Unit 4 Astronomy: the science of the stars

Part 1 Topic vocabulary

Vocabulary revision

There are approximately four hundred million _________銀河系 in the ______宇宙. We can see only a small part of our galaxy.

There are over three billion stars in____________銀河. The sun is one of the stars. There are nine ________行星(Mercury水星,Venus金星 the Earth地球Mars火星Jupiter木星 Saturn土星Uranus 天王星Neptune海王星 Pluto冥王星) around the sun.

The Earth is the third planet from the sun. The Earth has one natural_________衛星--moon. The moon is only a quarter of the size of the Earth.

Shenzhou V

Chinese people have been dreaming of going into____________外太空 ever since before. China had ____________發射three ___________________無人飛船successfully from 1999 to 2005. On Dec. 31, 2002 ,the launch of the fourth spacecraft "Shenzhou IV" was another big success and the spacecraft returned to the earth safely on January 5, 2003. During its flight, seven scientific experiments were carried out. The purpose of the flight was to make preparations for the launch of a manned spacecraft next time. The successful launch and return show that China is able to send a person into space soon. In 2003,the first manned spacecraft Shenzhou V was sent into space successfully. And the Chinese dream has come true.

Special report: China launches first lunar orbiter

BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Testing operators have started leaving the __________（發射塔） in the Xichang ____________________（衛星發射中心）, where China's first lunar probe Chang'e-1 will _____________（點火起飛）at around 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. In a building about 3 km away from the tower, technicians in the remote control center are uploading the flight programs into the carrier rocket Long March 3A. Meanwhile, the 5th platform of the launching tower has been unfolded.

Part 2-3 Language points

Practice/Warming-up

按要求寫單詞

v n v n

direct ________ ____________ permit ___________

impress ______________ digest _____________

protect ______________ cooperate ______________

n adj. n adj

_________ sad sugar __________

_________ curious humour ______________

patience ___________ independence _____________

origin _____________ nation _________________

agriculture ____________ society _________________

Europe __________ energy _____________

___________ possible

II. Important phrases:

從方框中選擇合適的詞組并用其正確形式填入句子中，使句子意思完整。

prevent ... from cheer (sb./sth.) up n time depend on/upon get the hang of fall over in time think of ….as…

1. Laws have been passed to____________ people_______ killing wild animals.

2. If you catch the early bus , you will get there___________.

3. The students_________ their English teacher ______ a good guide.

4. He knew he could ____________ her to deal with the situation.

5. The good news of our football team winning the game ___________ everybody who heard it.

6. Not many people seem to______________ this new kind of music.

7. I rushed for the door and_______________ the cat in the hallway.

III. Important sentences:

Water had already disappeared from planets like Mars or satellites like the moon, but it stayed on the earth. This is how the earth began to show its special qualities.

This is how ...表示“這就是……如何……”，其中how引導的是一個表語從句，用于說明方式。類似的結構還有：this is because ..., this is why ..., this is what ..., this is when ..., this is where ...等,分別用于說明原因、結果、事物、時間、地點等。請比較：

Mary failed in this exam. __________________________________________.

(說明原因)

瑪麗之所以沒通過這次考試，是因為她此前病了兩個星期。

The fog is too heavy this morning._______________________ (說明結果)

今天早晨霧太大，我們只好慢慢開車。

The young man left school in 1998.______________________

(說明時間)

1998年那個年輕人離開了學校，也就在那一年他參了軍。

2. Whether life will continue on the earth for millions of years to come will depend on whether this problem can be solved.

句子中兩個以whether引導的從句均為名詞性從句, 前者是主語從句，后者是賓語從句。在引導賓語從句時通常既可以用if也可以用whether（介詞的賓語除外）, 但是引導主語從句、表語從句或同位語從句時通常多用whether而不用if。如：

Henry asked___________________________________ (賓語從句)

亨利問他那時是否可以上網。

I worry about___________________________（作介詞賓語）

我擔心是否傷害了她。

Her question is whether humans will be able to live on Mars.(表語從句)

她的問題是人類將來能否在火星上生活。

______________________________ doesn’t matter at all. (主語從句)

布萊克先生與會與否無關緊要。

3. “If you are right, my mass will be less than ...!” (Using Language)

mass在此意為“質量”，是不可數名詞，但有時可與不定冠詞連用。如：

This particle has a very small mass. 這種粒子的質量很小。

mass還可用于a mass of 或masses of，通常有以下兩種意思：

(1)表示“一團，一堆，一塊”。如：

There were masses of white clouds in the sky. 天上有朵朵白云。

There is a mass of snow in the yard. 院子里有一堆雪。

(2)表示“大量，大批”，可修飾可數名詞或不可數名詞。如：

_________________ are coming to see the exhibition. 大批人要來看展覽。

I’ve_____________ to do. 我有大量工作要做。

IV Homework

句子翻譯

1. 令我們中國人驕傲的是我們可以成功發射載人宇宙飛船。(主語從句和表語從句)

2. 阻止大氣污染是我們應盡的責任。(prevent...from)

3. 我一直想掌握天文學方面的知識。(get the hang of)

4. 我不想太多地依靠父母。(depend on)

5. 有機會看到神舟五號的發射，我感到很幸運。 (have a chance to)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

書面表達

最近，你班同學就“太空探索是否值得”這一話題展開了一場討論。請你根據下表提供的信息，用英語寫一篇短文介紹討論的情況。

30%的同學認為： 70%的同學認為：

1. 不值得探索

2. 離我們及我們的日常生活太遙遠

3. 浪費金錢。這些金錢本可用來解決地球上的饑餓、污染等問題 1. 值得探索

2. 已使用衛星進行通訊傳播、天氣預報

3. 有望解決地球人口問題、地球能源短缺問題

注意： 1. 詞數：120左右； 2. 參考詞匯：短缺 shortage。

One possible version:

Recently, students in our class have had a discussion on whether space is worth exploring.

________________________________________________________________

Part 4 Grammar------主語從句

主語從句可以按其引導詞的不同分為三類：

第一類，用從屬連詞that引導的主語從句，例如：

That we shall be late is certain.

That the driver could not control his car was obvious.

這種結構主要是對that從句的內容進行強調，屬正式文體，連詞that不可以省略；但是在一般情況下，往往使用先行it結構，即用it作形式主語，而把that從句放到后面，這時，在口語中，連詞that有時則可以省略。所以上述兩句可以改為：

___________________________________

__________________________________________

如果整個句子是疑問形式，就只能用先行it結構，例如：

Is it true that he would take the risk？

Is it possible that they will come tomorrow？

常使用先行it結構，用that從句作主語的句子有下列幾個句型：

1、It + be + 形容詞 + that從句：

It is clear that he was telling the truth.

________________________________ 我們可能會稍微遲一些。

2、It + be + 名詞詞組 + that從句：

It’s a pity that you can’t go with us.

3、It + 及物動詞 + 賓語 + that從句：

It shocked me that Peter didn’t tell anybody where he was.

___________________________________________________

她的頭發正在變成灰色讓她有些擔心。

4、It + be + 過去分詞 + that從句：

It is said that he has been there many times.

5、It + seem/happen/appear等不及物動詞 + that從句：

It seems that he has lost something.

注意：

在上述第1和第2兩種句型中，that從句前置與使用先行it，that從句后置在意義上沒有什么差異；但使用先行it結構較為常見。

在第3種句型中，that從句前置在語法上是可能的，但實際上并不常見，通常總是使用先行it結構 .

第4種句型實質上是被動結構，由于that從句不可以位于句首作被動句的主語，所以只能使用先行it結構。

第5種句型已經形成了固定的搭配關系，that從句不能前置，只能使用先行it結構，不過，這種結構可以轉換為帶有不定式的簡單句，例如：

It happened that I had no money with me that day.

→_____________________________________________

第二類，用連接代詞who、whose、which、what，連接副詞when、where、how、why，以及連詞whether（或if）引導的主語從句，例如：

　　Who was responsible for the accident is not yet clear.

　　→____________________________________________

　　What he did is not yet known.

　　→ _____________________________________

　　Whether it is true remains a problem.

　　→ ____________________________________

　　從以上例句可以看出，這類主語從句可以直接放在句首作主語，也可以使用先行it結構，把主語從句放在后面，兩種結構可以互換，意義上無差異，但用if 引導主語從句時，只能采取先行it結構，也就是說if不可以引導置于句首的主語從句。

第三類，用what、whatever、where、wherever、whoever、whichever等代詞引導的主語從句，例如：

　　What he said at the meeting encouraged everyone.

　　Whoever fails to see this will make a big blunder.

　

MET-linking高考閱讀理解練習

2004年 寧夏D

Houston, Texas (June 8, 2002) -In 2004, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will send two robots (機器人) to separate places of Mars to seek out past or present signs of water. It is all exciting idea to send two robots driving over very different places of Mars at the same time, to be able to see what is on the other side of the hill.

Last month, NASA announced it was sending one robot to Mars, but after two weeks, it decided there was enough money for two. The robots will be sent up within two weeks of each other in May and June of 2003 from Kennedy Space Center. If all goes well, the two spacecraft (宇宙飛船) will touch down on Mars，after a seven-and-a-half-month space flight，on January 2 and 2O, 2OO4

The robots, each weighing 150 kilograms, can cover 100 meters per day. They are designed to be able to examine the mineral content of the soil, and their special camera will take pictures of the lands and hills Although they will be under control from Earth, the robot, are able to move more freely compared to those sent up before them.

The actual landing points have not been determined yet, but the scientists say it will be in areas where they hope to find water.

67.According to the news report, scientists plan to send robots up to Mars to ______.

A. find out whether there is water on Mars

B. see if robots can find minerals there

C. test how fast robots can drive there

D.prove that robots can work on Mars

68.How long in between will the two robots be sent to Mars?

A.1 year B.7.5 months. C.2 months. D.2 weeks.

69. One of the important jobs for the robots on Mars is to ________.

A. study the soil

B. walk everywhere

C. test the new camera

D. find a suitable landing point

70. We can infer from the last sentence that scientists _______.

A. have changed the landing points many times

B. hope to land the robots on the surface of water

C. are still working on the plan

D. know where they can find water

2007 福建 C

Scientists have found what look like caves on Mars(火星), and say they could be protecting life from the planet’s terrible environment.

The first caves discovered beyond the Earth appear as seven anestrous black dots on the pictures sent back by NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter. Each as large as a football field, they may be openings into natural caves below the Martian surface.

“If there is life on Mars, there is a good chance you’d find it in caves,” said Jut Wynne, one of the researchers who noticed the features while working on a US Geological Survey Mars Cave Detection Program.

Jonathan Clarke, a geologist with the Mars Society of Australia, yesterday described the discovery as exciting.

One photo taken at night by an infrared imager(紅外線成像器) showed one hole to be unusually warm, suggesting hot air trapped during the day is flowing out.

“I said:‘Wow, that’s a cave’” Dr. Clarke said excitedly. “People have been looking for these for a long time; now we have found them.”

He agreed such caves would be perfect places to hunt for life escaping from the bitterly cold, radiation-soaked(充滿輻射的), dry surface.

“Tiny drops of water could collect inside,” he said. “If there are gases coming out, they could provide energy for a whole range of bacteria. A cave is also a protection from radiation; the surface of Mars is exposed to high levels of space radiation.”

The caves probably formed when tube-shaped lave flows(管狀巖漿流) spread across the planet long ago. The outside of the tubes cooled, forming solid walls, while something hotter inside allowed the remaining have to flow out, forming caves.

64. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. How the caves were formed on Mars.

B. How scientists found these caves on Mars.

C. Caves on Mars may be full of hot air or a sign of life.

D. Scientists have completely recognized the surface of Mars.

65. We can learn from the passage that .

A. water has already been found on Mars

B. the scientists found all the caves at night

C. it is certain that there is life in these caves

D. the surface of Mars is bitterly cold, radiation-soaked and dry

66. According to the passage, Dr. Clarke was so excited because .

A. such caves could provide energy for life

B. they had finally found the caves on Mars

C. such caves would be perfect places to hunt for life

D. scientists had long been looking for these caves

67. Necessary conditions for life on Mars mentioned in the passage may include .

A. lava and energy

B. water and radiation from space

C. gases and lava

D. water and protection from radiation