Естественно-географический факультет

Text 1. O u r n e i g h b o u r t h e M o o n

The Moon is Earth’s closest neighbour in the Solar System. To us it looks about as big as the Sun, but that is only because it is much nearer. A solid ball like Earth, it is only 2160 miles in diameter. Just as Sun’s gravity keeps the planets circling the Sun, Earth’s gravity keeps the Moon going around Earth.

The Moon moves at 2000 miles an hour, but it takes nearly a month to make each trip. During that time it rotates only once and therefore the same side keeps facing Earth. No one on Earth has ever seen the other side of the Moon. The Moon gives out no light of its own. Moonlight is light that has traveled from the Sun to the Moon. The Moon, like a mirror, reflects it.

Because the Moon is nearer Earth than any planet, it may be first object in outer space to be visited by rockets from Earth. But our explorers are likely to find the Moon very unfriendly, though interesting little world. Plains of gray rocks and dust, high rugged mountains, and craters cover the Moon’s surface. Long ago, the plains were believed to be seas, but modern telescopes reveal that they are dry. Craters may have been caused by volcanoes and by meteors smashing into the Moon from space. Some craters are over 100 miles wide and nearly 5 miles deep. Our explorers may have a lot of trouble getting across this battered land.

Probably they will land their space ship on the line where daylight and darkness meet – because to one side it will be terribly hot and to the other side terribly cold. They will have to carry their own air and water, because the Moon has neither. They may have trouble walking, because the Moon’s gravity is only one-sixth as strong the Earth’s. Since there is no atmosphere, they will find no winds, no clouds, no rain – no air of any kind. The sky will be black, even in daylight, because there is no air to scatter the Sun’s ray across the sky. The rays will instantly burn any exposed part of the body. From time to time there will be near-by a puff of dust kicked up by a falling meteor – a meteor which, had it hurtled into Earth’s atmosphere, would have quickly turned to gas or dust.

In ancient times the Moon was called Luna, and was believed to be a beautiful goddess. Only a hundred years ago many people thought the Moon must be inhabited, perhaps by beings very strange to us. Today astronomers say that the chance of any life on the Moon is too small even to think about.

Q u e s t i o n s :

1) Has anybody on Earth seen the other side of the Moon? Why?

2) Is the Moon a hospitable or an unfriendly world?

3) What is the weather like on the Moon?

4) Why is it dangerous to be on the Moon?

Text 2. A , B , C . . . ( A b o u t V i t a m i n s )

Do you know that people do not eat properly? They suffer from what is called malnutrition, the word that means “hunger”. But today scientists have discovered that people can suffer from two different kinds of hunger. The first is the plain ordinary one that you have when you are too busy during the day to have your dinner or even a snack, or when food costs so much that many people can’t afford to buy enough of it.

The second kind is “hidden hunger”. People suffer from it even when they eat a lot. That sounds very strange, but it took scientists many years to solve this problem. When it was proved that germs could make us sick, the scientists hunted for germs for every disease. But at last scientists caught on. They watched these baffling aliments closely, and they began to compare people who had them with people who hadn’t. Among other things, they compared the food that different people ate. And so they came to the right conclusion.

It was the lack of something in the diet that caused the trouble. Although a man’s stomach might be filled his body was hungry for something. He suffered from hidden hunger. One by one scientists solved many mysteries. In each case it was a different chemical that was lacking. If you don’t have enough iron in your body, the red blood cells don’t function properly and you are anemic. Without calcium and phosphorus your bones and teeth don’t develop properly. The best calcium foods are milk and its products, like cheese. Fish and meat have lots of phosphorus too.

Sometimes the missing chemicals belonged to a group of substances called vitamins. With too little vitamin A (which you get in butter, eggs, cheese and carrots), your eyes don’t work properly and you can get infections easily. Without vitamin B₁ (the vitamin that is found in brown bread), your appetite can suffer, you can get an upset digestion. Without enough vitamin C (oranges, green vegetables are rich in it), you may be restless and irritable, your teeth and bones may be damaged.

When even a tiny bit of vitamins is lacking, we develop severe and very noticeable symptoms. We need good food and well-planned meals which contain not only all the proper vitamins but minerals, proteins, fats and carbohydrates as well.

Q u e s t i o n s :

1) What are the two types of hunger?

2) People can suffer from malnutrition even if they eat a lot, can’t they?

3) Did it take scientists much time or little time to solve this problem?

4) What is good food?