think I am the
What are Sam’s
Sam soon got a
“Among kids, there are
| A．waking up | B．looking for | C．dealing with | D．talking about |
| A．simply | B．lightly | C．seriously | D．clearly |
| A．right | B．kind | C．important | D．favorite |
| A．dreams | B．problems | C．discoveries | D．advantages |
| A．war | B．road | C．space | D．sports |
| A．job | B．test | C．reply | D．ticket |
| A．move | B．protect | C．pull | D．collect |
| A．warming | B．helping | C．ordering | D．encouraging |
| A．see | B．tell | C．thank | D．search |
| A．past | B．future | C．recent | D．present |
6 . People around the world felt excited on the night of April 10, 2019. For the first time in history, people saw a photo of a black hole. The photo became popular immediately(立刻). But do you know it has something to do with a computer scientist Katie Boumna? Without her, there wouldn't be this photo. Black holes are very far from us, so it is very difficult to take photos of them. It's like taking a photo of an orange that is on the moon. Many scientists had tried.
However, none of them succeeded. These failures didn't stop Bouman from trying.
Several years ago, she started working on a special computer program. During the past years, she has improved the program many times. Finally, it turned telescope data (望远镜数据) into a photo of a black hole.
Bouman received lots of praise because of her work. However, the young woman said the success mainly depended on(依靠) her team. "None of us could do it alone," she said.
Would you like to make history as Bouman did? Set a goal for yourself and work hard at it. Maybe you will make it come true in the future.
1. When people saw a photo of a black hole for the first time, they felt very ________.| A．sad | B．excited | C．surprised | D．calm |
| A．By taking a photo of an orange carefully. |
| B．By working on a special computer program. |
| C．By turning telescope data into a photo of a black hole. |
| D．By using more advanced cameras with the help of others. |
| A．A surprising photo of a black hole |
| B．A great computer scientist Katie Bouman |
| C．A goal to become a computer scientist |
| D．A photo of a black hole and Katie Bouman |
7 . Is there intelligent (有智力的) life on other planets? For years, scientists said “no." or “we don't know." But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers(天文学家). They believe intelligent life exists (存在) somewhere in the universe. They also think we will soon contact these beings(人：生物).
Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old. "This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life," say Shostak and Barnett. The second reason is size—the universe is huge. "Tools like the Hubble Telescope(哈勃望远镜) have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies," says Shostak. "And our galaxy, the Milky Way, has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to Earth.
In the past, it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now, powerful telescopes(高倍望远镜) allow scientists to discover smaller planets—the size of Mars or Earth—in other solar systems. These planets might have intelligent life.
Have beings from space already visited Earth? "Probably not," says Shostak. "It's a long way. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other way, such as radio signals(信号). In fact, they may be trying to communicate with us now, but we don't have the right tools to receive their messages. However, this is changing. By 2025, we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other.
1. How many galaxies are there in the universe?2. Which galaxy is Earth in?
3. What allows scientists to discover smaller planets?
4. Why haven’t beings from space visited us yet according to Shostak?
5. What do you think of intelligent life on other planets in our universe?
Why is it called Mars? You might have asked yourself this before. Well, Mars is the name of the Roman god of war. People have seen the planet as a symbol of war for thousands of years. The ancient Greeks called the planet Ares after their god of war. Chinese people called it the“fire star" for the same reason.
Scientists have been interested in the planet since long before any space tasks. Egyptian scientists first saw Mars in the sky more than 4,000 years ago. Since then, people from all over the world have studied the planet.
Over the years, scientists have continued to study the planet and learned some basic things about it.
Mars is 10 times lighter and about 6 times smaller than Earth. Earth is 93 million miles (about 150 million km) from the sun, while Mars is 142 million miles away. That means it is much colder on Mars. In fact, the average temperature on Mars is - 62℃. Scientists found water on Mars long ago, but because of the low temperatures there, it is frozen. One day on Mars is called a sol and is about 40 minutes longer than one Earth day. The Red Planet's surface gravity is only 37% as strong as Earth's, meaning you would be able to jump nearly two times higher on Mars.
1. What did the ancient Greeks call Mars?| A．Mars | B．Ares | C．The“fire star" | D．The Red Planet |
| A．Chinese scientists first saw Mars. | B．Mars is lighter and bigger than Earth. |
| C．Earth is father from the sun than Mars. | D．A sol is about 1480 minutes. |
A． Earth Mars |
B． Earth Mars |
C． Earth Mars |
D． Earth Mars |
| A．history book | B．story book | C．science book | D．art book |
9 . (A)Five hundred kilometers’ over Europe, Ship OM-45 moved north. In a room at the back of the ship. Kiah
“Time for dinner,” Rilla said.
The numbers changed
“What’s wrong
“Nothing’s wrong with the satellite,”Kiah answered quietly. “It’s the AOL.” He began
10 . Do stars only appear at night? The answer is no. Venus (金星) is the only star that can be seen in daytime. It shone at its brightest in the night sky on Feb 17 this year.
Venus is the second planet from the sun. It is the second brightest natural object, behind the earth’s moon, in the night sky. Why is it so bright?
First of all, Venus is the closest planet to the earth. It is also covered by highly reflective (反射的) clouds, which can reflect about 70 percent of the sunlight striking (照射) it, almost twice as much as the earth does. Some people call 2017 the year of Venus, because the planet is at its brightest twice this year. Venus gets brighter when it goes further away from the sun, and nearer to the earth. The brightest moment happened once in February, and will happen again, during daylight, on April 30.
If Venus is so bright and close to us, isn’t it a better choice for human exploration (探索) than Mars? It is closer to the earth than Mars and it’s closer to the earth in size. The closer distance to the sun means solar power (太阳能) would be easier to generate as well.
However, with a temperature of about 465℃ on the surface, Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system!
But scientists never give up. Recently, a team of NASA and Russian scientists created new computer equipment that can stand temperatures of 480℃. It can work under Venus-like conditions (环境) for almost 22 days.
The next step, according to the scientists, is to send a probe (探测器) to Venus by 2025.
1. Which of the following about Venus is NOT true?| A．It’s the only star that can be seen in daylight. | B．It’s the second planet from the sun. |
| C．It’s the brightest natural object in the night sky. | D．It’s the closest planet to the earth. |
| A．heat | B．produce | C．spread | D．form |
| A．The closer distance to the earth. | B．The similar size to the earth. |
| C．Too much solar power to use. | D．The extremely high temperature. |
a. was created by some UK scientists b. can stand temperatures of 480℃
c. can work for about 22 days on Venus d. will be sent to Venus by 2025
| A．ab | B．bc | C．cd | D．ad |
