1、The sun is a star. 1. That is because it is near us,
but the other stars are far away. The sun shines because it is very hot, but
the moon shines because it reflects the sun’s light. It is like a big mirror.
If we visited the moon, we should see the earth. 2.
Sometimes the earth moves between the sun and the moon. Then, the earth’s
shadow falls on the moon, no light from the sun can then reach the moon. The
moon gets dark because it cannot reflect the sun’s light. 3.
Does the sun ever get dark during the day? It does so when the moon hides it.
Sometimes the moon goes in front of the sun. We can watch its edge when it
slowly crosses the sun’s disc. Everything gets darker and darker, then, at
last, we cannot see any part of the sun’s disc. The moon is hiding it
completely. That is a total eclipse of the sun, sometimes only part of the
sun’s disc is hidden; that is not a total eclipse. 4.
5. There was a total eclipse of the moon on January 9, 2001. That event was
visible from Europe, Africa and Asia. There
were about 20 total eclipses of the sun between 1970 and 1999. The latest was
seen on June 21 this year in Angola,
Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique
and Madagascar.
A. Eclipses are not seen in every part of the world.
B. The earth’s shadow was beginning to move away.
C. We call this an eclipse of the moon.
D. It appears to be bigger than any other star.
E. It is also like a mirror and it reflects the light of the sun.
F. It is a partial eclipse of the sun.
