Lesson Plan: “Harvard’s top astronomer says an alien ship may be among us”
II. While Reading Activities
Word Inference
- astronomy |əˈstränəmē| noun–the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole.
- modesty |ˈmädəstē| noun–the quality or state of being unassuming or moderate in the estimation of one’s abilities: with typical modesty he insisted on sharing the credit with others.
- galaxy |ˈɡaləksē| noun (plural galaxies) a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction.
- viral ˈvīrəl| adjective-relating to or involving an image, video, piece of information, etc., that is circulated rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another: a viral video ad | the video went viral and was seen by millions.
- controversial |ˌkäntrəˈvərSHəlˌkäntrəˈvərsēəl| adjective –giving rise or likely to give rise to public disagreement: years of wrangling over a controversial bypass.
- enthusiast |inˈTH(y)o͞ozēˌastenˈTH(y)o͞ozēˌast| noun – a person who is highly interested in a particular activity or subject: a sports car enthusiast.
- astrophysicist |ˌastrōˈfizisəst| noun-an expert in or student of astrophysics.
- zoom |zo͞om|–verb [no object]1 (especially of a car or aircraft) move or travel very quickly: we watched the fly zooming about | he jumped into his car and zoomed off.
- aliens |ˈālēən| adjective [attributive] relating to or denoting beings supposedly from other worlds; extraterrestrial: an alien spacecraft.
- dirge |dərj| noun- a lament for the dead, especially one forming part of a funeral rite.• a mournful song, piece of music, or poem: singers chanted dirges | figurative : the wind howled dirges around the chimney.
Source: New Oxford American Dictionary
Grammar: Identifying English Articles
It’s a stable lifestyle, but for me it resembles more the lifestyle of a business person rather than scientists,” he says. Loeb grew up in an Israeli farming village. “I don’t have a class system in my head of academia being the elite,” he says, as he leads a reporter into the locked chamber of the Great Refractor — an enormous 19th-century telescope where he sometimes does photo ops. “I see it as a continuation of childhood curiosity — trying to understand what the world is like.
Reading Comprehension: Fill-ins
“The worst thing that can happen to me is I would be relieved of my administrative duties, and that would give me even more time to focus on science,” Loeb adds. “All the titles I have, I can dial them back. In fact, I can dial myself back to the farm.”
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