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0Fun Facts about the Solar System | 短故事＋5个词＋be called 表示“被叫作/被称为”＋小练习
Listening Text
P1. Star, planet, and moon.
Maybe you know the song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” from your childhood. But what is a star? Are there other things in the sky? What should we call them? Let’s first be clear about three space words. A star gives off its own light. The Sun is a star. Without the Sun, there would be no life on Earth. A planet does not give its own light. It goes around a star. Earth is a planet. It goes around the Sun. A moon goes around a planet. Our Moon goes around Earth, but other planets can have many moons, too. So “moon” does not only mean our Moon. It can mean any natural satellite.
P2. From nine planets to eight.
Many people learned that there are nine planets in our solar system. They used a sentence to remember them: “My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas.” Each word gives the first letter of a planet, from the Sun outward. These nine planets were Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
Today, scientists usually say there are eight planets, because Pluto is now called a dwarf planet, not a full planet. A full planet must be big, round, and travel almost alone in its path around the Sun. Pluto is round, but it is too small, and it does not travel alone. It shares its path with many other small pieces of rock and ice in space. So scientists put Pluto into a different group and call it a dwarf planet.
P3. Jupiter, the giant planet.
When it comes to planets, we can’t ignore Jupiter. It is the biggest planet in our solar system. It is much bigger than Earth. It is made mostly of gas, not rock, so we call it a gas giant. Jupiter has many moons that go around it. One of these moons is IO which you will hear about next. Jupiter’s strong gravity pulls on its moons all the time. Space is still a mystery in many ways, and Jupiter is one of the places scientists continue to study.
P4. Jupiter’s explosive moon: IO
At last, let’s focus on one special moon: IO , one of Jupiter’s moons. IO is famous because it has many active volcanoes. It may have more volcanoes than any other place in the solar system. Scientists can even see the volcanoes from very far away by using spacecraft and special cameras. Scientists think Jupiter’s strong gravity pulls on IO again and again. This movement heats IO from the inside. Hot material pushes up and comes out through the volcanoes. By studying IO, scientists can learn more about Jupiter and its other moons.
Key sentence：Pluto is now called a dwarf planet.
Words
- dwarf planet: a small world that goes around the Sun but is too small to be a full planet.
- gravity: the force that pulls things together.
- volcano: a mountain that can send out hot rock, fire, and smoke.
- satellite: an object that goes around a planet.
- mystery: something we do not understand yet.
Practice
Q1: Pluto is now called a ______ planet.
Q2: Which sentence is true?
A) A planet gives off its own light.
B) A moon goes around a planet.
C) A star goes around a moon.
Q3: Space is still a __________.
