2 VIP Class Notes (Lily)

Vocabulary

1. astronomers= scientists who study the universe.
ex: There are many astronomers who try to figure out the universe.

2. explode (verb) — explosion (noun)
ex: if the bomb explodes, we will all die.
ex: There is a big explosion in the countryside.

3. result (noun)= 结果 结论
ex: it’s raining, as a result, we should bring our umbrella.
ex: I would like to know the result of the test.
ex: I want to know the result right away.

4. certificate (noun)= 证书
ex: the school gave me the certificate two years later.

5. direction= way 方向
ex: could you show me the direction to XXX?
ex: I lost my direction.

6. billion= 10亿
ex: There are 1.4 billion people in China.

7. competition (noun)= 比赛
ex: I will attend a piano competition next month.
ex: There is a drawing competition this week.
ex: The competition is crazy, I never join it.

8. territory (noun)= 领地
ex: the animals have to fight for their territory.

9. position (noun)= 位置
ex: I cannot find your position.

Astronomers are scientists who study the universe. Some astronomers believe that at one time, all the stars and planets were joined together in one big lump. They think that the universe began as a result of a big explosion that happened about 14 billion years ago. They call this event the big Bang.

It is thought that this explosion sent pieces of the universe flying off in various directions. As time passed, some of the pieces drifted together and formed galaxies.

Astronomers have different ideas about the future of the universe. Some believe that it will continue to grow. Others think that the galaxies will drift back toward one another, reversing the big Bang.

We live in a galaxy called the Milky Way. When you look at the sky on a clear night, you can see the stars and planets that make up the Milky way. The Milky Way got its name because it looks like a white stream of light. There are more than 100 billion stars in the Milky Way but we cannot see most of them.

It is believed that there are 100 billion galaxies in the universe. It is impossible to know how many billions of stars make up the entire universe. However astronomers think that there are about 100 million trillion.