Reading Material 1
Why is the sky blue?
It is easy to see that the sky is blue. The light from the sun looks white. But it is really made up of all the colors of the rainbow.

A prism is a specially shaped crystal. When white light shines through a prism, the light is separated into all its colors. Like energy passing through the ocean, light energy travels in waves, too. Some light travels in short, ‘choppy’ waves. Other light travels in long, lazy waves. Blue light waves are shorter than red light waves.

Sunlight reaches Earth’s atmosphere and is scattered in all directions by all the gases and particles in the air. Blue light is scattered in all directions by the tiny molecules of air in Earth’s atmosphere. Blue is scattered more than other colors because it travels as shorter, smaller waves. This is why we see a blue sky most of the time.

Reading Material 2
Greenhouse effect and global
Warming
The earth is warming up! The ice is melting and it will cause the oceans to rise! The plants will die causing the extinction of the HUMAN RACE! With all of the news stories about global warming lately, many people have a negative view of the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect isn’t such a bad thing. It keeps the earth warm enough for us to live here. Without the greenhouse effect, the earth would be a cold planet and every living thing would die. Gases like carbon dioxide let the sun’s radiation into our atmosphere, but don’t let the heat go out of the earth’s surface. This is similar to how an actual greenhouse keeps the plants inside warm, giving the effect its name.

Global warming is the effect of the rising amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. The more gases that are released into the atmosphere, the more the temperatures will rise. What is causing the increase in the levels of greenhouse gases? Humans have been adding these gases to the atmosphere in several different ways. What we do every day contributes to global warming. Turning on the television, driving a car, drying our hair, and using the air conditioner all use energy. This energy usually comes from burning natural gas, petroleum or coal. Burning these fuels increases the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Also, many third-world countries are cutting down forests to make room for people, farming and raising cattle. This mass removal of trees is called deforestation. Trees release oxygen into the atmosphere and take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The fewer trees there are, the more carbon dioxide stays in the air. When the trees are cut down, they are usually burned, which releases even more carbon into the air. These acts cause a gradual warming of the atmosphere. Around the world, ice sheets and glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate due to global warming. This results in rising sea levels and an expansion of desert regions throughout the earth. It will severely affect the densely populated coastal regions on Earth.

Test
There are many different layers in Earth’s atmosphere. The scale diagram below represents the first three layers of the atmosphere.

1. What is the most abundant element in the earth’s atmosphere?
a. Argon.
b. Carbon dioxide.
c. Neon.
d. Nitrogen.
e. Oxygen.

2. What is the correct order of Earth’s atmospheric layers from bottom to top?
a. Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Troposphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere.
b. Stratosphere, Troposphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere.
c. Stratosphere, Troposphere, Thermosphere, Mesosphere, Exosphere.
d. Troposphere, Mesosphere, Stratosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere.
e. Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere.

3. Which layer of the atmosphere has the highest density of gas molecules?
a. Exosphere.
b. Mesosphere.
c. Stratosphere.
d. Thermosphere.
e. Troposphere.

4. The moon is visible to observers on Earth because of...?
a. reflected sunlight
b. absorbed light from Earth’s atmosphere
c. gases in the moon’s interior
d. volcanic eruptions on the moon’s surface

5. The length of a year is equivalent to the time it takes for one...?
a. rotation of Earth
b. rotation of the sun
c. revolution of Earth around the sun
d. revolution of the sun around Earth

6. What is one factor that contributes to seasons occurring in New York State?
a. the revolution of Moon around Earth
b. the tilt of Earth on its axis
c. the rising and falling of ocean tides
d. the distance of Earth from the sun

7. The movement of an air mass over Earth’s surface causes...?
a. earthquake activity
b. local weather changes
c. global warming
d. ecological succession

Reading Material 1
Why is the sky blue? 為何天空是藍色的?
為何天空是藍色的，道理其實很簡單。透過肉眼觀看，來自太陽的光線是白色的，但實際上它是由形成彩虹的所有顏色所組成。三稜鏡是一種形狀特別的水晶，當一道白光透射過三稜鏡時，會被分解為組成這道光的各種顏色。如同海水中流動的能量一般，光能也是以波動的形式傳送。有些光是以較短的、「多起伏」的波來傳送，有些則以較長的、較平緩的波傳送，例如藍光光波便短於紅光光波。陽光抵達地球大氣層之後，與空氣中各種氣體與粒子碰撞而四散，其中的藍光也與地球大氣層中極小空氣分子碰撞，而散射至四面八方。由於藍光以較短較小的波傳送，因此散射程度大於其他各種顏色。這也就是為何大部分時間我們所看見的天空都是藍色的。

Reading Material 2
Greenhouse effect and global warming
溫室效應與全球暖化
地球越來越熱！就要融化的極冰將導致海平面上升，所有植物即將死去，並造成人類的滅絕。近來眾多有關全球暖化的新聞報導讓許多人對溫室效應抱持負面觀感。其實溫室效應並非這些人所想像的那麼糟。溫室效應使地保持在適合人類生存的溫度，假如沒有溫室效應，地球將成為一個極度寒冷的行星，而所有生物都將滅亡。像二氧化碳這類溫室氣體能讓太陽輻射進入大氣層，同時將熱能留於地球表面。

這與實際的溫室提供作物溫暖環境的原理十分相似，也是「溫室效應」名稱的由來。全球暖化則是大氣中溫室氣體數量驟增的產物。大氣中的溫室氣體愈多，氣溫便將升得愈高。是什麼原因導致溫室氣體增加呢？其實人們一直以不同方式增加大氣中的溫室氣體。我們平日所為皆將導致全球暖化。看電視、開車、吹頭髮、開冷氣都需要耗費能源，而這類能源通常是透過燃燒天然氣、石油、煤炭等所獲得。

燃燒這些石化燃料將導致大氣中二氧化碳數量的增加。此外，許多第三世界國家為了取得更多居住、農作、畜牧等空間，正不停地大量砍伐原始森林。大量砍伐林木的行為稱為濫伐。森林釋放氧氣至大氣中，並吸收大氣中的二氧化碳。森林愈少，空氣中的二氧化碳便愈多。林木被砍伐之後，通常就被人們焚燒，這將釋放更多的碳至空氣中。這些行為造成了大氣逐漸暖化。由於全球暖化，世界各處的冰原與冰河正以前所未見的速度消融著，這將造成全球性的海平面上升與沙漠區域擴張，而人口密集的沿海區域亦將受到嚴重的影響。

Test解答
1. d 2. e 3. e 4. a 5. c 6. b 7. b
題目中譯
地球大氣層可以細分為多層，下方比例圖代表了大氣的前三層。
1.地球大氣層中含量最豐的元素為？
a.氬 b.二氧化碳 c.氖 d.氮 e.氧

2.大氣分層由底部至頂部的正確順序為？
a.平流層、中氣層、對流層、熱成層、外氣層 b.平流層、對流層、中氣層、熱成層、外氣層
c.平流層、對流層、熱成層、中氣層、外氣層 d.對流層、中氣層、平流層、熱成層、外氣層
e.對流層、平流層、中氣層、熱成層、外氣層

3.大氣中哪一層的氣體分子密度最高？
a.外氣層 b.中氣層 c.平流層 d.熱成層 e.對流層

4.地球上的觀測者得以看見月球乃是由於？
a.日光反射 b.地球大氣層吸收的光線
c.月球內部的氣體 d.月球表面的火山噴發

5.一年的長度等同於下列何者所需的時間？
a.地球自轉一周 b.太陽自轉一周
c.地球繞太陽公轉一周 d.太陽繞地球公轉一周

6.下列何者是造成紐約州季節變化的其中一項因素？
a.月球繞地球公轉 b.地軸傾斜
c.潮汐漲退 d.地球與太陽間距離之改變
地軸傾斜會影響不同地區接收太陽能量的多寡

7.地表氣團之移動將導致？
a.地震活動 b.區域性天氣變化
c.全球暖化 d.生態演替