Geography. Козлова Е.П. - 28 стр.

at least                                 средний диаметр
interstellar matter                      явление приливов и отливов
the Solar System                         искусственный спутник
tidal phenomena                          Солнечная система

6.3 Pay attention to the names of the planets. Mind their pronunciation

Mercury [´m ∂ :kjuri]        Mars [ma:z]                  Uranus [´ju ∂ r ∂ n ∂ s]
Venus [´vi:n ∂ s]            Jupiter [´d u:pit ∂ ]        Neptune [´neptju:n]
Earth [ ∂ :θ]                Saturn [´sæt ∂ n]            Pluto [´plu:t ∂ u]

6.4 Read and translate the text

The Universe and the Solar System

     The cosmos or the universe as we view it today is made up of at least a billion
aggregations of stars called galaxies. The galaxies vary in shape and texture and are
divided into a number of general groups. Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is
classified as a spiral galaxy. The Milky Way in turn is a member of a supergalaxy
that consists of seventeen galaxies of all types, concentrated within a radius of about
one million light years.
     The Solar System is a tiny family of the universe. There may well be millions of
star systems like our own in the universe. It consists of the sun (a medium-sized star
with a diameter of about 850,000 miles), its nine planets and a variety of smaller
bodies ranging from satellites such as our moon to planetary dust. The sun’s mass is
33,000 times that of the earth and its temperature ranges from 6,000 degrees C at its
surface to energy values equivalent to an estimated 25 million degrees C at its core.
The sun is almost entirely gaseous, the most prevalent gas being hydrogen with
traces of 65 other elements.
                                     Of all nine planets Mercury is closest to the sun,
                                 followed by Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
                                 Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in that order, the mean
                                 diameter of the solar system being about 7 billion
                                 miles. The inner planets are closer together and the
                                 outer ones are farther apart.
  Solar System:                      The planets rotate around their axes and revolve
   1. Mercury      6. Saturn     around the sun in elliptical paths determined by the
   2. Venus        7. Uranus
   3. Earth        8. Neptune    force of the gravitation. Included in the solar system
   4. Mars         9. Pluto      are the 31 satellites of the planets (not counting the
   5. Jupiter
                                 earth’s artificial satellites), thousands of asteroids
              Figure 2          which are minor planets ranging from one mile to
300 miles, comets, small masses of solid particles, held loosely together, and
meteors.

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