Watch astronauts read popular kids books from space

陕西扶风第二高中 房春会

题材文章词数科技生活362 难度 ★★★体裁建议用时说明文7′

If you're looking for a way to take story time up with the kids in your life，why notturn toastronauts？Story Time from Space is a project that features astronauts reading children's books from the International Space Station.

Patricia Tribe，the former director of education at Space Center Houstoncame upwith the basis for the project.The thought of merging （结合）space and reading came up after Tribe did some research on literacy and science skills in the United States.She decided to merge science andliteracyin a way that is easilyaccessible forkids.

“What better role models toengagekids in science and to engage them in reading？ ”she said. “You're not only looking and listening to the books，but also looking around the International Space Station.”

The Story Time from Space team， which includes astronauts， scientists， educators and others，has important guidelines when it comes to choosing the books.They have to be “neat” books that can be read in about 15 minutes， involve some sort of concept and most important，be accurate.

The team members sometimes receive books from authors who consider the reading sessions.When they have a group of books to consider，the team discusses why a title should or shouldn't be part of alaunch.One thing the team keeps in mind is having books thatcover a wide range ofage groups.

Once the team selects the reading material and gets theapprovalfor a launch，the books must go through the payload（有效负载）process at NASA and then have to be labeled，cleaned and sent to Florida for launch.An organization called CASIS helps to get the books into orbit.Once story time is over，there's the video editing.

It can also take time to find available astronauts to read the books.Tribe said her team tries to bediversewhen it comes to who is telling the stories.The authors of the books selected have all been “fantastic”， just like the astronauts.With each new idea，Story Time from Space is showing kids that learning and literacy can also be entertainment.

Reading Check

1.Why did Tribe come up with the project Story Time from Space？ （no more than 10 words）

2.What is considered the most important when choosing books？ （no more than 5 words）

3.How many processes are there before kids can see the video？ What are they？_

Language Study

Ⅰ.Important vocabulary

1.turn to求助于

2.come up with提出

3.literacy n.读写能力

3.be accessible for可理解的

4.engage v.参与

5.launch v.发射

6.cover a wide range of涉及多领域

7.approval n.认可

8.diverse adj.各种各样的

Ⅱ.Sentences for writing

1.not only...but also...不但……而且……

你不但可以看书、听书，而且你还可以环顾国际空间站的四周。

You're _______looking and listening to the books， ________looking around the International Space Station.

2.when it comes to...当谈及到……

当谈及到选择书目时，太空讲故事团队，包括宇航员，科学家，教育家和其他人都有重要的指导方针。

The Story Time from Space team，which includes astronauts， scientists， educators and others， has important guidelines_______choosing the books.

3.It takes time to do sth花时间去做某事

找到合适的宇航员来读书也可能需要时间。

It can also take time _______available astronauts to read the books.