reading (The mission)

Throughout history, people have looked to the night sky in wonder and amazement and, as soon as technology allowed us, we travelled into space. Apollo 11, the first mission where people landed on the Moon in 1969, was one of the greatest achievements in space exploration, but on 7th December 2018, China launched a spacecraft into space that achieved another first on the moon.

On 3rd January 2019, the Chang’e 4 landed on the ‘dark side of the Moon’, which has this name because it is the side that never faces the Earth. This part of the Moon has always been a mystery to people because we can never see what it looks like from our planet. There were no astronauts on the Chinese spacecraft, but there were cameras and other scientific equipment.

The goal of the Chang’e 4 mission was to take pictures and soil samples. It also had a small capsule with soil from Earth and some seeds, including potatoes, cotton and a flower. The seeds actually started to grow into plants, but then, unfortunately, the heating system keeping the capsule at 24ºC failed. The baby plants quickly died in the -52ºC temperature of the Moon at night, but at least we saw that plants can start growing.

This mission has taught us more about the Moon and may lead to a mission with astronauts on board in the future. After all, people hope to go to Mars one day. Having a base on the Moon would be a good place to store supplies and to keep the rocket fuel they will need to get there. The information being collected now will help them make this dream become a reality.

China plans to launch more spacecraft to the Moon in the future in order to continue their research. Unlike the Chang’e 4, they will be able to return to Earth. In the words of Chinese scientist Sun Zezhou, these missions “help lay the foundation for future space exploration.”

Question 1

 What does the author think about people visiting space?

Throughout history, people have looked to the night sky in wonder and amazement and, as soon as technology allowed us, we travelled into space. Apollo 11, the first mission where people landed on the Moon in 1969, was one of the greatest achievements in space exploration, but on 7th December 2018, China launched a spacecraft into space that achieved another first on the moon.

On 3rd January 2019, the Chang’e 4 landed on the ‘dark side of the Moon’, which has this name because it is the side that never faces the Earth. This part of the Moon has always been a mystery to people because we can never see what it looks like from our planet. There were no astronauts on the Chinese spacecraft, but there were cameras and other scientific equipment.

The goal of the Chang’e 4 mission was to take pictures and soil samples. It also had a small capsule with soil from Earth and some seeds, including potatoes, cotton and a flower. The seeds actually started to grow into plants, but then, unfortunately, the heating system keeping the capsule at 24ºC failed. The baby plants quickly died in the -52ºC temperature of the Moon at night, but at least we saw that plants can start growing.

This mission has taught us more about the Moon and may lead to a mission with astronauts on board in the future. After all, people hope to go to Mars one day. Having a base on the Moon would be a good place to store supplies and to keep the rocket fuel they will need to get there. The information being collected now will help them make this dream become a reality.

China plans to launch more spacecraft to the Moon in the future in order to continue their research. Unlike the Chang’e 4, they will be able to return to Earth. In the words of Chinese scientist Sun Zezhou, these missions “help lay the foundation for future space exploration.”

Question 2

The Chang’e 4 spacecraft landed on the Moon

Throughout history, people have looked to the night sky in wonder and amazement and, as soon as technology allowed us, we travelled into space. Apollo 11, the first mission where people landed on the Moon in 1969, was one of the greatest achievements in space exploration, but on 7th December 2018, China launched a spacecraft into space that achieved another first on the moon.

On 3rd January 2019, the Chang’e 4 landed on the ‘dark side of the Moon’, which has this name because it is the side that never faces the Earth. This part of the Moon has always been a mystery to people because we can never see what it looks like from our planet. There were no astronauts on the Chinese spacecraft, but there were cameras and other scientific equipment.

The goal of the Chang’e 4 mission was to take pictures and soil samples. It also had a small capsule with soil from Earth and some seeds, including potatoes, cotton and a flower. The seeds actually started to grow into

plants, but then, unfortunately, the heating system keeping the capsule at 24ºC failed. The baby plants quickly died in the -52ºC temperature of the Moon at night, but at least we saw that plants can start growing.

This mission has taught us more about the Moon and may lead to a mission with astronauts on board in the future. After all, people hope to go to Mars one day. Having a base on the Moon would be a good place to store supplies and to keep the rocket fuel they will need to get there. The information being collected now will help them make this dream become a reality.

China plans to launch more spacecraft to the Moon in the future in order to continue their research. Unlike the Chang’e 4, they will be able to return to Earth. In the words of Chinese scientist Sun Zezhou, these missions “help lay the foundation for future space exploration.”

QUESTION 3

The author feels that the plant experiment

Throughout history, people have looked to the night sky in wonder and amazement and, as soon as technology allowed us, we travelled into space. Apollo 11, the first mission where people landed on the Moon in 1969, was one of the greatest achievements in space exploration, but on 7th December 2018, China launched a spacecraft into space that achieved another first on the moon.

On 3rd January 2019, the Chang’e 4 landed on the ‘dark side of the Moon’, which has this name because it is the side that never faces the Earth. This part of the Moon has always been a mystery to people because we can never see what it looks like from our planet. There were no astronauts on the Chinese spacecraft, but there were cameras and other scientific equipment.

The goal of the Chang’e 4 mission was to take pictures and soil samples. It also had a small capsule with soil from Earth and some seeds, including potatoes, cotton and a flower. The seeds actually started to grow into plants, but then, unfortunately, the heating system keeping the capsule at 24ºC failed. The baby plants quickly died in the -52ºC temperature of the Moon at night, but at least we saw that plants can start growing.

This mission has taught us more about the Moon and may lead to a mission with astronauts on board in the future. After all, people hope to go to Mars one day. Having a base on the Moon would be a good place to store supplies and to keep the rocket fuel they will need to get there. The information being collected now will help them make this dream become a reality.

China plans to launch more spacecraft to the Moon in the future in order to continue their research. Unlike the Chang’e 4, they will be able to return to Earth. In the words of Chinese scientist Sun Zezhou, these missions “help lay the foundation for future space exploration.”

QUESTION 4

What is the difference between the Chang’e 4 and future missions?

Throughout history, people have looked to the night sky in wonder and amazement and, as soon as technology allowed us, we travelled into space. Apollo 11, the first mission where people landed on the Moon in 1969, was one of the greatest achievements in space exploration, but on 7th December 2018, China launched a spacecraft into space that achieved another first on the moon.

On 3rd January 2019, the Chang’e 4 landed on the ‘dark side of the Moon’, which has this name because it is the side that never faces the Earth. This part of the Moon has always been a mystery to people because we can never see what it looks like from our planet. There were no astronauts on the Chinese spacecraft, but there were cameras and other scientific equipment.

The goal of the Chang’e 4 mission was to take pictures and soil samples. It also had a small capsule with soil from Earth and some seeds, including potatoes, cotton and a flower. The seeds actually started to grow into

plants, but then, unfortunately, the heating system keeping the capsule at 24ºC failed. The baby plants quickly died in the -52ºC temperature of the Moon at night, but at least we saw that plants can start growing.

This mission has taught us more about the Moon and may lead to a mission with astronauts on board in the future. After all, people hope to go to Mars one day. Having a base on the Moon would be a good place to store supplies and to keep the rocket fuel they will need to get there. The information being collected now will help them make this dream become a reality.

China plans to launch more spacecraft to the Moon in the future in order to continue their research. Unlike the Chang’e 4, they will be able to return to Earth. In the words of Chinese scientist Sun Zezhou, these missions “help lay the foundation for future space exploration.”

Question 5

What would make another good title for the text?