2022春八年级英语下册 Module 3 Journey to space文化背景资料（新版）外研版.doc

1、The science of astronomy for kids浩瀚的宇宙无边无际、无始无终，这给无数人带来了无尽的遐想。它的神奇和神秘不仅开启了古今中外科学家的探索之路，而且强烈地吸引着孩子们！The science of astronomy (天文学) is interesting. There are a lot of kids who are interested in the planets, the solar system, the universe and everything else thats part of this exciting science. For chi

2、ldren, many parts of it are magical and they are drawn towards the moon, the stars and far distant galaxies (星系). The moon is Earths only satellite. It takes about 27 days to travel around the Earth. Gravity (地心引力) between the moon and Earth causes the tides. Its brightness in the night sky attracts

3、 many children to learn more about it. Then theres our sun. Earth is quite far from the sun. The distance is between about 91 million miles and about 94 million miles. Thats because Earths orbit (轨道) around the sun isnt a circle; its an ellipse (椭圆). If there were no sun, we wouldnt be alive. Our li

4、ght and heat comes from the sun. Over 98% of the total stuff in our solar system is in the sun. Think about how small a person is compared to that. We live in the Milky Way galaxy. Its full of space stuff. Even with all this stuff to fill it, its mostly empty. At over 100,000 light years wide and 3,

5、000 light years high, that means the galaxy holds a whole lot of nothing. The center of our galaxy is about 30,000 light years from Earth. Even with all that space there are about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way. In fact the galaxy was named after the thick group of stars in the main part of it.

6、People thought it looked like a stream of milk, so they called it the Milky Way. There is a lot of information about astronomy for kids on the Internet. Kids can easily learn more about the universe around us. Whats it like in space?太空是个充满魅力的神奇世界，你知道它到底是什么样子的吗？When we talk about the universe, we mea

7、n the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars and the space between them. Many stars look very small because they are so far away. In fact, some of them are even larger than our sun. Space is large and fascinating. Space contains (包含) every bit of matter and every kind of energy. However, most parts of

8、it are completely empty. In the large empty areas between stars and planets, there are no molecules (分子) to vibrate (振动). So there is no sound there. Space can be beautiful. The planets, stars, galaxies and other things make many beautiful and colourful shapes. We can see them by telescope. Space ca

9、n be dangerous. In deep space we would die at once if there is nothing to protect us. When the earth travels through space, the atmosphere (大气) keeps us safe. It is like a comfortable blanket to keep the cold and other dangers out.The International Space Station国际空间站是在国际合作基础上建造的最大载人空间站，为人类进行科学研究和天文观

10、测提供了技术保障。The International Space Station (ISS) will be a little “city in space” orbiting (沿轨道运转) 250 miles above the earth. About the size of two football fields, the space station will be a place where people from around the world can live and study in space over long periods of time. The ISS is an

11、 extremely expensive project, but it will someday serve as a stepping-stone for future space exploration. Sixteen countries from around the world are working together on the International Space Station. These international partners are the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan, Brazil and European Sp

12、ace Agency (Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland). Risking the dangers of space, the sixteen countries are spending billions of dollars and many years building the space station because they believe they can benefit a lot from it.

13、 Perhaps the most important benefit is that the space station allows humans to live and study for long periods in microgravity (微重力), or a “weightless” environment. Think of the space station as a stepping-stone to the stars. If humans are ever going to travel to other planets, such as Mars, we must

14、 understand the effects of such long journeys on the human body. Weve learned from past space travel that living in microgravity leads to the weakening of bones and muscles. The space station will allow scientists to understand these effects and study possible solutions for long-term space travel. B

15、ut studying in microgravity is not the only reason for the space station. For the first time, we will be able to observe the earth from different angles (角度) over long periods of time. The space station will allow us to watch changes in the environment to better understand our own planet. The space station will also give us an opportunity to study the environment of space.