The longest solar eclipse (日食) of the century cast a wide shadow for several minutes over Asia and the Pacific Ocean on 22th July, drawing people outside to watch the sight in the sky.
Day turned into night. Temperature turned cooler in cities and villages filled with fans of astronomy. The total eclipse could be seen starting in India on Wednesday morning and moving eastward across China and parts of the Pacific. Millions cast their eyes towards the heavens to catch an unusual view of the sun’s colorful ring. Cloud in some areas prevented people from fully enjoying the sight. Still, many were frightened.
The total eclipse occurs about twice a year as the moon passes between the earth and the sun on the same plane as earth’s circle.
The local astronomy society gave a flash on how an eclipse happens. Wednesday’s event lasted up to more than six minutes in some places. In India, thousands bathed in the Ganges River in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi to clean their souls. It was sunny sky in Hong Kong for the eclipse, where students, parents and the elderly flooded in a primary school to watch.
In Shanghai, children climbed up ladders to look through two large telescopes on the school roof to catch sight of the moon moving across the sun. Others looked through a pair of glasses covered with solar filter (过滤器) paper, where they could take pictures of the moon moving over the sun.
In some cultures, many old stories are about eclipse. In India, a eclipse was considered unfavorable. In Chinese tradition, there is a story about a heavenly dog eating the sun. As the story goes, people would make noise to frighten off the dog and save the sun.
小题1:What can we learn about the longest solar eclipse of the century?
A．Not everyone in the world could see the longest eclipse.
B．Any of the Asians was excited to watch the eclipse.
C．All people saw the longest solar eclipse on Wednesday.
D．The Chinese all caught sight of the total eclipse at the same time.小题2:What does the text imply about the total solar eclipse?
A．All people watched the solar eclipse for at least six minutes.
B．In ancient China, people couldn’t understand this phenomenon.
C．Your eyes must be hurt without filter equipment while watching.
D．You can watch the total solar eclipse directly only with your eyes.小题3:Which of the following statements about eclipse is TURE according to the text？
A．Most Chinese people used to think eclipses would bring about misfortunes.
B．Chinese fathers were pleased to watch solar eclipses.
C．Indians think bad fortune will come about along with eclipses.
D．The Chinese people are too frightened to go outside when eclipses occur.小题4:Where can we see the eclipse start?
A．In Shanghai.
B．In India.
C．In Hong Kong.
D．In the Pacific Ocean.
