1 . Mars is truly a fascinating planet for those of us here on Earth. 1 It is about half as big as Earth and is often referred to as the Red Planet because of its red surface.
The Red Planet has the largest volcano in the solar system-Olympus Mons. 2 That’s about three times the height of Mount Qomolangma.
Mars also has an atmosphere, but it is very thin and made up mostly of carbon dioxide. Because of its thin atmosphere and greater distance from the Sun, Mars is much colder than Earth. 3 The dust storms of Mars can grow so big that sometimes they blanket the entire planet and last for months. The poles on Mars are a lot like Antarctica, capped by ice, but much of Mars’s ice is made from carbon dioxide, not water.
Scientists believe that studying Mars can help answer some of the key questions about our planet Earth, or even the universe.
4 Since 1960, more than half of all attempted Mars missions have failed. The USA, Russia, the European Space Agency, and several other countries have lost many spacecraft in their quest to explore the Red Planet. Nevertheless, they will still continue their explorations. Chinese experts are confident about their plan to explore Mars, in spite of the many challenges. The first Mars unmanned spacecraft was launched from Wenchang around 2020. But it is only the beginning of deep voyages into outer space. 5
| A．It is roughly 27 kilometres high. |
| B．Missions to Mars have never been easy. |
| C．Mars, however, today has no active volcanoes. |
| D．The temperature at the planet’s surface varies widely. |
| E．However, Mars does have weather, with clouds and winds. |
| F．China will continue to explore the mysteries of the universe. |
| G．It is one of the few planets that we can see with our own eyes. |
