Ⅱ. The meaning of the “day”.
We always say the word “day”. What does it mean? Read the passage and do the exercises.
The word “day” has two meanings. When we talk about the number of days in a year, we use “day” to express 24 hours. But when we talk about day and night, we use “day” to express the time between sunrise and sunset. Since the earth looks like a ball, the sun can shine on only half of it at a time. Always one half of the earth is day and the other half is night. A place is moved from day into night and from night into day over and over by the spinning of the earth. At the equator, day and night are always the same length. They are each twelve hours long. The sun rises at 6 o’clock in the morning and sets at 6 o’clock in the evening. From spring equinox (around Mar. 21th) to autumnal equinox (around Sept. 22nd) these 6 months. The Northern Hemisphere gets more hours of sunlight than the Southern Hemisphere. Days are longer than nights. Around the south of the equator, nights are longer than days. For the other 6 months, the Southern Hemisphere gets more sunlight, so days are longer than nights. Around the north of the equator, nights are longer than days. Winter is the season of long nights. Summer is the season of long days.
Write down the Chinese meanings of the underlined words in the passage.
1. spinning
2. equator
3. equinox
4. hemisphere
()5. When it is night in the Western Hemisphere, it is in the Eastern Hemisphere.
A. day B. night
C. neither day nor night D. both day and night
()6. At the equator, day is as long as night.
A. never B. sometimes
C. usually D. always
()7. If today is May 5th, the Southern Hemisphere gets sunlight than the Northern Hemisphere.
A. no B. less
C. more D. all
()8. When it is summer in China, .
A. it is winter in USA B. it is summer in Australia
C. it is winter in Australia D. it is summer in Brazil

1. 旋转
2. 赤道
3. 昼夜平分点
4. 半球
5. A
6. D
7. B
8. C