The Moon

1.Long before the dawn of written history the Moon was paid much attention to by man who was interested and attracted by the presence in the sky of a planet so close to the Earth that the distance can be measured in thousands of kilometers, all the other figures being millions, billions and trillions. With the passage of time man began to note that the Moon went through several phases succeeding one another with perfect regularity. The earlier calendars offered were lunar calendars, each month beginning on a new moon. That influenced dividing the year into 12 months (in calendar now in general use), their names being given by the Romans.

2.In the Middle Ages the Moon was supposed to have a smooth crystalline surface like a mirror and the dark spots were considered to be mere reflections of the Earth. However, as early as 1609, with the help of the first telescope this conception was put an end to by Galileo who thought that he saw mountains and valleys, seas and continents in the Moon. Today the view of the Moon is obtained with the help of a series of automatic stations, but in spite of all man has learnt from space flights, the Moon is still a riddle from the distant past – and will be for a long time to come.

3.One thing man has come to know for sure is that the Moon is not made of green cheese, – it consists of the same chemical elements as other celestial bodies in the solar system, their proportions varying from planet to planet. The Moon is almost devoid of carbon, so necessary for living things on the Earth, and the makeup of its atmosphere is quite different. But in some other ways it is more like the Earth than many scientists thought. Photos and panoramas reveal that the Moon’s surface is uneven and rugged, with many hills and cavities like volcanic craters, some measuring several kilometers in diameter. Like the Earth, the Moon has layers, with a crust on the outside and a deep mantle below. It might also have a center core which includes molten rock. The lunar ground is assumed to be firm enough, though rocks from the Moon show that they were once melted. As to the Moon’s origin, none of existing theories has been proved to be either right or wrong, the truth remains to be investigated.

Vocabulary

to influence – влиять

surface – поверхность

to consist of – состоять из

to reveal – вскрывать, обнаружить

Question

What surface does the Moon have?

ВАРИАНТ 5

I.Перепишите и письменно переведите на русский язык следующие предложения. Помните, что объектный и субъектный инфинитивные обороты соответствуют придаточным предложениям (см. образец выполнения 1).

1. Now we know neutrino to have a rest mass (масса покоя) of about 30 electron-volts.

2. The properties of the new material are known to be determined next month.

3. Conduction is known to be a process by which heat is transmitted through a substance by molecular activity.

II. Перепишите и письменно переведите на русский язык следующие предложения. Обратите внимание на перевод зависимого и независимого причастных оборотов (см. образец выполнения 2).

1. Working with machines, sharp tools, motors one must be always careful.

2. The stream of electrons moving along the conductor is called electric current.

3. Powerful nuclear ice-breakers being built in our country, we began a new chapter in the history of Arctic exploration.

III. Перепишите и письменно переведите на русский язык следующие предложения. Обратите внимание на перевод условных предложений (см. образец выполнения 3).

1. If you have translated the article, you could have used valuable data in your work.

2. If the quality of the equipment were higher, the results of the experiment would be more accurate.

3. It would be impossible to explain chemical phenomena without using the laws of physics.

IV. Прочитайте и устно переведите на русский язык с 1-го по 7-ой абзацы текста. Перепишите и письменно переведите 1, 2, 3 и 5-ый абзацы. Письменно ответьте на вопрос после текста.