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Listening Text:

Saturn

In todays lecture were going to talk about Saturn, a planet in our solar system. Lets

begin with some basic information about it. Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun. It is the

second largest planet in the solar system; as you probably know, the largest planet in the solarsystem is Jupiter. Like Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, Saturn consists mostly of gas and does

not have a solid surface. Let me repeat. Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn -which are also

called gas giants- are consisting mostly of gas and do not have a solid surface. Saturn has

61 moons. Of these 61 moons, the largest is Titan, which is larger than the planet Mercury.

Yes, its true. The largest moon of Saturn is larger than the planet Mercury. Around Saturn

there is a very large system of rings, made mainly of ice. This large system of rings also

contains pieces of rock and dust, but in very small amounts. Saturn is about 1.4 billion km

from the sun. As you can imagine, 1.4 billion km is a very, very long distance, so it takes

Saturn thirty earth years to orbit around the sun.

Now that Ive givensome information about Saturn, Id like to go on to talk about the

history of its exploration. Saturn was first explored by the space probe* Pioneer 11 in 1979.Pioneer 11 flew as close as 20,000 km above Saturn. While it was flying 20,000 km above the

planet, it took photographs of the planet and a few of its moons. But these photographs were

low in resolution, which means their quality was not very good. Despite the low quality of the

photographs it took, it discovered a new ring called the F ring. The Pioneer 11 space probe

also measured the temperature of Saturns moon Titan.

In 1980, another space probe called Voyager 1 visited Saturn. Voyager 1 took higher

resolution photographs of the planet, and its rings and moons. Unlike those taken by Pioneer

11, the photographs taken by Voyager 1 were good enough to focus on the surface features of

the moons. Voyager 1 approached very close to Titan, so it sent back a lot of information

about its atmosphere. In 1981, Voyager 2 continued to study the planet. The photographs

taken by Voyager 2 showed that changes were happening to the rings and the atmosphere of

Saturn.

In July 2004, the Cassini-Huygens probe entered into orbit around Saturn. Six months

later, the Huygens probe separated from the Cassini probe. Then it started to move down

towards Titan's surface. Twenty days later, it landed on Titan. The surface it landed on was

dry, but it confirmed that large bodies of liquid existed on Titan. While the Huygens probe

was on Titan, the Cassini probe continued to gain data about Titan and a number of other icy

moons. It found evidence that one of the moons had water erupting from geysers*. Cassini

also proved that Titan contained hydrocarbon* lakes. These hydrocarbon lakes were located

near its north pole. One of these large hydrocarbon lakes near its north pole was the size of the

Caspian Sea on earth.This is all Id like to share with you about Saturn and its moons today. Before you

come to class next week, I want you to do a web-quest and collect some information about the

exploration of Saturn since March 2007.

LISTENING QUESTIONS

Answer the questions using your notes from the lecture called Saturn.

1. Which of the following is FALSE according to the lecture?

A) Saturn is a planet in the solar system. C) Jupiter is the second largest planet.

B) Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun. D) Uranus doesnt have a solid surface.

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2. According to the lecture, which of the following is NOT one of the gas giants?

A) Jupiter B) Mercury C) Neptune D) Saturn

3. As we learn from the lecture, of the ---- moons of Saturn, Titan is the ----.

A) 61 / largest B) 161 / largest C) 61 / smallest D) 161 / smallest

4. It is stated in the lecture that Saturn is about ---- from the sun.

A) 1.4 billion kilometers C) 14 million miles

B) 1.4 million kilometers D) 14 billion miles

5. We learn from the lecture that space probe Pioneer 11 ----.

A) landed on Saturn in 1979 C) flew 20,000 km above Saturn

B) took high quality photographs D) crashed into the F ring

6. As stated by the lecturer, Voyager 1 ----.

A) visited Saturn in 1982 C) collected no useful informationB) took low resolution photos D) approached very close to Titan

7. In July 2004, the Cassini-Huygens probe entered into orbit around Saturn. Six months later,

the Huygens probe ----.

A) got lost in space C) stopped working and exploded

B) separated from the Cassini probe D) burnt up after it landed on Titan

8. As we learn from the lecture, the Cassini-Huygens mission discovered that the moons of

Saturn ----.

A) were completely dry C) were covered with red sand

B) hosted living creatures D) contained water

9. According to the lecture, one of the hydrocarbon lakes near Titans north pole was ---- the

Caspian Sea on earth.

A) as large as C) as cold as

B) much colder than D) much larger than

10. Which of the following is TRUE according to the lecture?

A) It takes Saturn thirty earth years to orbit around the sun.

B) The rings around Saturn are made mainly of dust and rock.

C) Voyager 2 was lost on its way to Saturn.

D) There has been no research about Saturn since March 2007.

Answers 1C, 2B, 3A, 4A, 5C, 6D, 7B, 8D, 9A, 10A