English for Science and Technology

Form 5

UNIT 1 WHAT ARE ASTEROIDS?

GETTING STARTED

Before you read the text, try and answer the following questions.
1. When you look at the sky, do you wonder what else is there besides the
sun, moon and stars?
2. Name some of the planets in the Solar System.
3. Can humans live in outer space? Why or why not?

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Unit 1: What are Asteroids?
 English for Science and Technology
Form 5

LET’S READ

What Are Asteroids?

1 Early this year, a spacecraft was launched in the USA. The space
mission is called Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous(NEAR).Its mission? To travel
to a piece of rock in space and find out more about it. The rock is no ordinary
object. It is an asteroid. Asteroids are one of the smaller planets of the Solar
System.
2 The asteroid which the spacecraft will circle is called Eros. When
the spacecraft reaches Eros, it will send information to scientists by taking
pictures of the asteroid. Space missions are important in sending information
about planets in space.
3 Most asteroids live in an area known as the ‘asteroid belt’. This is a
region between Mars and Jupiter. There are thousands of small asteroids.
Scientists believe that these asteroids are the remnants of substances which
condensed when the Solar System formed but which somehow never became a
single large planet like planet Earth.

4 Some of the larger asteroids are Ceres, Pallas and Vesta. Asteroids
rotate on their axis every 5 – 20 hours. They move in elliptical orbits. Scientists
say asteroid orbits are unstable. Since asteroids are unsteady, they sometimes
collide with other planets. Some go out of their orbit and fall into the sun. Others
even fly out of the Solar System altogether! A few crash against each other.
5 When these asteroids crash against each other, they break up into
smaller pieces and make a mess in their ‘home’. Their ‘home’ is the asteroid belt.
These broken bits are scattered around where they are affected by the gravity of
Jupiter and other planets. The pieces are then pushed out of their ‘home’ towards
Earth’s orbit. Once they are in Earth’s orbit they fall into Earth’s atmosphere and
plunge to the ground as burning meteors.
6 The pieces of asteroids may be small but they are strong. They do
not break up easily when they hit the Earth’s atmosphere. When meteorites are
found scientists study them. By studying them, scientists try to find out about the
strange world of asteroids…. and how they first began.
(from Space Science in The Quest (Sept- Dec 96))

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Unit 1: What are Asteroids?
 English for Science and Technology
Form 5

COMPREHENSION CHECK

A. State whether the following statements are true (T) or false(F).

1. The space mission is to travel to a space rock.

2. Asteroids are one of the smaller planets of the Solar System.

3. Eros is the asteroid which the spacecraft will circle.

4. The ‘asteroid belt’ is the region between Eros and Mars.

5. Scientists say asteroids are unsteady when they collide with other
planets.

6. Asteroids which crash against each other break up into small pieces.

7. Meteorites which fall on Earth’s surface are called meteors.

8. Pieces of asteroids may be small and weak.

9. Scientists try to find out about the strange world of asteroids by

studying meteors.

10. The spacecraft will send information to scientists by taking pictures of

the asteroids.

B. Answer the questions based on the text.

1. What are asteroids?

_______________________________________________________________
2. Explain the words Eros and ‘asteroid belt’.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3. Give two names of some of the larger asteroids.
_______________________________________________________________
4. What happens when asteroids collide with other planets?
_______________________________________________________________
5. How do you think asteroids come about?
_______________________________________________________________

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Unit 1: What are Asteroids?
 English for Science and Technology
Form 5

WORD POWER

A. Read the definitions below and match them with the words given in the
box.

meteorites region collide elliptical orbit

remnants mission meteor spacecraft

Explanation Word
1. the leftover bits

2. in an oval manner

3. to knock against

4. small rock from outer space which burns brightly as it

enters Earth’s atmosphere

5. meteors which have fallen on Earth’s surface

6. the sending out of a number of persons entrusted

with special work

7. a path followed by a planet round another body

8. an area usually without fixed limits

9. a rocket or other vehicle that can travel in space

B. Replace the underlined words below with the words from the text that
have similar meanings.

1. There are tiny droplets of water on the glass slide. ______________________

2. When we use the microscope, the size of a square on the graph paper seems
bigger that it actually is. ______________________

3. “Look! Asteroids rotate on their axis in an unusual manner.”

________________

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Unit 1: What are Asteroids?
 English for Science and Technology
Form 5

LANGUAGE FOCUS

Passive Construction

1. The passive construction is used when the interest of the speaker or writer
is on the activity itself rather than on the doer.

Example : • NASA launched a spacecraft early this year in the (Active)

USA.

• A spacecraft was launched by NASA early this year (Passive)

in the USA.

In this example, the emphasis is on the spacecraft than on NASA.

2. The object in the active voice becomes the subject of the passive
construction.

subject object

NASA launched a spacecraft early this year in the USA. (Active)

subject

A spacecraft was launched early this year in the USA by (Passive)

NASA.

3. The subject of the active voice can reappear in the passive construction as
object of the preposition by. When the subject is unimportant, it does not
reappear at all.

dropped

A spacecraft was launched early this year in the USA by NASA.

4. When converting the active voice to the passive, the verb form is changed.

Change the statements below into the passive form.

1. The spacecraft sends information to scientists.

2. Pieces of asteroids may hit the Earth’s atmosphere.

3. Scientists study meteorites to find about the strange world of asteroids.

4. Asteroids break up into small pieces when they crash against one another.

5. The gravity of Jupiter and other planets affect the broken pieces of asteroids.

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Unit 1: What are Asteroids?
 English for Science and Technology
Form 5

LET’S WRITE

A. Summary Writing

Some of the larger asteroids are Ceres, Pallas and Vesta.

Asteroids rotate on their axis every 5 – 20 hours. They move in elliptical orbits.
Scientists say asteroids’ orbits are unstable. Since asteroids are unsteady,
they sometimes collide with other planets. Some go out of their orbit and fall
into the sun. Others even fly out of the Solar System altogether! A few crash
against each other.
When these asteroids crash against each other, they break up
into small pieces and make a mess in their ‘home’. Their ‘home’ is the asteroid
belt. These broken bits are scattered around where they are affected by the
gravity of Jupiter and other planets. The pieces are then pushed out of their
‘home’ towards Earth’s orbit. Once they are in Earth’s orbit they fall into
Earth’s atmosphere and plunge to the ground as burning meteors.
The pieces of asteroids may be small but they are strong. They
do not break up easily when they hit the Earth’s atmosphere. When meteorites
are found scientists study them. By studying them, scientists try to find out
about the strange world of asteroids…. and how they first began.

In not more than 50 words, summarize what happens when asteroids crash
against each other.

B. Free Writing

Imagine that a group of scientists and you are chosen to embark on an

expedition to one of the planets in the Solar System. Write about your
expedtition.

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Unit 1: What are Asteroids?