Chang'e 4 lands on “dark” side of moon

江苏盐城市射阳县陈洋中学 于玲娟

China's space program has become the first to land aspacecrafton the so-called dark side of the moon.The landing on Thursday brought the country closer to its goal of becoming a space power.The China National Space Administration said the landing of the Chang'e 4 spacecraft at 10：26 in the morning has “opened up a new chapter in human lunar exploration”.

Chang'e 4 sent a picture taken at 11：40 in the morning back to Earth.It shows a small crater（坑） and an empty surface that appears to be lit by a light from the lunar explorer.

The name Chang'e comes from a Chinese goddess that many Chinese believe has lived on the moon for thousands of years.

The landing is an example of China's growing desire to compete with the American，Russian and European space programs.China also wants tostrengthenits position as a regional and international power.

Hou Xiyun is a professor at Nanjing University's school ofastronomyand space science.He told the Associated Press，“On the whole，China's space technology still lags behind the West，but with Chang'e 4 landing on the far side of the moon，we have raced to the front.”He added that China plans to explore Mars， Jupiter and asteroids（小行星）in the future.“There's no doubt that our nation will go farther and farther，” he said.

In 2013，Chang'e 3 made the first moon landing since the former Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976.The United States is the only country that has successfully sent a person to the moon.But China is considering a crewed mission as well.For now，China plans to send a Chang'e 5 spacecraft to the moon next year and have it return to Earth with collectedparticles.

The moon's far side is not always dark.But it is often called the dark side because it faces away from Earth and little is known about it.

Chang'e 4 will make astronomicalobserva-tionsand examine the structure and mineralcompositionof the ground above and below the surface.

Yu Guobin is a Chang'e 4 mission spokesman.He said， “The far side of the moon is a rare quiet place that is free from interference from radio signals from Earth.”

He added the mission will“provide important information for studying the origin of stars and nebula（星云） evolution.”

Reading Check

What is Hou Xiyun's attitude toward China's space exploration?

A.Doubtful. B.Confident. C.Critical. D.Pessimistic.

Language Study

Vocabulary

1.spacecraft n.航天器

合作小组组长不仅要有管理，还要有示范。既然是示范，就要有一定标准。为此，我要求小亮做3个工作：一是对自己进行“全身体检”，检查自己存在哪些问题，必要时做全面整改；二是密切注意其他3位成员的表现，在看得见的地方，不能做得比他们差；三是做人做事要有底线，不能突破底线。

2.strengthen v.加强

3.astronomy n.天文学

4.mission n.任务

5.particle n.颗粒

6.observation n.观察

7.composition n.成分

8.interference n.干扰

Difficult sentences

1.On the whole，China's space technology still lags behind the West，but with Chang'e 4 landing on the far side of the moon，we have raced to the front.总的来说，中国的太空技术仍然落后于西方，但是随着嫦娥4号着陆月球背面，我们已经跑到了前面。

【点石成金】本句是一个有连词but引导的并列句。第一个分句是China's space technology...，on the whole意为“总的来说”，作状语；第二个分句是we have raced to the front，其中with Chang'e 4 landing...是 “with+宾语+宾语补足语”结构，land和Chang'e 4有逻辑上的主谓关系，所以用动词-ing形式。

【句式仿写】有玛丽帮助我学习英语，我相信我会取得很大进步的。

2.“There's no doubt that our nation will go farther and farther，” he said.“毫无疑问，我们的国家会走得越来越远，”他说。

【点石成金】There's no doubt that...是一个固定句式，意思是“毫无疑问……”，that引导的是同位语从句。我们还可以用have no doubt that...、 there is some/much/little doubt等。 farther and farther是比较级的叠加，表示“越来越……”。

【句式仿写】毫无疑问，我们的国家正变得越来越强大。