土星环：倾泻星尘的宇宙沙漏
Which planet is the most beautiful in our solar system? Many people may answer “Saturn”. This planet has beautiful rings. According to scientists, however, these rings will one day disappear completely.
How did Saturn get its rings in the first place? Science has no sure answer. But there is a popular theory: Some comets or small planets collided with Saturn's moons. And this left behind a large amount of ice and rock pieces.
These small pieces began to orbit around Saturn. Saturn's gravity pulled them towards it. At the same time, the speed of their orbit tried to throw them into space. Over time, these pieces of ice and rock formed rings around Saturn.
A new study, however, suggests that Saturn's gravity is winning. About ten tons of “ring matter” is falling into Saturn every second. If this continues, the planet's ring system will no longer exist in 100 million to 300 million years' time.
According to scientists, Saturn's rings are between 10 million and 100 million years old. “We are lucky to be able to see Saturn's huge ring system,” one of the scientists said. “Other planets in our solar system, like Jupiter and Uranus, have much fainter rings today.” Perhaps we just missed out on seeing their giant ring systems!
一、阅读短文，然后判断短文后面的小题，正确的写“T”，错误的写“F”。
（）1. A possible explanation for Saturn's rings is that comets collided with its moons.
（）2. The rings of Saturn will disappear because they are being pulled into space.
（）3. If the current rate of ring matter falling into Saturn continues, the rings will disappear within the next million years.
（）4. Scientists believe that Saturn's rings are younger than some other ring systems in the solar system.
二、新考法 学科融合 结合阅读体会，完成下面的实验与艺术创作。
1. When I move the magnet(磁铁), the iron pieces stick to the magnet because of magnetic force(磁力), just like Saturn's pulls the rings.
2. Draw your own “magic planet” with special rings(可融合中国祥云/彩虹元素).用两句英文描述：
My planet has -coloured rings made of . They symbolize .

词汇积累
disappear /ˌdɪsəˈpɪə(r)/ v. 消失
comet /ˈkɒmɪt/ n. 彗星
collide /kəˈlaɪd/ v. 碰撞
orbit /ˈɔːbɪt/ v. 沿轨道运行 n. 轨道
matter /ˈmætə(r)/ n. 物质
语法充电
solar system 太阳系
in the first place 最初/首先
over time 随着时间的推移

A new study, however, suggests that Saturn's gravity is winning.结构为：动词(suggest)+that+完整句子(主语+谓语),属于宾语从句。
according to ... 根据……
leave behind 留下
fall into ... 落入……
语篇类型: 科普说明
难度星级: ★★★★
建议用时: /8 min
参考答案: P37

一、1. T 根据第二段“But there is a popular theory: Some comets or small planets collided with Saturn's moons. And this left behind a large amount of ice and rock pieces.”可知，土星环形成的可能原因是彗星或小行星与土星的卫星相撞，留下了大量的冰和岩石碎片。故为 T。
2. F 根据第四段“A new study, however, suggests that Saturn's gravity is winning. About ten tons of 'ring matter' is falling into Saturn every second.”可知，土星环消失的原因是它们正在被土星的引力拉入土星，而不是被抛向太空。故为 F。
3. F 根据第四段“If this continues, the planet's ring system will no longer exist in 100 million to 300 million years' time.”可知，如果环物质继续以当前速度落入土星，土星环将在 1 亿到 3 亿年内消失，而不是在 100 万年内。故为 F。
4. T 根据第五段“According to scientists, Saturn's rings are between 10 million and 100 million years old.”和“Other planets in our solar system, like Jupiter and Uranus, have much fainter rings today.”可知，土星环的年龄在 1000 万到 1 亿年之间，而太阳系中其他行星的环更模糊，由此推测它们可能更古老，即土星环比其他行星的环系统更年轻。故为 T。
二、1. gravity 土星的环是由冰晶和岩石碎片组成的，这些碎片被土星的引力吸引，就像磁铁用磁力吸引铁片一样。虽然引力和磁力是不同的力，但它们都能“拉住”东西。
2. 示例 1: My planet has rainbow-coloured rings made of clouds. They symbolize peace and joy.
示例 2: My planet has golden-coloured rings made of light. They symbolize hope and happiness.
同学们可以放飞想象，答案不一样。可以这么思考：
第一步:想象一个“魔法星球”，它的环可以是任何颜色(比如彩虹色、金色、蓝色等)。
第二步:环的材质可以是任何东西(比如云朵、光、水、星星等)。
第三步:环可以象征美好的东西(比如和平、快乐、希望、梦想等)。
示例:如果你喜欢彩虹和云朵，可以说:“我的星球有彩虹色的环，环是云朵做的。它们象征和平和快乐。”