What do you think causes the northern lights? 1 Many years ago,people who saw waves of color dance across the sky at night were frightened.Some groups of people made up legends to explain what today is known as the northern lights,or aurora borealis(uh-ROAR-uh bore-ee-A-LUSS).Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn,or early morning.The word boreal means north in Latin, so aurora borealis means northern lights. 2 The sun gives off particles that are filled with energy.Large groups of these particles travel together.They are called solar wind.The particles travel through space at hundreds of miles per second. Even traveling that fast, it still takes several days for the particles to reach Earth.When the solar wind gets close to Earth,it moves toward the two magnetic poles,the North Pole and the South Pole. 3 When the solar particles get close to Earth,they become trapped in Earth's atmosphere.They collide, or run into. gases in the atmosphere.The energy that is made in that collision creates light. Mysterious Lights When lots of these collisions happen at the same time,northern lights can be seen from Earth.The northern lights are harmless, but it can be frightening to see the sky fill with flashing colored lights if you do not know what they are. 4 As far as scientists can tell,the northern lights do not make any sounds that people on Earth can hear. Even so, if you live in a place where the northern lights can be seen, you might notice problems with your television,radio,or cell phone every once in a while.The energy created by solar wind in the Earth's atmosphere can get in the way of sound waves and pictures that travel through the air to your TV or radio. 5 The northern lights are truly amazing, especially the first time you see them. Even in the highest latitudes,the lowest section of the lights are still 40 miles above Earth.The northern lights stretch up about six hundred miles into the atmosphere.Imagine what a light show you would see if you were an astronaut looking down on the northern lights from space. Circle the word that best completes each sentence and write it on the line. I.Some people made up to explain the lights they saw in the sky. paintings legends experiments 2.Solar particles and collide in Earth's atmosphere to create the northern lights. gases light ice 3.Scientists do not think the northern lights make any Explosions steam sounds 4.In Roman myths,who was Aurora? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______ 5.Toward which two areas of Earth does solar wind move? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 6.About how far away from Earth is the lowest section of the northern lights? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 7.Check the sentence that best states the main idea of the selection. _____ The northern lights are amazing the first time you see them. _____ Collisions of solar particles create lights in the night sky. _____ The northern lights are also called aurora borealis. 8.Why do you think the northern lights can be frightening? __________________________________________________________________ 9.Why do the northern lights sometimes interfere with TV or cell phone reception? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 9 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/160f4c516ddb6f1aff00bed5b9f3f90f76c64dd1.html