2021-2022学年度第19-20期总第856期
Seeing the big bang (P6)
河北省邯郸市第一中学 张蕴

I. Lead-in
What is the Big Bang?

Most astronomers believe the universe began in a Big Bang about 14 billion years ago. At that time, the entire universe was inside a small bubble. It was hotter and denser than anything we can imagine. Then it suddenly exploded. The universe that we know was born. Time, space and matter all began with the Big Bang. In a fraction of a second, the universe grew from smaller than a single atom (原子) to bigger than a galaxy. And it kept on growing at a fantastic rate. It is still expanding today.

A newly launched space telescope will help us better understand how the universe came into being.

James Webb Space Telescope

II. Before reading

• What information can you get from the title?
• When and where was the telescope launched?
• What mission does it take on? How will it complete the mission?  
• What significance does it have?
……

III. While-reading

What significance does it have?

“We’re going to be entering a whole new regime of astrophysics, a new frontier; and that is what gets so many of us excited about the James Webb Space Telescope,”Heidi Hammel, a scientist on the mission, told the BBC.

IV. Post reading

Great breakthroughs have been made in space exploration this year. Work with your partner and discuss why the universe fascinates us so much.

V. Language study

用所给词的正确形式填空，并思考其成分。
•1. ____ (launch) from a tropical rainforest in South America, Webb “begins a voyage back to the birth of the universe”.
•2. _____ (intend) as a successor to the old Hubble Space Telescope, the Webb Telescope has taken 30 years to design and construct, _____ (cost) $10 billion in total.
•3. Webb has infrared vision, ____ (allow) it to see through cosmic clouds of dust.
•4. The ultraviolet wavelengths ____ (make) by the first stars and galaxies have stretched as the universe expands.
Key: 1. Launched; 2. Intended, costing; 3. allowing; 4. made

•Each of the 18 segments is the size of a coffee table and coated with ultra-thin gold, an ideal reflector of infrared light.
•an ideal reflector of infrared light 作gold的同位语，起到解释说明的作用。

找出下列句子中的同位语部分。
•That’s because Webb’s mirror is made of beryllium, a strong but lightweight metal, according to NASA.

VI. Words and expressions

发射        launch
继承者        successor
延展        stretch
弹开        bounce off
横跨        span
驶向        be bound for