Unit (3): Astronomy and the solar system …………………………………………………….

Sequence 2: read and consider

Read the text and do the activities that follow:
If you were out in space, you would see the Earth and seven planets of different sizes all travelling
in circular paths around the Sun. Moving around some of the planets are smaller balls‐ the satellites or
moons of the planets. (§1)
If you were looking at the space between the orbits of planets Mars and Jupiter, you would see
thousands of little planets, or asteroids, comets‐ starry‐headed objects, sometimes with long tails streaming
after them as they draw near the Sun. You might also see the meteors swirling through space. All these
heavenly bodies make up our vast solar system.(§2)
The Sun is just one of the millions stars in our milky way galaxy. It is the very heart of our solar
system. It is a shiny body made up of highly compressed gases. Its diameter of 865,600 miles. Its surface
temperature is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit; at its centre the temperature may be as high as 27,000,000
degrees Fahrenheit. The heat energy and light energy radiating from the Sun make it possible for life to
exist upon Earth. Without the reflection of the Sun’s light, we could not see the other members of the solar
system except for the comets and meteors. (§3)
The planets of the solar system are different from the distant stars. Unlike stars, which shine with their own
light, the planets give off no light of their own. They only reflect the one from the Sun. In addition, the eight
planets travel in their own special orbit around the Sun held in place by gravity. More distant planets have larger
orbits and travel far more slowly. Jupiter, for example, takes more than eleven Earth years to make one turn
around the Sun while Earth makes its path around the Sun in just 365 ¼ days. (§4)
Adapted from text book
Task 1: Read the text and mark the statements below as true or false:
1. The objects that travel around the sun are called Moons. …………………
2. The sun shines brighter than other stars …..…………….
3. The planets of the solar system and the distant stars are alike ………………...
Task 2: Answer the following questions according to the text:
A. What is the sun made of?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
B. What is the difference between planets and stars?
…………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………..…
Task 3: What or who do the underlined words in the text refer to?
a. them=……………………………….. c. its =……………………………………………………
b. the one=………………………………………………………………

Making hypothesis: if conditional type 2

Observe the following sentences then answer the questions that follow:
A. If you were out in space you would see the Earth as tiny ball moving in a wide path around our sun.
B. Suppose you were out in space, what would you see?
1/ What do the sentences express? Underline the right answer.
a. A real or possible situation b. An unreal or imaginary situation c. An impossible past situation
2/ What tenses are used? Complete the following table.
Condition Result
………………………………… …………………………………
Task. Give the correct form of the verbs in brackets.
A. If the earth ( stop) …………………………………..orbiting the sun, the northern hemisphere (keep)
………………………………..…………….getting hotter and hooter while the southern hemisphere
(be)…………………………………………. colder and colder.
B. If earth (cease)…………………………… rotating about its axis but (continue) ……………….................
revolving around the sun , the length of a year (remain) ………………………………..the same, but a day
(last) …………………………………as long as a year
C. What (happen) ………………………….to us if a large asteroid (smash) …………………. into the Earth
Unit (3): Astronomy and the solar system ………………………………………………
Expressing similarities and differences
1/ Observe the following sentences then answer the questions that follow
A. Both Earth and Jupiter are planets.
B. Unlike stars, which shine with their own light, the planets give off no light of their own.
a. What is common between Earth and Jupiter?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
b. What is the difference between planets and stars?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
2/ What do the following link words express: similarity or difference? Tick the appropriate answer
Link words Similarity difference Link words Similarity difference
While similar to
Similarly whereas
Unlike Both…….and
But Neither ……. Nor
Just As/ Conversely
On The Contrary And yet
: Join the following pairs of sentences, using a link word from the table above, to get a meaningful
sentence . Make any necessary change.
A. The stars can be seen by the naked eye. The planets can’t be seen by the naked eye.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
B. It takes Uranus 84 years to complete one revolution around the sun. It takes Neptune 164.8 years to complete
one revolution around the sun.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
C. Mercury has no moon or natural satellite. Venus has no moon or natural satellite.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
D. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are mostly composed of rock and metal. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune are formed by mostly gaseous material.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
E. Earth has liquid water on its surface. Other planets do not have liquid water on its surface.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………....................

Task 1: Match words in column A with their definitions in column B

Column A Column B
1. Asteroids A. An icy small solar system body that when passing close to the sun warms and begins to
evolve gases
2. Comet B. The galaxy that contains our solar system
3. Meteor C. Any small rocky celestial bodies found especially between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
4. Milky D. A particle broken off an asteroid or comet orbiting the sun that burns up as it enters the
way earth’s atmosphere
Task 3. Match the words on the left with their associated words on the right.
1. Temperature A.miles,kilometers, knots (nautical miles)
B.hot, heat, high, low, cold, warm, Celsius scale, Fahrenheit
2. Distance scale
3. Area C. square foot, square metre , square kilometre, acre
4.Volume D. feet, inches, metres, centimeters, tall, short
5.Measurements/size (humans) E.Litres, centiliters, milliliters, cubic litres, cubic metres
 Astronomy and the solar system …………………………...……………….
Reading and writing
Read the text and do the tasks that follow
………………………………………………
Space exploration is the investigation of the universe beyond the Earth’s atmosphere by means of named
or unnamed spacecraft. Despite the technological advancements achieved in the past, space exploration was
only possible until the 20th century. The first successful orbit launch was made by the Soviet Union in 1957
which was called “Sputnik”. When the topic “SPACE EXPLORATION” is put on the table, a question is often
been asked; “why should we spend money on NASA where there are so many problems here on Earth?”
However, this might be partially wrong since exploring the unknown may help us progress. (§1)
The advantages of space exploration include the materials that can be obtained from outer space. For
instance, asteroids have iron and nickel which could be utilized to satisfy demand for metal. Therefore,
numerous commercial companies have invested in developing technology for asteroid mining. Several comets
and asteroids carry solid water in them. This water can be used for astronauts and scientists in space stations.
The water can also be broken down to hydrogen which can be used as fuel for the rockets. (§2)
Scientists also believe that dinosaurs disappeared because they couldn’t go to another planet. Sooner or
later a killer comet will again cross Earth’s path, threatening all life. Fortunately, because we have knowledge
about comets and space science, we will be able to survive. (§3)
Task 1: Copy the correct answer. The text is: ……………………………………………
a. Expository b. Argumentative c. Narrative
Task 2: Are the following statements true or false?
a. Space exploration is meant to investigate outer space. …………………………
b. The first pioneers of space exploration were the Russian. …………………………
c. Asteroids are only composed of iron. …………………………
d. Scientists assume that no other comets would crush our planet. …………………………
Task 3: Answer the following questions according to the text:
A. Is the writer for or against space exploration? Justify your answer
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
B. How did he defend his point of view?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
C. Why is space science vital for humanity according to the author?
Explain by analogy with the fate of dinosaurs.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Task 1: Have a look at the coping and discuss the following features of the text:
Coping
Argumentative texts defend implicitly or explicitly ideas, or points of view. They have two functions: a
polemical function (dismissing someone else’s point of view) and a persuasive function (changing
someone else’s point of view).
Argumentative texts resort to three categories of reasoning :
1. Deductive reasoning ( drawing conclusions each time you say something)
2. Concessive reasoning (making concessions to other people’s arguments, the better to criticize them)
3. Reasoning by analogy (making your arguments more concrete by comparing situations).
A. Function: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………
B. Category of reasoning ………………………………………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Task 2: Read the sentences below and put their number under the appropriate heading
Argument for space exploration Arguments against space exploration
…………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………
1. We may encounter unknown risks that may harm our planet.
 2. We may find new sources of energy
3. It answers scientific questions
4. It seeks to satisfy philosophical questions: why are we here? Where are we going?
5. It is senseless to spend billions exploring space when we know so little about this world.
6. The space program creates jobs.
7. Humanity makes progress by exploring the unknown
8. The money should be spent on more urgent things, like providing clean water and medicine for the poorer
9. We may destroy our planet with all these experiments.
10. We can discover water and life in outer space in order to help us to survive.
Content to be done at home
Comparative and superlative of adjectives and adverbs
A. Observe the following sentences which contain comparatives of adjectives and adverbs then do the task
that follow
a. The sun is bigger than the Earth
b. Star’s light is less intense than that of the sun.
c. Orion Sky-Scanner is one of the best telescopes to view planets
d. Venus is as big as the Earth.
e. Stars are far more remote from us than any other heavenly bodies.
f. Mercury is the fastest planet in our solar system.
g. Venus is not as bright as the moon.
h. Saturn is the most beautiful
i. Saturn the least dense planet in our solar system.
Task. Study the figures in the table below. Then complete the sentences with the right comparative form of
the adjectives and adverbs in the yellow box.
Adjectives: remote(from) –distant (from)- near/close to-long – short- large….
Adverbs: (travel -orbit- rotate) slowly – fast –quickly
Diameter: Average distance from Time for one orbit: Time for one rotation
Planets
Thousand km the sun: million km Earth years at their own axes
Mercury 4.88 58 0.241 88 days
Venus 12.10 108 0.615 30 days
Earth 12.76 150 1 24 hours
Neptune 48.6 4.497 164.8 15 hours and 48 min.
A. Mercury is ……………………..…….. to our Sun …….…. Venus, Earth and Neptune.
B. Neptune has a ………………………... diameter …….. Mercury, Venus and the Earth.
C. Neptune rotates on its axis ………………………………….the Earth does.
D. Mercury and Venus complete one revolution around the Sun…………..
E. The Earth is ………………………………………. from the Sun than Mercury
F. Mercury is …………………………………… to the sun ……………………….the Earth.
G. Mercury is…………………………………………… planet to the Sun
H. The Earth is ……………………………………………Venus. Rule

Comparative Adjective/adverb
Equality Inequality d/ g as+adj+as not as+adj+as
Superiority a/e Short adj+er than adj ending in le/y/w+er than More+long adj+than
Inferiority b Less+adj+than
Superlative Adjective/adverb
Superiority c/f The+short adj+est The+ adj ending in y/w +est The most+adj
Inferiority i The least+adj
B. Exceptions
Adjective/adverb Comparative Superlative
Good /well better The best
Bad/badly /ill Worse The worst
Little less Least
Much /many More Much
Far Fast Fastest