1 . Believe it or not, the day when you can go to the moon is coming soon. You can go into space _______ space shuttle (太空船). It _______ about three days for the shuttle to go from the earth to the moon. The shuttle flies a long way to a space station. You can stay there for a short rest and then it will _______ you to the moon.

Now you can jump out of the shuttle. But you mustn’t take off your spacesuit (太空服), because it is very hot in the daytime and very cold at night on the _______. The moon is much smaller than the earth. Things are _______ on the moon than they are on the earth. You can jump high every time you take a step. You will find that it is never tiring to walk on the moon. You don’t need to take an umbrella or a raincoat with you _______ there is no rain on the moon. You can hear _______ because there is no air on the moon. And there are no animals or other living things there.       

The moon moves more _______ than the earth, so one day on the moon is as long as two weeks on the earth and one night is just as long as two weeks on the earth. What could you do in _______ long days and nights and in a silent world? Now ________ are trying to make the best of the moon. But our earth is really a far better place to live, as long as we take good care of it.

2 . We have always been interested in the moon. Two thousand years ago, people already knew that the moon _________ around the earth and where it would be in the sky at different times of the year. At that time, everything about the moon was learned by _________ it carefully in the sky.

When scientists could use telescopes to study the moon more closely, their ideas began to _______. They could see that the moon was made of rocks. Most scientists thought moon rocks would be different from those on the earth. This was _________ they believed the moon had once been a planet that had been caught in the earth’s gravity (引力) millions of years earlier.

In 1969, moon rocks were finally _________ to the earth and studied. To their surprise, scientists found that, except water, the moon and the earth were made of the same things. Once again new ideas were needed for this new information.

After years of study, most scientists now think that the moon was once part of the earth. They believe very early in its history, maybe 4 billion years ago, something about the size of Mars hit the earth. This _________ billions of rocks into space around our planet. These rocks _________ joined together and after many years became the moon.

4 . What do you know about Mars? What does it look like?

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun in our solar system and is ___________ after Mars, the Roman god of war.___________ diameter(直径) is 53% as ___________ as that of the earth. Mars goes around the sun at a distance of about 228 million kilometers. You can tell ___________ planet is Mars because it is bright red in the night sky. It ___________ like a red and orange ball. It’s very beautiful. But during spring and summer, the surface of Mars is covered ___________ strong storms. The gravity on the surface of Mars is about ___________ as strong as it is on earth. So a person who weighs 90 kilos on earth weighs only 36 kilos on Mars. The temperature on Mars is ___________ -138℃ and 28℃. The air has only 0.13% oxygen.

It takes a spaceship about eight months to ___________ Mars from the earth when the two planets are ______________ to each other. Scientists are still searching for more information about Mars.

6 . The Americans were getting ready to send their first man to the moon. An old Irishman (爱尔兰人) was watching them on the television in the bar of a hotel. There was an Englishman in the bar, too, and he ______ the Irishman, “The ______ are very clever, aren't they? They are going ______ some men to the moon. It is a long ______ from the earth.”

“Oh, that's ______, ”the Irishman answered quickly. “The Irish are going to send some men to the sun in a few months. That's ______ away than the moon, you know.”

“Yes, it is,” the Englishman said, “______ it is too ______ for the people to go to.”

The Irishman laughed and said, “Well, the Irish aren't stupid, you know. We ______ go to the sun during the day, of course. We will go there ______. ”

7 . The first astronauts

Since the earliest times, people have looked up at the stars, the moon and the planets. Today people use modern machines _______ at the sky. This is very different from the situation _______ years ago when people could only use their eyes. Perhaps they dreamed of _______ the universe. When did humans first go into space? The story began not so very long ago, _______ the first astronauts were not people-they were animals.

Scientists wanted to make travelling to space as _______ as possible for humans. So they decided to experiment with animals and, test _______ in spaceflights. Insects, mice, frogs, dogs and monkeys were some of the animals _______ first went into space. Many of them _______ , but they helped to make space travel safer for humans. For their great service, we _______ forget these animals.

Albert I was the first monkey to go into space in 1949. Sadly he died ________ his spaceship landed back on Earth.

________ the result was different for Ham the Monkey. His story ended happily when he returned to Earth ________ very good health.

Scientists wanted to know the answer to the important question: could ________ animal like Ham do the same things in space as he could do on Earth? The answer came when Ham ________ into space in 1961. Yes, he did everything well and lived for ________ 16 years.

8 . Maybe you know a lot about the city you live in. You may even know some interesting facts about earth, but _______ do you know about Mars? Will there be _______ there just like people on earth?

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and it’s the most like earth, but it’s much _______ than earth because it’s farther from the sun. It’s also the only planet whose surface can be _______ from earth.

Mars is often called “the red planet” because the rocks on it have a dark _______ colour. There are strong winds on Mars that can _______ dust into the hills.

For many years, people have _______ Mars. They have sent instruments and robots there. Some of the robots got there, _______ most failed.

NASA(美国国家宇航局) sent two robots to Mars two years ago. They wanted to _______ signs of water and life on Mars. Some day, humans will travel to Mars and have an even ________ look at our red neighbour. Maybe it could be you!

9 . Do you hope to move to another city or a foreign country? It may be interesting. But how about moving to ______ planet? A US company now has a plan: sending people to Mars ______ 20 years.

To begin with, the company plans to send ______ people to go to Mars first. It will ______ them several months to get there. When they arrive, they will build a ______ first.

But Mars is not an easy place to ______. It's rocky, cold and has lots of sandstorms(沙尘暴). Also, there is ______ air for breath. So people would have to live in a special house. They would have to ______ special clothes if they go out.

People will have to find ______ resources(资源), iron, water and so on. All these could help people live there...

Sounds interesting? You might want to go to Mars now. ______ will things go well like the company hopes? We'll wait and see.

10 . Do you know astronauts’ everyday life in space? They also need to eat, _________, exercise and relax. They do the same thing as us, but they do them _________.

On the earth, we put food on a plate and put _________ in a glass. Gravity (重力) holds the food down and keeps the water in the glass. There is almost no gravity in space and food can fly away, _________ astronauts must eat and drink carefully.

Sleeping is very different in space. Some astronauts like to float (漂浮) in the air, but most say _________ they like to be in a sleeping bag. They tie (系) the bag to a wall so that they won’t float away at night.

Exercise is very important in space. On the earth, your legs carry your body, _________ in space, astronauts float, so they do not use _________ legs often. This is very bad _________ their legs, so they must exercise for thirty minutes every day.

After a day’s work, astronauts can’t wait _________. They may listen to music, read, watch films, play games, or __________ a few minutes talking to their friends and family on the radio. Sometimes they only enjoy floating in the air.