* Look at the picture and answer the questions. Sun’s family Mercury Venus Earth Jupiter Saturn Uranus Pluto D i ê m v ư ơ n g Mars Neptune lesson 9 Period 65: reading practice I. Before you read. * New words. - Mercury (n) - Neptune (n) - Venus (n) - Uranus (n) - Jupiter (n) - Earth (n) - Saturn (n) - Swift (a) - Pluto (n) - Yellowish (a) - Mars (n) - Brilliant (a) - Sun’s family (n) - Sunset >< Sunrise (n) - Planet (n) - Degrees centigrade (n) II. While you read ( Read the passage and then answer the questions) Mercury is the smallest member of the sun’s family. It is only 3, 100 miles across. It is also the sun’s swiftest planet; Its yearly journey round the sun is only 88 days. Mercury always keeps one side towards the sun. On this side it is always day; on other side always night. We only see the lighted side. Mercury appears to us like a yellowish – orange star. As the nearest planet to the sun or soon after sunset. People sometimes call Mercury the morning or evening star. Mercury is half the size of the earth. Because it is much lighter, it has much less gravity. If you can visit Mercury in a spaceship, you will find it a strange world. Its low gravity make you feel very light. If your weight on earth is 100 pounds, your weight on Mercury is only 27 pounds. looking at the sun from mercury you can see that it’s much more brilliant than it is seen from the earth. And the yellow centre of the sun appear three times bigger from Mercury because it is much nearer to the sun. On its lighted, Mercury’s temperature is about 300 degrees centigrade. But the dark side is extremely cold, about 150 degrees below zero. So Mercury is probably the coldest as well as the hottest of the planets. * Questions 1. Is Mercury the sun’s fastest planet of the sun’s family? 2. Is Mercury the nearest planet to the sun? 3. What do people call Mercury? 4. What is Mercury’s temperature on its lighted side? 5. What is Mercury’s temperature on its dark side? - Yes, it is - Is, it is - People sometimes call Mercury the morning or evening star. - On its lighted side, Mercury’s temperature is about 300 degrees centigrade. - On the dark side, Mercury is about 150 degrees below zero. III. After you read (Fill in the missing words) Mercury is the member of the sun’s family. It is only 3, 100 miles across. It is also the sun’s swiftest planet; Its yearly journey round the sun is only days. Mercury always keeps one side towards the sun. On this side it is always day; on other side always night. We only see the lighted side. Mercury appears to us like a yellowish – orange star. As the nearest planet to the sun or soon after sunset. People sometimes call Mercury the morning or evening star. On its lighted, Mercury’s temperature is about degrees centigrade. But the dark side is extremely cold, about 150 degrees below zero. So Mercury is probably the . as well as the . of the planets. smallest 88 300 coldest hottest IV. Homework. - learn new words by heart. - Summarize the main content of the passage.