apollo missions_

1.四级听力答题技巧和方法

2.四级听力有什么技巧

3.给点有关汤姆·汉克斯的资料（用英文表示）

4.[英文]关于月球的英文文章

The Moon, of course, has been known since prehistoric times. It is the second brightest object in the sky after the Sun. As the Moon orbits around the Earth once per month, the angle between the Earth, the Moon and the Sun changes; we see this as the cycle of the Moon's phases. The time between successive new moons is 29.5 days (709 hours), slightly different from the Moon's orbital period (measured against the stars) since the Earth moves a significant distance in its orbit around the Sun in that time.

Due to its size and composition, the Moon is sometimes classified as a terrestrial "planet" along with Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

The Moon was first visited by the Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 in 1959. It is the only extraterrestrial body to he been visited by humans. The first landing was on July 20, 1969 (do you remember where you were?); the last was in December 12. The Moon is also the only body from which samples he been returned to Earth. In the summer of 1994, the Moon was very extensively med by the little spacecraft Clementine and again in 1999 by Lunar Prospector.

The gritational forces between the Earth and the Moon cause some interesting effects. The most obvious is the tides. The Moon's gritational attraction is stronger on the side of the Earth nearest to the Moon and weaker on the opposite side. Since the Earth, and particularly the oceans, is not perfectly rigid it is stretched out along the line toward the Moon. From our perspective on the Earth's surface we see two small bulges, one in the direction of the Moon and one directly opposite. The effect is much stronger in the ocean water than in the solid crust so the water bulges are higher. And because the Earth rotates much faster than the Moon moves in its orbit, the bulges move around the Earth about once a day giving two high tides per day. (This is a greatly simplified model; actual tides, especially near the coasts, are much more complicated.)

But the Earth is not completely fluid, either. The Earth's rotation carries the Earth's bulges slightly ahead of the point directly beneath the Moon. This means that the force between the Earth and the Moon is not exactly along the line between their centers producing a torque on the Earth and an accelerating force on the Moon. This causes a net transfer of rotational energy from the Earth to the Moon, slowing down the Earth's rotation by about 1.5 milliseconds/century and raising the Moon into a higher orbit by about 3.8 centimeters per year. (The opposite effect hens to satellites with unusual orbits such as Phobos and Triton).

The asymmetric nature of this gritational interaction is also responsible for the fact that the Moon rotates synchronously, i.e. it is locked in phase with its orbit so that the same side is always facing toward the Earth. Just as the Earth's rotation is now being slowed by the Moon's influence so in the distant past the Moon's rotation was slowed by the action of the Earth, but in that case the effect was much stronger. When the Moon's rotation rate was slowed to match its orbital period (such that the bulge always faced toward the Earth) there was no longer an off-center torque on the Moon and a stable situation was achieved. The same thing has hened to most of the other satellites in the solar system. Eventually, the Earth's rotation will be slowed to match the Moon's period, too, as is the case with Pluto and Charon.

Actually, the Moon ears to wobble a bit (due to its slightly non-circular orbit) so that a few degrees of the far side can be seen from time to time, but the majority of the far side (left) was completely unknown until the Soviet spacecraft Luna 3 photographed it in 1959. (Note: there is no "dark side" of the Moon; all parts of the Moon get sunlight half the time (except for a few deep craters near the poles). Some uses of the term "dark side" in the past may he referred to the far side as "dark" in the sense of "unknown" (eg "darkest Africa") but even that meaning is no longer valid today!)

The Moon has no atmosphere. But evidence from Clementine suggested that there may be water ice in some deep craters near the Moon's south pole which are permanently shaded. This has now been reinforced by data from Lunar Prospector. There is arently ice at the north pole as well. A final determination will probably come from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, scheduled for 2008.

The Moon's crust erages 68 km thick and varies from essentially 0 under Mare Crisium to 107 km north of the crater Korolev on the lunar far side. Below the crust is a mantle and probably a small core (roughly 340 km radius and 2% of the Moon's mass). Unlike the Earth, however, the Moon's interior is no longer active. Curiously, the Moon's center of mass is offset from its geometric center by about 2 km in the direction toward the Earth. Also, the crust is thinner on the near side.

There are two primary types of terrain on the Moon: the heily cratered and very old highlands and the relatively smooth and younger maria. The maria (which comprise about 16% of the Moon's surface) are huge impact craters that were later flooded by molten la. Most of the surface is covered with regolith, a mixture of fine dust and rocky debris produced by meteor impacts. For some unknown reason, the maria are concentrated on the near side.

Most of the craters on the near side are named for famous figures in the history of science such as Tycho, Copernicus, and Ptolemaeus. Features on the far side he more modern references such as Apollo, Gagarin and Korolev (with a distinctly Russian bias since the first images were oained by Luna 3). In addition to the familiar features on the near side, the Moon also has the huge craters South Pole-Aitken on the far side which is 2250 km in diameter and 12 km deep making it the the largest impact basin in the solar system and Orientale on the western limb (as seen from Earth; in the center of the image at left) which is a splendid example of a multi-ring crater.

A total of 382 kg of rock samples were returned to the Earth by the Apollo and Luna programs. These provide most of our detailed knowledge of the Moon. They are particularly valuable in that they can be dated. Even today, more than 30 years after the last Moon landing, scientists still study these precious samples.

Most rocks on the surface of the Moon seem to be between 4.6 and 3 billion years old. This is a fortuitous match with the oldest terrestrial rocks which are rarely more than 3 billion years old. Thus the Moon provides evidence about the early history of the Solar System not ailable on the Earth.

Prior to the study of the Apollo samples, there was no consensus about the origin of the Moon. There were three principal theories: co-accretion which asserted that the Moon and the Earth formed at the same time from the Solar Nebula; fission which asserted that the Moon split off of the Earth; and capture which held that the Moon formed elsewhere and was subsequently captured by the Earth. None of these work very well. But the new and detailed information from the Moon rocks led to the impact theory: that the Earth collided with a very large object (as big as Mars or more) and that the Moon formed from the ejected material. There are still details to be worked out, but the impact theory is now widely accepted.

The Moon has no global magnetic field. But some of its surface rocks exhibit remanent magnetism indicating that there may he been a global magnetic field early in the Moon's history.

With no atmosphere and no magnetic field, the Moon's surface is exposed directly to the solar wind. Over its 4 billion year lifetime many ions from the solar wind he become embedded in the Moon's regolith. Thus samples of regolith returned by the Apollo missions proved valuable in studies of the solar wind.

四级听力答题技巧和方法

阿波罗登月是用来反映了人们对月球的真相。事实上，他们教给我们的地球-我们自己。

马克梅森

1969年7月后不久，他们从月球，阿姆斯特朗和奥尔德林回到放映世界反应登月镜头。他们看到美国的新闻主播沃尔特克朗凯特抹去了眼泪，周围的人，从中国到巴西电视聚集;电视店外人行道在敬畏观看的人挤满。奥尔德林转向阿姆斯特朗。 “尼尔”，他说，“我们错过了整个事情”。

对此有何评论（乔治哈里森的投诉披头士感到左，因为“我们是谁一直没能看到披头士”只有人们想起）揭示了关于阿波罗登月令人惊讶的事实：他们没有被月球。他们对地球。

线索已经有从一开始，当阿波罗船员8became第一人离开家园地球的轨道。轨道1968年圣诞节前夕月球，实现梦想古老的人类本身，其真正的奇迹是不是在他们脚下的死灰色的星球，但在活跃的蓝色地球的距离。前三个男子看到月亮近距离很快意识到-带崇敬更深刻的感觉-他们是前三个男子从远处看到地球。目睹地出令他们感到谦卑。他们阅读创世纪章节开放的全球数百万观众，签署了与“圣诞快乐，愿上帝保佑你们大家，所有的好地球。你们”

查看未来4年，阿波罗告诉我们，这意味着什么是人类：在一个字，不得安宁。好奇心是永不满足，它只是找到新的目标。不少变化的速度有多快，就可能出现被皮特康拉德，第三名男子走在月球上学习（和第一落在它以上）。当阿姆斯特朗和奥尔德林曾声称要奖，没有人感兴趣的是阿波罗12号。康拉德后来在美国运通著名的美国人认识到没有广告出现。 （其他包括梅尔布兰克，对兔八哥的声音。）然而，在康拉德的是最有趣的阿波罗任务的所有许多方面。他的同胞步月，铝豆，不会是最有天赋的宇航员，以勤奋工作的补偿。最后，关于月球表面的地位，他全身心地投入到距离他的银美国宇航局徽章，知道月球漫步已经为他赢得了金色。不过，由于他们飞回地球，他转向康拉德，并承认在月球本身的失望：“这是喜欢这首歌曲这样的道理都在那儿呢？”另一个永恒的真理：成就本身并不是什么指望，这是事实你为他们做事。

当豆返回地球，他就坐在商场，只是惊叹于人类的多样性。而他也不会再抱怨天气：“我只是很高兴有天气。由于经常”，一个未知的旅程揭示了有关目标比对旅客的生活。

几乎每一个阿波罗宇航员回来了地球的脆弱深刻的理解。埃德米切尔，步月6号：“当我们看到在这个更大的视野， -称之为东部的观点来看，认为上帝点-转变发生在你的观察地点，你开始觉得完全不同。”阿波罗16号的查理杜克描述为“挂在太空中就好像一块宝石地球”。 “人们总是问我们什么时发现我们去月球，”戈登说家伙，阿波罗12。 “我们发现的地球。”

四级听力有什么技巧

考试复习时间所剩无几，基于复习时间已经很有限，目前的重点应该是8套左右的真题，年代太久远了也没用。争取每做一套，提高2-3分左右。这个提高是基于技巧和对阵题的感觉的把握上的，基本上，到了这个阶段，听力是不大可能有很大的提高。因此不要奢望最后两周忽然爆发式的得分。需要注意的仅仅是是技巧，以及中间部分对出题者思路的把握。 我要高分

对于听力部分，个人认为,你把前面年份的听力都听懂、摸熟了，等到的分数，基本就是你今年能拿的分数了。所以，每天花半个小时自测或者自测后晚上自己再听几遍，基本就不需要再花什么功夫了。如果真的需要，请注意如下几方面：

做题技巧：做完快速阅读离听力开始还有五分钟，在这五分钟内老师会把你的答题卡1收上去，然后我们要做的就是浏览听力的所有选项。这段时间是充分发挥你记忆力的时候，记住的选项越多越好。加了长对话和复合式听写之后听力时间变长了，很容易让人觉得疲惫，所以听力的时候一定要保持最佳状态。

一、卷子发下来后快速的浏览一遍，包括题干和答案。这样会大大提高你对听力的理解——知道它是讲什么内容，大概是怎么回事。这个时候不要去写考号什么的。尽管留到交卷时写好了。

二、没听懂的题目，就放弃它，千万不要听下道题的时候还在想上道题。这样会引起头脑里面的混乱。如果引起连锁反应那你的复习就全白费了。

三、相信第一感觉，听力部分不是非常确凿的感觉的话不要改动开始的答案。人的脑袋有时候会混淆的。因此很多情况下不是你选错了，而是改错了。因此轻易别选，但是选了之后轻易别改。

四、赴考之前先检查耳机工作否。试音的时候把音量什么的调好就行了。其它的时间用来看卷子内容。

五、复合式听写的句子部分是得分大户，也是丢分大户，一定注意听懂再写，以句子为单位而不是以单词为单位去写。写出主要意思即可。不会写的单词要用同义词来替换。

现在教你四六级听力如何在听不懂时，照样拿180分以上

第一招：相关保留原则

当选项中有两项表达意思相近时，那么正确答案必在这两项之中！这时只需稍微听一听对话，即可知答案，如果出现了双重相关，便可直接确认正确选项，只需听完对话加之认证一下即可！

典型例题：

4. A) Visiting the Browning.

B) Writing a postcard.

C) Looking for a postcard.

D) Filling in a form.

例题分析：B、C两项均含有 a poscard ，B、D两项均含有写...之意，即B、C和B、D构成双重相关，即可得出B为正确选项！

本题听力原文：

4. M: What\'s the matter? You\'ve been sitting there for ages, just staring into space.

W: I told the Browning I\'d send them a postcard. Now I don\'t know what to say.

Q: What\'s the woman doing?

第二招：异项保留原则

当选项中出现有意思明显相反的两项时，那么正确答案必在此二项中出现！如果出现双重异项，那么即可判断出正确答案，异项保留原则在六级考试听力短对话中应用广泛！

典型例题：

6. A) She can’t finish her assignment, either.

B) She can’t afford a computer right now.

C) The man can use her computer.

D) The man should buy a computer right away.

例题分析：A、B异项，A项的意思是她现在有电脑，B项的意思则是她现在没有电脑。B、D异项，B是说女方无电脑，而D是说男方无电脑，男女也是一种反意关系。所以根据双重异项原则可确定正确答案为B项！

本题听力原文：

6. M: I\'m frustrated. We\'re supposed to do our assignment on the computer, but I he difficulty getting access to the computers in the library.

W: I understand the way you feel. I\'m looking forward to the day when I can afford to get my own.

Q: What does the woman mean?

第三招：女士保留原则

做题做多了，我们应该了解西方人的思维方式，当对话中出现女士的建议和要求时，我们一定要注意，这时女士说出来的话很可能就是正确选项的异意！因为女士经常以女神的形象出面，她们代表的是美好、正面、阳光的信息！

典型例题：

9. A) The man should stick to what he’s doing.

B) The man should take up a new hobby.

C) The man should stop playing tennis.

D) The man should find the cause for his failure.

例题分析：通过选项我们可以分析出男人做一些事情遇到了困难，这时一位女人出来安慰男人，根据女神原则可知女人一定会让男人坚持把这件事情做下去，而不要放弃，这样的题型太多了，所以可呈现出一定的规律性！

本题听力原文：

9. M: I think I\'m going to give up playing tennis. I lost again today.

W: Just because you lost? It that the reason to quit?

Q: What does the woman imply?

第四招：概括、抽象保留原则

当选项中出现比较概括、抽象的句子时，这时我们就要把表述事实的、具体的句子划掉，而去选择表概、抽象、比较性的句子！此原则可衍生出一个包含取大的原则，在作题时应用也是十分的广泛，一般当两个选项的意思接近时，表述比较全面的一般为正确选项！

典型例题：

7. A) The visiting economist has given several lectures.

B) The guest lecturer’s opinion is different from Dr. Johnson’s.

C) Dr. Johnson and the guest speaker were schoolmates.

D) Dr. Johnson invited the economist to visit their college

例题分析：A、C、D均为表述事实的句子，只有B项为对比、比较的句子，较之A、C、D项更为抽象的表述了一件事情，所以B项为正确选项！

本题听力原文：

7. M: The visiting economist is speaking tonight, but Dr. Johnson doesn\'t seem to think much of him.

W: That\'s because Dr. Johnson comes from an entirely different school of thought.

Q: What do we learn from the woman\'s remark?

第五招：态度和虚拟保留原则

这两种方法一般无单独命题的规律性，只是作为上述四种宏观方法的方法出现，当只剩下两个选项时，通常正态度的选项容易是正确答案，表虚拟的选项更容易是正确答案！

最后祝大家都能取得一个满意的成绩！

给点有关汤姆·汉克斯的资料（用英文表示）

1 听力，有三种题型，dialogue(十个对话)，passage(三个短文)，compound dictation(复合式听写，也就是传说中的段子题)，第一种每年必考，后两种逐年交替，其中考passage的次数相对较多。

最容易得分的是dialogue和passage，只要记住一个超级技巧即可：对话所述事情总是向不好的方面发展。

举几个例子：比如对话里问教授的讲座lecture难不难，记住一定难，老师的作业assignment多不多，一定多，男士发出的邀请，女士会答应吗，永远不会，永远是一个傻哥们发出邀请，邀请的对象是Mary，问我们游泳好吗，滑冰好吗，跳舞好吗，吃饭好吗，Mary的回答永远是，我非常的想去，but不去，四级考了十几年了，Mary从来没有去过，今年照样不会。所以大家记住，只要是对话，必然会发生意外的事情，再举个例

子，两个选项，A火车准时，B火车晚点如果你是出题老师，你怎么设置对话，当然是晚点了，准时有什么好说的，总不能两个神经病，或者是两人刚谈恋爱，来到车站，没话找话，男的说，哇，火车准时了，女的说，咿！还真准时了耶！所以准时是不可能的，不好的事情一般都是最后的答案！对于compound dictation，上学期偶运气好没有考这个，但是偶觉得这种题确实比较难，只能竖直耳朵专心听了，即使听不懂，也要根据上下文瞎猜一个，空着肯定没分，瞎猜说不定老师看错了还会给你一分！

2、阅读，这是我们应考的重点，阅读题得分的高低直接影响到你是否能过，在这里我针对每种题型谈一谈，一事实细节题，据偶的观察，每年必考地方是列举处，即有first，sceond，in addition……的地方，还有举例与打比方的地方，即有as，such ，for instance等出现的地方，有几个应考规律，大家记住，1)选项中照抄或似乎照抄原文的一般不是答案，而同义词替换的是正确答案，

2)选项中表达意义较具体，也就是句子较长的一般不是答案而概括性的，抽象的是答案，

3)选项中有绝对语气词的比如must，never，merely等不是答案而有不十分肯定语气词的是正确答案，比如

could，might，possible等。

二词义及语义判断题，常考有指代上下问语义功能的名词和一词多义的词组，另外复杂句由于其句子之间的

关系复杂，也常成为考查理解能力的一种手段，大家只要记住一个规律即可，那就是选项含义与被考单词在

含义上肤浅相近的一般不是答案

三推理判断题，有如下几个技巧，

1)若要求对某段内容进行推论，那么就只看题干要求作答的那一段，

2)选项中用试探性，不十分绝对语气词的比如tend to ，offten等一般是答案，

3)符合常识逻辑的一般是答案，比方说为什么中国比较穷，是因为人口众多，为什么美国人很胖，是因为他

们吃的肯德基，麦当劳太多了)。

四主旨大意题和观点态度题，这两种相对都比较难，大家的得分都不是很高，所以即使你做的不好也别太介

意。这两道题，偶当时是在十分紧迫的情况下，只读了首尾段，然后迅速选择的，其实最后效果还不错，阅

读考了二百多分！

2注意辨别近音

同音、近音词句一样，在英语语言中也有许多单词读音很接近。它们被读出时，很容易对考生造成干扰，使你产生多余的联想。另外，在对所提问题设定的选项中，通常会出现与听力材料中读音接近的单词，作为对原句中音或义的干扰。比如：

原文：W： I’ve got to buy a new car.

M: Really?

Q: What does the woman mean?

选项：A) She purchased a car recently.

B) She knew the car was in the lot.

C) She always forgets to clean her car.

D) She really needs a new car.

可以看出，B)项中的knew是对原文中new的近音干扰，C)项中的forget是对he

got to的近音干扰。

因此，在遇到这类题时，要求考生要仔细，不要一看到干扰项就立即作出选择，从而中了题设陷阱。

此外，还要注意语音、语调的问题。中国考生对英语中以语调、语气表意的句子不熟悉，从而难以领会说话者要表达的真实意图，结果造成失分。因此，应试者应对这一项加以研究，并加强训练。以陈述句为表达形式而句末用升调，表示说话人的怀疑，不同意或不完全同意对方的观点。句子结构是陈述形式，但句末用的是降调或低升调，表示说话人的无所谓或乐观的态度，不表示怀疑。

感叹句用升调结尾，表怀疑。疑问句句末用升调表示怀疑，而用降调不表怀疑。如Is he honest?用降调表示说话者认为他是诚实的。同学们对连续和弱读的现象也应有所了解。

希望对你有帮助！！~~~~

[英文]关于月球的英文文章

Thomas J. Hanks was born July 9, 1956 in Concord, California, Hanks spent much of his childhood moving about with his father, an itinerant cook, and continually attempting to cope with constantly changing schools, religions, and stepmothers. Hanks says that by the time he turned 10, he already had "three mothers, five grammar schools and 10 houses"; nevertheless, he hates it when the news media say he came from a broken home, because he feels he and his family are still close. After settling in Oakland, California, he began performing in high school plays (He attended Skyline High School). He then attended Chabot College in Hayward, California. While attending community college, Hanks was a bellman at Hilton hotels. He continued acting while attending Cal State, Sacramento, and dropped out at age 20 to pursue acting. In 18, Hanks went to find work in New York; while there he married his first wife, actress-producer Samantha Lewes. Tom Hanks was married to Samantha Lewes from 18 to 1985 and has two children, Colin and Elizabeth. He married Rita Wilson - who he met during filming of the movie, Volunteers - on April 30, 1988 and now has two children, Chester and Truman. His brother, Jim Hanks, is also an actor.

After starring in the TV sitcom, Bosom Buddies, Tom Hanks starred in the hit motion picture, The Splash in . Then in 1989, Tom Hanks won a Golden Globe Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Award and earned his first Oscar nomination for his endearing role of a little boy in a man's body in Penny Marshall's "Big." He was the third choice to star in "Big"; actors Harrison Ford and Robert DeNiro were asked first. Tom Hanks has received two Best Actor Academy Awards in 1994 and 1995. He became the first actor in over 50 years to win consecutive Best Actor Academy Awards when he captured his second Oscar for his unforgettable performance in the title role in Robert Zemeckis' "Forrest Gump." His work in the film also brought him a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild honor. The year prior, Hanks was honored with his first Oscar (as well as another Golden Globe Award) for Best Actor for his moving portrayal of AIDS-stricken lawyer Andrew Beckett in Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia."

He won his fourth nomination for his leading role of a WWII platoon captain leading a squadron in search of a missing soldier in Steven Spielberg's epic drama, "Sing Private Ryan." He earned another Golden Globe nomination for his work opposite Meg Ryan in the romantic comedy "Sleepless in Seattle," directed by Nora Ephron, and reunited with both Ryan and Ephron for the romantic comedy "You've Got Mail." Hanks received widespread critical and audience acclaim for his work as astronaut Jim Lovell in the Academy Award-nominated space epic "Apollo 13," on which he reunited with director Ron Howard following their collaboration on the comedy hit "Splash." Hanks' passion for the space program was dramatized in the acclaimed HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon." The episodic series, which captured 17 Emmy nominations and was named the year's Best Miniseries by both the TV Academy and the H.F.P.A. (with a Golden Globe), chronicled the story of America's Apollo missions. Hanks executive produced and hosted the series, wrote or co-wrote several segments, acted in an episode and directed the first installment, for which he was nominated for an Emmy.

In 1996, Hanks made his successful feature film writing and directing debut with the nostalgic musical comedy "That Thing You Do!." The title song spawned a hit single and also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. He also directed episodes of the popular HBO anthology "Tales from the Crypt," and the segment entitled "I'll Be Waiting" for Showtime's "Fallen Angels" series.

His other film credits include "Bachelor Party," "A League of Their Own," "Punchline," "Nothing in Common" and "The Money Pit." Hanks also created the voice of cowboy Woody in the Disney animated films "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2."

Moon

Did you ever look at the Moon and think you could see a face? Sometimes dark spots on the Moon look like eyes, a nose, and a mouth. People used to talk about “the man in the Moon.” They would joke about the Moon being made of cheese with holes in it.

The Moon is the second brightest thing in our sky, after the Sun. The Moon doesn’t make its own light. Light rays from the Sun bounce off it and make it shine. The Moon is closer to Earth than any other body in our solar system.

WHAT’S ON THE MOON?

In the 1600s, the famous Italian scientist Galileo was the first person to look at the Moon through a telescope. He saw dark spots that he thought were oceans. He called them maria, the Latin word for “seas.” Galileo thought the light areas were large landmasses called continents.

Today, we know a lot more about the Moon. We know that nothing lives on the Moon, and there are no oceans. The maria are dry, flat plains covered with rocks. The Moon is the only place in space that human beings he visited.

TOUCHING THE MOON

The first astronauts landed on the Moon in 1969. They treled in a United States spacecraft named Apollo 11. The astronauts set up experiments on the Moon and brought some moon rocks back to Earth. Later, five more Apollo missions explored different parts of the Moon. The astronauts on these missions brought back more rocks and soil.

Scientists learned many things about the Moon from the Apollo space missions. They also learned from other spacecraft that orbited (went around) the Moon. Some of these spacecraft sent robot landers down to the surface of the Moon.

SPACE ROCKS AND CRATERS

The dry, gray Moon might seem like a boring place now. But you should he seen it several billion years ago.

Many times over the past two or three billion years, chunks of rock and ice he come whizzing toward the Moon. The space rocks and ice are asteroids and comets. They slam into the Moon’s surface. The biggest ones came just after Earth and the other planets were formed. When they hit the Moon, these large objects threw up tons of rock and dust. There are billions of big and small pits on the Moon made by the space rocks. These pits are called craters.

ANCIENT VOLCANOES

If you went to the Moon, you’d see the dark-colored maria. Scientists think the dark gray rock is la (melted rock). They believe that billions of years ago, red-hot rock gushed up from volcanoes on the Moon. The la flowed over the Moon’s surface. It filled in low places, including some of the big craters. Then the la cooled to make the Moon’s gray rocks.

The la also left round hills on the Moon called domes and carved grooves called rilles.

ROUGH HIGHLANDS

There are rough and mountainous places all over the Moon. Scientists call these places highlands.

There are highlands on the far side of the Moon but almost no maria. Only one side of the Moon faces Earth, so you can never see the far side of the Moon. Scientists learned what the far side looks like from pictures taken by orbiting spacecraft.

HOT DAYS AND COLD NIGHTS

The astronauts who walked on the Moon had to wear big space suits. The space suits provided air for the astronauts to breathe, because there is no air on the Moon. The suits also kept the astronauts cool during hot Moon days and warm during cold Moon nights.

With no atmosphere to protect it, Moon temperatures can be very high and very low. It can be 261° Fahrenheit (127° Celsius) at noon during a Moon day—hotter than boiling water! It can be as cold as -279° Fahrenheit (-173° Celsius) on a Moon night. Days and nights on the Moon each last about two weeks.

Days and nights are long because the Moon turns very slowly. It takes the Moon about 27 days to make one turn. Earth turns once every 24 hours.

ICE ON THE MOON?

There is no water on the Moon, but scientists think that there may be ice. Two spacecraft in the 1990s saw signs of the ice. If there is ice on the Moon, it could help future explorers stay there longer.

The signs of ice were found in deep craters at the north and south poles of the Moon. Because these craters are always in shadow, it stays very cold there—about -364° Fahrenheit (-220° Celsius).

THE MOON FROM EARTH

The Moon always seems to change shape. Sometimes it looks like a round ball in the sky. Sometimes it is a thin sliver. But the Moon does not really change shape. What hens to it?

The Moon reflects light from the Sun. How you see the reflected sunlight depends on where the Moon is. The Moon orbits (goes around) Earth. Sometimes it is between the Sun and Earth, and you can’t see any reflected sunlight. This is called the new moon.

Sometimes Earth is between the Moon and the Sun. You can see all of the reflected sunlight. The Moon looks round. This is called a full moon.

The rest of the time, you see only part of the reflected sunlight from the Moon. The reflected sunlight looks like slivers of Moon. It takes about 27 days to go from a new moon to a full moon and back to a new moon again.

WHERE THE MOON CAME FROM

No one knows for sure how the Moon was formed. By testing moon rocks, scientists he learned that the Moon is about 4.6 billion years old. This is the same age as the solar system.

Scientists think that at that time something as big as a planet crashed into Earth. The collision blasted huge pieces of Earth into space. Some of the pieces came together to make the Moon.

Scientists continue to study moon rocks for clues. There is still much to learn about the Moon.