2 A Light in the Night

CHAPTER 1 The Man in the Moon HOW DID WE GET TO KNOW THE MOON? Long ago, people in every part of the world looked up at the sky, the same way we do now. The two most important things they saw were the Sun and the Moon. The Sun gave a lot of light, but the Moon gave only a little. So many people thought the Sun was a man god, and the Moon a woman god— a goddess. And people saw a face on the Moon. They called it "the Man in the Moon." Parents still tell their children about him today. Then people studied astronomy, and they thought about how the Moon changed. In the end, the astronomers understood. The Moon was a big ball! They understood that the Moon and the Earth go around the Sun. The Sun shines light on half of the Earth all the time— this gives us day and night. The Sun shines on half of the Moon all the time, too. But from Earth, we can't always see all of the light on the Moon. When the half of the Moon with light is away from us, the sky is dark. This is called a new moon. When we can see all of the light on the Moon, it's a full moon. Between the new moon and the full moon, there are half moons and crescent moons.

第一章月球上的人我们是怎么知道月球的？ 很久以前，世界各地的人们都像我们现在一样仰望天空。 他们看到的两个最重要的东西是太阳和月亮。 太阳发出很多光，而月亮只发出一点点光。 所以很多人认为太阳是男神，月亮是女神——女神。 人们在月球上看到了一张脸。 他们称之为“月球上的人”。 直到今天，父母们还在给孩子们讲他的故事。 后来人们研究天文学，他们思考月球是如何变化的。 最后，天文学家们明白了。 月亮是一个大球！他们知道月球和地球绕着太阳转。 太阳总是照在地球的一半上，这就有了白天和黑夜。 太阳也一直照在月亮的一半上。 但从地球上看，我们并不总是能看到月球上所有的光。 当月亮有光的那一半离我们而去时，天空就是黑暗的。 这被称为新月。 当我们能看到月亮上所有的光时，就是满月。 新月和满月之间，有半月和新月。

CHAPTER 2 A Helping Hand HOW DOES THE MOON HELP THE EARTH? In 1969, three American astronauts flew in a rocket to the Moon. Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the Moon. When he was there, he talked to people on Earth on the radio. But they heard him 1.25 seconds later. That's because it's more than 350,000 kilometers from the Moon to the Earth. The Moon pulls the Earth. Because of this, the Earth is turning more and more slowly. Our day is getting 0.000015 seconds longer every year. But, of course, we don't feel the difference. The Moon goes around the Earth, but really, the Earth and the Moon go around each other. At the same time, the Earth and the Moon, together, go around the Sun. The Earth has a tilt of 23.5 degrees. Because of the pull of the Moon, this tilt doesn't change. And that's a good thing, because it's the Earth's tilt that gives us our seasons. Thanks to the Moon, we enjoy spring, summer, fall, and winter. And the Earth doesn't get too hot or too cold for life.

第二章援助之手月球如何帮助地球？ 1969年，三名美国宇航员乘坐火箭飞往月球。 尼尔·阿姆斯特朗是第一个在月球上行走的人。 当他在那里的时候，他通过无线电与地球上的人们交谈。 但他们在1.25秒后听到了他的声音。 这是因为月球到地球的距离超过35万公里。 月球拉着地球。正因为如此，地球自转的速度越来越慢。 我们的一天每年都会变长0.000015秒。 但是，当然，我们感觉不到区别。 月球绕着地球转，但实际上，地球和月球是相互绕着对方转的。 同时，地球和月球一起绕着太阳转。 地球的倾斜度为23.5度。 由于月球的引力，这种倾斜不会改变。 这是一件好事，因为正是地球的倾斜给了我们季节。 多亏了月亮，我们才有了春夏秋冬。 对于生命来说，地球不会太热或太冷。

The Moon's pull gives us tides, too. The Moon pulls the sea, and the water goes up and down. The Sun also pulls the sea and gives us tides, but the Moon's tides are much bigger because it is closer to the Earth. Tides can help us. We can use them to make electricity for our factories and homes. And that electricity is clean to make. It isn't bad for plants and animals. The Moon also helps sailors on boats at sea. At night, they can see where the Moon is— if there are no clouds. Then they know where to go. The Moon helps animals, too. Many animals go out at night. A little moonlight helps them to see. Of course, for some small animals, that's not always a good thing. Big animals can see them in the moonlight and eat them! The Moon can also tell animals where to go. Baby olive ridley turtles start their life in a hole in the sand on a beach. They use the Moon to find the sea.

月球的引力也给我们带来了潮汐。 月亮拉着大海，海水忽上忽下。 太阳也会拉动海洋，给我们带来潮汐，但月球的潮汐要大得多，因为它离地球更近。 潮汐可以帮助我们。我们可以用它们来为我们的工厂和家庭发电。 而且这种电是清洁的。 它对植物和动物没有坏处。 月亮也帮助海上的水手。 在晚上，如果没有云，他们可以看到月亮在哪里。 这样他们就知道该去哪里了。 月亮也帮助动物。 许多动物晚上出去。 一点月光能帮助他们看清东西。 当然，对于一些小动物来说，这并不总是一件好事。 大型动物可以在月光下看到它们并吃掉它们！月亮还可以告诉动物该去哪里。 小榄蠵龟在沙滩上的沙洞里开始了它们的生活。 他们用月亮来寻找大海。

CHAPTER 3 Lunatics CAN THE MOON MAKE PEOPLE CRAZY? The word lunar is the adjective we use for the Moon. It comes from Latin, the language of the Ancient Romans. They called the Moon "Luna." And lunatic is an old English word for a crazy person. A long time ago, people thought the Moon changed people. Lunatics went crazy when the Moon was full. The Ancient Greek thinker and teacher Aristotle said this was because there was too much light from the full moon. Some people couldn't sleep. That made them crazy. Was he right? We now have streetlights to see at night. People don't go crazy because of streetlights. But we know that people in countries with no night in the summer or no sunlight in the winter can have problems. We need both day and night. Today, it's often bad to use the word "lunatic." England stopped using the word in its laws in 1930. But people still use it when they talk. For example, if someone is a crazy driver, we say, "He drives like a lunatic!"

第三章疯子月亮能使人发疯吗？ lunar这个词是我们用来形容月球的形容词。 它来自拉丁语，古罗马人的语言。 他们称月球为“露娜”。 lunatic是一个古英语单词，指疯狂的人。 很久以前，人们认为月亮会改变人。 月圆的时候，疯子就会发疯。 古希腊思想家和教师亚里士多德说，这是因为满月发出的光太多了。 有些人无法入睡。 这让他们发疯了。他是对的吗？ 我们现在晚上可以看到路灯了。 人们不会因为路灯而发疯。 但我们知道，在夏天没有夜晚或冬天没有阳光的国家，人们可能会有问题。 我们需要白天和黑夜。 今天，用lunatic这个词通常是不好的。 英国在1930年停止在法律中使用这个词。 但人们在交谈时仍然使用它。 例如，如果某人是一个疯狂的司机，我们说，“他开车像个疯子！”

CHAPTER 4 Moon Stories WHY IS THE MOON SO INTERESTING? There are old stories about the Moon in every country. The Maoris were the first people in New Zealand. They lived there before Europeans came. One old Maori story is about Rona. Rona was the daughter of the sea god, Tangaroa. She made the sea go up and down at high and low tide. One night, Rona had water in a bucket to take to her children at home. She could see where to go in the moonlight. But then a cloud in the sky covered the Moon. Rona couldn't see. She said some bad things about the Moon. But the Moon heard her and was very angry. It pulled Rona up into the sky! Today, many Maoris see a woman and a bucket in the Moon. They say that rain is water from Rona's bucket. In another Maori story, a man— also called Rona— went to the Moon to find a wife. Every four weeks, the man eats his wife and then she eats him. That's why the dark and light parts of the Moon get bigger and smaller each month.

第四章月亮的故事为什么月亮这么有趣？ 每个国家都有关于月亮的古老故事。 毛利人是新西兰的第一批人。 他们在欧洲人来之前就住在那里。 一个古老的毛利人故事是关于罗娜的。 罗娜是海神Tangaroa的女儿。 她使大海在涨潮和退潮时涨落。 一天晚上，罗娜带了一桶水回家给她的孩子们。 在月光下，她能看到该往哪里走。 但是天空中的一片云遮住了月亮。 罗娜看不见。她说了一些关于月亮的坏话。 但是月亮听到了，非常生气。 它把罗娜拉上了天！今天，许多毛利人在月亮上看到一个女人和一个桶。 他们说雨水是罗娜桶里的水。 在另一个毛利人的故事中，一个男人——也叫Rona——去月球找妻子。 每四个星期，男人吃他的妻子，然后妻子吃他。 这就是为什么月球的暗部和亮部每个月都变大变小的原因。

There are many stories about the Moon in science fiction books and movies. Science fiction is about what things are going to be like in a hundred, a thousand, or a million years. Or about worlds that are different from ours. In 1901, H.G. Wells wrote a book called The First Men in the Moon. In the book, two men fly a rocket to the Moon. They find different kinds of aliens there. Some aliens want to stop them leaving. In the end, one man goes home, but the other stays. Today, we know there's no life on the Moon. But in 1901, people didn't know that. Anything was possible. In 1867, the USA wanted to buy Alaska from Russia. So they sent a scientist called George Davidson to study it. He wrote down what he saw, and the USA paid the Russians $7.2 million for Alaska. Davidson, an astronomer, wanted to see an eclipse. So in 1869, he went back to Alaska, to a place called Chilkat Valley. Davidson told the people there, "The Sun's going to go dark tomorrow!" The Chilkats laughed. That was impossible, they thought. But the next day, the Moon went in front of the Sun. Everything was dark! Some Chilkats thought Davidson did it!

在科幻小说和电影中有很多关于月球的故事。 科幻小说讲述的是100年、1000年或100万年后的世界。 或者是关于与我们不同的世界。 1901年，H.G.威尔斯写了一本名为《第一批登上月球的人》的书。 在书中，两个人驾驶火箭飞往月球。 他们在那里发现了不同种类的外星人。 有些外星人想阻止他们离开。 最后，一个人回家了，而另一个人留下了。 今天，我们知道月球上没有生命。 但在1901年，人们并不知道这一点。 一切皆有可能。1867年，美国想从俄罗斯手中购买阿拉斯加。 于是他们派了一位名叫乔治·戴维森的科学家去研究它。 他写下了他所看到的，美国向俄罗斯人支付了120万美元购买阿拉斯加。 戴维森是一位天文学家，他想看日食。 1869年，他回到了阿拉斯加，一个叫奇尔卡特山谷的地方。 戴维森告诉那里的人们：“明天太阳就要变黑了！”奇尔凯特夫妇笑了。 他们认为这是不可能的。 但是第二天，月亮跑到了太阳的前面。 四周一片漆黑！一些Chilkats认为是Davidson干的！