Does It Rain on Saturn, Too?

How much do you think you know about our universe? There
might be thousands of undiscovered facts about it. Those facts
will always fascinate and surprise us like the one I would like to
tell you now.

Last month, scientists discovered quite a mesmerizing fact

about Saturn. They discovered that it rains on Saturn! Saturn's
rings are the cause of this amazing event. “We estimate that
one Olympic-sized swimming pool of water is falling on Saturn
per day,” stated James O’Donoghue, an astronomer at the
United Kingdom’s University of Leicester.

The process of rain forming from the rings is interesting. Saturn’s rings mostly consist of ice. The charged
water particles in the ice sometimes erode away,
and accumulate in the upper atmosphere of Saturn, and then
eventually fall as rain on the planet. The particles are being
pulled towards the planet by Saturn’s magnetic field.

Researchers also revealed that when rain falls, it creates

shadows that cover 30 to 43 percent of Saturn’s upper
atmosphere, which is a larger area than previously suggested.
“Saturn is the first planet to show significant interaction
between its atmosphere and ring system,” James O’Donoghue
said. Researchers also revealed that the main effect of this “ring rain” is that it decreases the electron
density in the area where it lands.

This discovery will enable scientists to figure out the origin and evolution of Saturn’s rings. Let’s listen for
more secrets of Saturn to be revealed soon!

1. How much rain falls on Saturn every day?

2. Why does the rain particles fall on Saturn?
3. What is the main effect of this “ring rain”?

1. If you can, do you want to travel to other planets?

2. How often do you look at the sky? .
3. Explain the word “interaction” in English.
Cheating in Korea Makes SAT History
U.S. administrators of the SAT Reasoning Test (formerly
known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, and then the Scholastic
Assessment Test) cancelled the May 4 exam in Korea due to
allegations of widespread cheating. This marks the first time
that the test has been cancelled in an entire country.

However, Korea is not unfamiliar when it comes to cheating on

these exams. In 2007, around 900 students had their scores
cancelled from the January exam after it was confirmed that an
unknown number of
students had seen the exam prior to the test. While cheating is
not unique to Korea, the incidents happen on a larger scale
than in other countries.

Officials decided to cancel the May exam after discovering the

real test questions in test preparation centers around the
country. The College Board issued the following statement.
“Tutoring companies in the Republic of Korea are alleged to
have illegally
obtained SAT and
SAT Subject Test
materials for their own commercial benefit.”

Apparently, the problem is widespread. Official test booklets

can be purchased from brokers for about $4,575, a relatively
small fee to pay for families fighting to send their kids
to prestigious American universities such as Stanford and
Harvard.

In the 2011-12 school year, the Institute of International Education reported that South Korea sent 72,295
students to study in the United States. They ranked third in foreign student demographics behind China
and India.

Some 1,500 students were affected by the recent cancellation. There have been reports of students flying
to Japan and Hong Kong to take the test in time to meet college deadlines for summer admission in the
United States.

1. Why the May 4 SAT exam was cancelled according to officials?

2. What did students do after their exam was cancelled?
3. How much are official test booklets when you buy them from brokers?

1. Do you want to study in a foreign country? Why or why not?

2. Have you ever cheated on an exam?
3. Make a sentence with the word “widespread.”
An 87-year-old Grandfather Parachuting for His Ailing Great-Grandson
An 87-year-old grandfather surprised the world by having the
courage to skydive. On May 25, Clarence Turner in Ohio, in the
United States, parachuted from a plane to raise money for his
sick great-grandson.

Surprisingly, he did this in spite of his great age. On that day,

he jumped from a plane at 3,050 m with an instructor who
was strapped to Turner’s back, and successfully landed on the
ground. “Today, I am really jumping for Julian, the baby that’s
had a lung transplant on Mother’s Day. It’s the least I can do
for him,” Turner said. His ten-month-old great-grandson Julian
Couch has been suffering from a lung disease since he was
born, and requires a transplant. For this reason,
Julian’s medical fees totaled more than $1 million. Turner
revealed that he wants to generate attention for his great-
grandson Julian.

It was not Turner’s first time to try skydiving. He made 16

jumps while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. But
by successfully parachuting from a plane at the age of 85, he
received a great deal of attention. This time, as he did back in
his army days, Clarence Turner experienced the thrill of
freefalling before pulling his parachute ripcord.
He hopes that he can skydive once more when he is a little older, to break the record of former U.S.
President George H.W. Bush, made a jump at the age of 88.

1. Why did an 87-year-old grandfather jump from a plane on May 25?

2. Did Larence Turner jump alone?
3. How much does Julian’s medical fees cost?

1. If you were Clarence, what would you do for your sick great-grandson, Julian?
2. Can you jump down from a high place?
3. What does “generate” mean? Make a sentence using the word.
Homeless Girls Find New Homes
Nothing is impossible to a determined mind, and that is truly a
fitting description when it comes to these two American girls: Khadijah
Williams, a 22-year-old student at Harvard University, and Chelesa
Fearce, a 17-year-old girl graduating as valedictorian of Charles Drew
High School. Recently, both girls came into the spotlight. What makes
them stand out from all the other brainy students out there?

Born to a 14-year-old single mother in a cold garbage dump, Khadijah

Williams used to be homeless. Since her family didn’t have a cozy
home to settle in, she had to wander aimlessly about from motels to
shelters along the West Coast of the United States. Mostly, she spent
her days in smelly and lonely backstreets.

Attending 12 different
schools in 12 years,
Khadijah found that public libraries could be a kind of home. In
fact, she rarely let the books out of her hands. Despite her
terrible circumstances, she resolved to read more in order to
catch up with other ordinary students, rather than lamenting
her misfortune.
Finally, her hard efforts paid off by receiving offers from more
than 20 universities including Harvard, Columbia, and Brown
University.

As with Khadijah, Chelesa Fearce was also brought up

in rough circumstances, which saw her bounce around
homeless shelters. Overcoming her background, however, she
made headlines by graduating high school with a 4.466 GPA
(Grade Point Average), which means she got almost straight
As. Now she is heading to Spelman College this fall as a junior.
That means she can skip the entire first two years of college,
because of her excellent test results in her final year of high
school.

In spite of the trials and tribulations, both Khadijah Williams and Chelesa Fearce found a way out of their
unfortunate situations by always trying hard. Khadijah said, “To any person, homeless or otherwise, who
feels like they don’t like the situation they’re in and [who] feels like they can’t do anything about it, they
can.” She added, “For a while, that’s all I had?the belief that I could do it. All you need is that belief
because you can. I did it.”

1. How many schools Khadijah attend? Why?

2. Which school will Chelesa Fearce go after she graduates from a high school?
3. Why can Chelesa skip the entire first year of college?

1. Can you explain your most difficult time in your life?

2. Compared with the two girls’ circumstances, are you happy now?
3. Make a sentence with the word “unfortunate.”
Symbol of Ancient Beauty: Double Chin?
Look at the sandstone relief in the picture. You can find a
woman smiling with a stylish headdress and an earring in her
ear. You can also see the woman has a double chin and
a chubby neck. From the viewpoint of today’s standards, she
may be considered overweight. However, believe it or not,
experts estimate that she was a princess of a kingdom in Africa
2,000 years ago, and was considered beautiful.

Recently, this somewhat

overweight princess relief
was discovered in the
ancient city of Meroe, in
Sudan, by Canadian archaeologists. At that time, Meroe was the center
of a kingdom named Kush. According to the archaeologists, the woman
on the relief is from the royal family of Kush.
They couldn’t unveil the identity of the women depicted on the relief, but
they estimate that she looks like someone royal from 2,000 years ago.
“It’s similar to other images of princesses,” said Grzymski, a curator at
the Royal Ontario Museum. He said that there is a possibility that the
relief depicted a queen because of the headdress that prevailed at that
time.

According to researchers, a slightly fat appearance was something

considered stylish in ancient times. Why did the ancient people in Kush
consider overweight women beautiful? According to archaeologists, it’s because the large size of the
queens represented fertility and maternity. It’s so interesting how standards of beauty change according
to the times!

1. Who do experts think is the woman depicted on the sandstone relief?

2. Why does Grzymski think she might be a queen?
3. What does the large size of the queens mean?

1. What is your ideal type?

2. Can you explain who an archaeologist is?
3. What does the word “appearance” mean? Make a sentence using the word.
Bees' Noses Know Where Mines Are
When it comes to bomb detection, dogs have been often used because
of their good sense of smell. However, there is another very good bomb
detector. Can you guess what it is? Let me give you some clues. It is an
insect, and it makes honey with pollen gathered from flowers. Yes! It is
a honeybee!

Did you know that honeybees have a really good sense of smell? That
is why they can track down delicious nectar. It is also the reason why
scientists got the idea to use honeybees to detect explosives.

Recently, Croatian scientists trained regular honeybees to detect

explosives. This is because there are millions of landmines that were
put down during a war in Croatia in the early 1990s. Now the war is
over, but the mines still kill people, because mines can lie hidden for
many years. That is why
people want to find the mines and get rid of them. Finding
mines is a difficult and dangerous job. However, the Croatian
scientists say honeybees can detect buried landmines that are
even 5 km away.

How can honeybees detect bombs? The idea is very simple

and tricky. First, scientists let bees smell explosives, and let
them smell sweet sugars right after smelling bombs. The
scientists repeated the process. So, whenever bees smell
explosives, they fly towards them because the bees’
brains connect the smell of explosives with sweet things. Let’s hope the honeybees find all the landmines
in Croatia!

1. How did Croatian scientists train honeybees to detect bombs?

2. Why do Croatian people still die because of the mines?
3. How far can honeybees detect buried landmines?

1. What can dogs do for people except bomb detection?

2. Do you like honey? Why or why not?
3. What does “reason” mean? Make a sentence using it.
Should Obese People Pay More for Airline Tickets?
Recently, Samoa Air announced that they will begin to charge
heavy fliers more money to board a plane. It means obese
people will have to pay extra money to fly. Some think that the
system is fair to everyone. On the other hand, others think it
is discrimination against obese people. What do you think
about the system? Here, Jace and Leah are talking about the
topic.

Jace: I am depressed. I gained some weight.

Leah: Well, if you live in the regions around the South Pacific, it
can be a problem. I heard the news that Samoa Air will start charging passengers by weight!

Jace: Oh my! That is so unfair. It is obvious discrimination against fat people.

Leah: But you need to understand the position of the airline

company. Fuel prices are very high these days. The more
heavy people use the airline, the more money the airline has to
spend.

Jace: But you can’t say that is not humiliating for heavy people.
When the airport workers weigh passengers at the airport
before boarding, it would be very embarrassing.

Leah: Come on, parcels are charged by weight at the post

office. This is the same. Your weight is just what you pay for. It
is simple.

Jace: In Western countries, there are more overweight people compared to Asian countries. The system
is not effective for Asians.

Leah: But there are more and more obese people in Korea these days, too. I think that it can be a good
way to prevent obesity in the nation.

Jace: Well, I don’t know. The new policy of Samoa Air will make overweight people feel really bad.

1. Why does Leah say that you need to understand the position of the airline company?
2. According to Jace, are there more obese people in Asia than in Western countries?
3. Does Leah think that the new policy of Samoa Air is bad for overweight people?

1. Do you agree with Leah? Why or why not?

2. Do you think Korean people will like the new system of Samoa Air? Why or why not?
3. What does “effective” mean? Explain the meaning.