Why is a full moon, yellower and bigger when it is coming up than when it is higher in the sky?

That's a good question about something that we all can see. Let's talk about the moon's color first.
We see the moon only because of the sunlight that falls on it and is reflected. Actually, the moon is not a very good reflector, because its surface is all rocks and dirt. We see it in almost its true color when it is high in the sky.
When the moon first comes up, its light reaches our eyes after an extra-long path through the atmosphere (大气). There are lots of particles (微粒) scattering (分散) light in that long path. Blue light is scattered more than other colors, which means that it doesn't reach your eyes. The light that is left over looks yellow to your eye.
Now about the other question—why the moon seems to change in size. That's more complicated. It's not an effect of the atmosphere, the way color is; it's not caused by something fooling your eyes. It seems, instead, to be caused by something that fools your brain—an illusion(错觉).
Here's a drawing that creates an illusion. The two cones(圆锥体) are really the same size. But the rest of the drawing makes the right-hand cone seem farther away. Your brain knows that faraway objects are really larger than they look. It decides that the right-hand cone must be larger because it seems to be farther away.
Similarly, when you see the moon just come up over a line of trees or houses—or whatever makes the horizon(地平线)—it may be that your brain decides that the moon must be larger because it seems to be farther away.
【小题1】The moon doesn't reflect the sunlight very well because________________.

A．it is high in the sky	B．its surface is rough
C．its surface is white	D．it isn't a good reflector

【小题2】Which statement is true according to the passage?

A．In the course of its rising, the moon is getting smaller and smaller

B．The size of the moon is more complicated than its color

C．The atmosphere has the same effect on the moon's size as on its color

D．The change in the moon's size is caused by an illusion while that in its color is caused by the atmosphere

【小题3】After reading this passage, you can possibly answer one of the following questions. Which one? ______.

A．Why is the sun bigger when it rises over the horizon?

B．Why does the sun look bigger when it rises over the horizon?

C．Why does the sun look golden?

D．Why does the sun rise in the east?

【小题4】Who do you think probably wrote this passage?________.

A．A novelist	B．A reporter
C．A science editor	D．An English teacher．

Why is a full moon, yellower and bigger when it is coming up than when it is higher in the sky?

That's a good question about something that we all can see. Let's talk about the moon's color first.

We see the moon only because of the sunlight that falls on it and is reflected. Actually, the moon is not a very good reflector, because its surface is all rocks and dirt. We see it in almost its true color when it is high in the sky.

When the moon first comes up, its light reaches our eyes after an extra-long path through the atmosphere (大气). There are lots of particles (微粒) scattering (分散) light in that long path. Blue light is scattered more than other colors, which means that it doesn't reach your eyes. The light that is left over looks yellow to your eye.

Now about the other question—why the moon seems to change in size. That's more complicated. It's not an effect of the atmosphere, the way color is; it's not caused by something fooling your eyes. It seems, instead, to be caused by something that fools your brain—an illusion(错觉).

Here's a drawing that creates an illusion. The two cones(圆锥体) are really the same size. But the rest of the drawing makes the right-hand cone seem farther away. Your brain knows that faraway objects are really larger than they look. It decides that the right-hand cone must be larger because it seems to be farther away.

Similarly, when you see the moon just come up over a line of trees or houses—or whatever makes the horizon(地平线)—it may be that your brain decides that the moon must be larger because it seems to be farther away.

1.The moon doesn't reflect the sunlight very well because________________.

A．it is high in the sky                       B．its surface is rough

C．its surface is white                       D．it isn't a good reflector

2.Which statement is true according to the passage?

A．In the course of its rising, the moon is getting smaller and smaller

B．The size of the moon is more complicated than its color

C．The atmosphere has the same effect on the moon's size as on its color

D．The change in the moon's size is caused by an illusion while that in its color is caused by the atmosphere

3.After reading this passage, you can possibly answer one of the following questions. Which one? ______.

A．Why is the sun bigger when it rises over the horizon?

B．Why does the sun look bigger when it rises over the horizon?

C．Why does the sun look golden?

D．Why does the sun rise in the east?

4.Who do you think probably wrote this passage?________.

A．A novelist                             B．A reporter

C．A science editor                        D．An English teacher．

 

　　As you look up at the moon, you can use a simple trick （戏法）to find out if it's waxing or waning. We can tell the moon is waxing when it's on its way to becoming full. We can tell the moon is waning when it's losing silver each night.

　　Here's the trick. Look at the moon, and draw an imagining line where the centre would be if the moon were full. Start at the bottom, and draw the line up the middle and past the top of the moon. The line and the lit side of the moon will form either a lower case of “b” or “d”.

　　The “b” stands for “baby”. The baby moon is on its way to full moon phase （阶段）. It will appear to grow each night until it is perfectly round.

　　The “d” stands for “dying”. The dying moon is headed toward the new moon phase. It will seem to become smaller each night until it can no longer be seen in the sky.

　　As the moon travels round the earth the moon appears to change shape. But in fact, the sun is simply lighting up different parts of the moon.

　　No matter what phase the moon is in, you can use this trick. Every time, you'll find that you're right about what the moon will do next.

(1) When the moon is on its way to becoming full, we can tell ________.

[　　]

A．the moon is waning

B．the moon is dying

C．the moon is waxing

D．the moon won't appear

(2) When the moon is waning. The moon ________.

[　　]

A．will lose silver each night

B．will disappear in the sky

C．will become bigger and bigger

D．will become smaller and smaller

(3) What kind of the moon will appear to grow each night until it is perfectly round?

[　　]

A．The dying moon.

B．The waning moon.

C．The baby moon.

D．The moon of the night of every month.

(4) Which of the following statements is NOT true?

[　　]

A．The moon travels round the earth.

B．The earth travels round the sun.

C．The moon never changes its shape.

D．The sun is lighting up different parts of the moon.

(5) The best title of the passage is ________.

[　　]

A．The Moon Is Waxing

B．The Dying Moon and the Baby Moon

C．The Moon Is Waning

D．What Will the Moon Do Next

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项中，选出一个最佳答案。

　　The moon is nearer to us than the sun. It is about 240,000 miles away. The sun is much farther, 93 million miles from us. When we look at the moon, it looks almost as large as the sun. That is because it is much nearer. The sun is really much larger.

　　The sun is a star. It is a ball of fire; it sends our light. The moon is rock and hard．It isn't hot. It doesn't send out light; it reflects light. This means that the moon doesn't make its own light. The sun sends out its light to the moon. Then the moon sends the sun's light back to the earth.

　　The moon is very different from the earth. There isn't any air on it. It is both very hot and very cold there. The part in the sunshine is very hot, but the part in the dark can be 200°F(129°C )below zero.

　　There aren't any trees, grass, or water on the moon. All you can see are rocks and deserts. There are many mountains that are from two to five miles high. There are round holes in the moon called craters. There are at least 30,000 of them on the moon. Some of the craters are half a mile wide, but some are as large as 160 miles wide.

　　A moon is a satellite, a smaller object in space that goes around a planet. Our moon goes around our earth. It takes it about 28 days to go around the earth once. At the same time, the moon itself also turns. This takes about 28 days too. This is why one side of the moon is always turned away from us. Spaceships went around the moon in the 1960's. They took the first picture of the other side of the moon.

　　In July 1969, two men from the United States stepped on the moon from a spaceship. They took some machines there to make some tests. They brought back 48 pounds of rocks from the moon.

　　That first trip to the moon was very important. It was the first time that human beings had walked on a heavenly body other than the earth. It was a beginning. It was

a step to all the other planets and stars.

(1)Decide whether each of the following sentences is true or false:

[　　]

1) The sun is much larger than the moon.

2) The sun reflects light.

3) It is always very cold on the moon.

4) There are trees and grass on the moon.

5) There are round holes in the moon called craters.

6) We can see all sides of the moon from the earth.

(2)Choose the word or phrase that is closest in meaning to each of the underlined words.

[　　]

1) The moon doesn't send out light; it reflects light.

[　　]

A．makes light

B．sends back the light it receives from another place

C．shines

D．sparkles

2) All you can see are rocks and deserts.

[　　]

A．stones

B．pieces of land with flowers and trees

C．pieces of dry land which have no life

D．rainy areas

3) There are round holes in the moon called craters.

[　　]

A．mountains

B．rivers

C．round holes

D．planets

4) A satellite is a smaller object in space that goes around a planet.

[　　]

5) Spaceships went around the moon in the 1960's.

[　　]

A．beats that go on the sea

B．airplanes that fly above the earth

C．machines that take off from the earth and go into space

D．buses that go on the moon

6) It was a step to all the other planets and stars.

[　　]

A．An example of a planet is the sky.

B．An example of a planet is the moon.

C．An example of a planet is the sun.

D．An example of a planet is the earth.

阅读理解。阅读下列短文，从每题所给的选项中，选出最佳答案。

　　From a plane you can see the fields, cities, mountains or rivers below. If we go into space, we see more and more of the earth. People and man-made satellites are sent out into space to look at the earth, the stars and other planets and learn more about them.

　　The moon is our nearest neighbour in space. It is our satellite and men have visited it already. It is smaller than the earth. Plants can't grow on the moon because there's no air or water on it.

　　The moon hasn't its own light. It shines back the light of the sun. When the sun is shining on the side of the moon that faces us, is shining on the side of the moon that faces away from us. In fact the moon isn't as near as it looks. It is three hundred and eighty thousand kilometres away from the earth.. Of course we can fly to the moon in a spaceship. A spaceship flies very, very fast, and it flies at about eleven kilometres a second. So it only takes more than three days to get there by spaceship.

1．From a plane you can see ________ than on land.

[　　]

2．We can know from the passage that ________ can live on the moon.

[　　]

3．The moon sometimes isn't seen because ________.

[　　]

A．it is too far away from us

B．the sun is shining on the side of the moon facing us

C．the side that reflects the sunlight doesn't face us

D．it is rainy or windy

4．The moon looks bright because ________.

[　　]

A．it has its own light

B．it shines back the light of the sun

C．it is near enough to see

D．it can shine itself as the sun does

5．Which of the following is right?

[　　]

A．The moon is the nearest planet to the earth.

B．Some people have been to the moon by plane.

C．People have visited the moon and other planets.

D．A spaceship can fly at about 40 000 kilometres an hour.