Royal Engineers Museum

Events

   What's a spacewalk? Any time an astronaut gets out of a spacecraft(航天器) while in space, it is called a spacewalk. Astronautsgo on spacewalks for many reasons. For example, experiments can be placed on theoutside of a spacecraft. This lets scientists learn how being in space affects(影响) different things. By going on spacewalks, astronauts can also fix thingsinstead of bringing them back to the earth to fix.

   When astronautsgo on spacewalks, they wear spacesuits to keep themselves safe. Inside spacesuits,astronauts have the oxygen(氧气) they needto breathe and the water they need to drink. To keep the astronauts and the spacecraftsafe, the astronauts must leave and go back to the spacecraft through a specialdoor. When on a spacewalk, astronauts use safety tethers to stay close to theirspacecraft. Tethers are like ropes, connect the spacewalkers with the spacecraft.They keep astronauts from floating(漂 浮) away into space.Another way astronauts stay safe during spacewalks is by wearing a SAFER. SAFERis worn like a backpack. It helps an astronaut move around in space.

   How doastronauts train for spacewalks? One way is by going for a swim. Floating in spaceis a lot like floating in water. Astronauts practice spacewalks underwater in ahuge special swimming pool. For every one hour they will spend on a spacewalk, astronautsneed to train seven hours in the pool. Another way astronauts practice for a spacewalkis by using virtual reality(虚拟现实). It looksand feels just like a spacewalk.

   Today,only three countries have finished spacewalks independently. They are Russia, theUnited States and China. The first person to go on a spacewalk in the world wasAlexei Leonov from Russia. Zhai Zhigang is the first Chinese astronaut to go ona spacewalk. The world record of spacewalks is held by Russian astronaut AnatolySolovyev. He has been on 16 spacewalks and spent more than 82 hours outside in space.

How do you feel when a teacher says it's time for a test? Do you get worried about it? Look at the next test skills （技巧）!

☆Go to class on time and do your homework carefully.

In this way, you will learn the lessons, such as Chinese, English, maths, and so on. You won't have so many worries.

☆Relax and go to bed on time.

After you finish your lessons in the afternoon, you need to relax in the evening and sleep well at night.

☆Get ready well.

You may take paper, a pen, pencils, an eraser, a watch, and books or a dictionary with you.

☆Read the questions carefully.

You must read the questions carefully before you answer them, or you will make mistakes.

☆Breathe （呼吸） deeply.

When you feel worried, put your pencil down on the table, close your eyes, breathe deeply and count numbers to 10. In this way, you will feel relaxed and you can do well in the test.

There is a small thing we use every day. We usually put {#blank#}1{#/blank#}in the bathroom. Without it, we might have tooth problems. Can you guess {#blank#}2{#/blank#} it is? Yes, it's the toothbrush. But do you know anything about its history?

According to some research, before toothbrushes appeared, the ancient Chinese people {#blank#}3{#/blank#}their teeth with some small tree branches (树枝). About 800 years ago, people made a kind of brushes with pig hair and bamboo. It might {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the world's earliest form of toothbrushes. As time went{#blank#}5{#/blank#}, the forms of toothbrushes changed. For example, people chose horse-tail hair instead of pig hair {#blank#}6{#/blank#} pig hair was too hard. Imagine that you travel back to {#blank#}7{#/blank#}of years ago and brush your teeth comfortably. It sounds fantastic, doesn't it?

Around the 15th century, the Chinese toothbrush found its way into Europe. It became {#blank#}8{#/blank#} among local people soon. The {#blank#}9{#/blank#} of toothbrushes was not as famous as that of paper-making, but it was very useful in daily life. Today we have a good {#blank#}10{#/blank#} of brushing teeth. We should thank the ancient Chinese for it.

There are about 5,000 different kinds of ladybugs(瓢虫) in the world. They come in many different colors. Their bright colors warn other animals or insects not to eat them. Ladybugs taste bad. A bird or a frog that eats a ladybug will remember the bright colors and it will not eat another ladybug with the same colors again. When ladybugs are in danger, they will give out a fluid(液体) that tastes terrible.

In many cultures, the ladybug is considered to be a symbol of good luck. Most ladybugs are kind to humans. They eat other insects which des troy crops. One ladybug can eat up to 5,000 insects in its lifetime.

Ladybugs have six short legs. They live in many different places, including green lands, forests, cities, the countryside and along rivers. Different ladybugs have different spots(点). Some of them don't have spots at all. The most common kind in North America is the 7- spotted ladybug. The 7- spotted ladybugs are the most active from spring to autumn. When the weather turns cold, they look for a warm place to sleep, such as under stones or in houses.