Lesson 61 Trouble with the Hubble
What is the special importance of a telescope in space? The Hubble telescope was
launched into space by NASA on April 20,1990 at a cost of over a billion dollars.
Right from the start there was trouble with the Hubble. The pictures it sent us were
very disappointing because its main mirror was faulty! NASA is now going to put
the telescope right, so it will soon be sending up four astronauts to repair it. The
shuttle Endeavour will be taking the astronauts to the Hubble. A robot-arm from
the Endeavour will grab the telescope and hold it while the astronauts make the
necessary repairs. Of course, the Hubble is above the earth's atmosphere, so it will
soon be sending us the clearest pictures of the stars and distant galaxies that we
have ever seen. The Hubble will tell us a great deal about the age and size of the
universe. By the time you read this, the Hubble's eagle eye will have sent us
thousands and thousands of wonderful pictures.
Lesson 62 After the fire
Firemen had been fighting the forest for nearly three weeks before they could get it
under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles
around. Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter
was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for
heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well.
When the fire had at last been put out, the forest authorities ordered several tons of a
special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the
ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly
a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the grass had already
taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries patches
of green had be gun to appear in the blackened soil.
Lesson 63 She was not amused
Jeremy Hampden has a large circle of friends and is very popular at parties. Everybody
admires him for his great sense of humour-everybody, that is ,except his six-year-old
daughter, Jenny. Recently, one of Jeremy's closest friends asked him to make a speech
at a wedding reception. This is the sort of thing that Jeremy loves. He prepared the
speech carefully and went to the wedding with Jenny. he had included a large number
of funny stories in the speech and, of course, it was a great success. As soon as he had
finished, Jenny told him she wanted to go home. Jeremy was a little disappointed by
this but he did as his daughter asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny if she had
enjoyed the speech. To his surprise, she said she hadn't. Jeremy asked her why this
was so and she told him that she did not like to see so many people laughing at him!