Level 1 · Reading series
Lesson 24 · Which Falls First?
Audio track 24
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“Which will fall first, this coin or this feather?” asks Mei.
“The coin,” says Kota. “It is heavier.”
“Gravity pulls both objects down,” Mei says. “But air resistance slows the feather.”
In a vacuum, there is no air. When dropped together, a coin and a feather can land at the same time. Kota smiles. “So weight is not the whole answer.”
“Right. Let’s do another experiment with two sheets of paper.”
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After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
“这枚硬币和这根羽毛，哪一个先落地？”Mei 问。
“硬币，”Kota 说，“它更重。”
“重力会把两样东西都往下拉，”Mei 说，“但空气阻力会使羽毛落得更慢。”
真空里没有空气。如果同时放下硬币和羽毛，它们可以同时落地。Kota 笑了：“原来重量不是唯一的答案。”
“没错。接下来，我们用两张纸做另一个实验吧。”
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- fall
- 落下；也可指‘秋天’。本文是动词。
- coin
- 硬币。
- feather
- 羽毛。
- gravity
- 重力。
- pull
- 拉；牵引。
- air resistance
- 空气阻力。
- slow
- 使……变慢；缓慢的。本文是动词。
- vacuum
- 真空；几乎没有空气等物质的空间。
- at the same time
- 同时。
- experiment
- 实验。
Background notes (Chinese)
没有空气时，形状和重量不同的物体也会以相同的重力加速度下落。阿波罗 15 号任务中，宇航员在月球表面同时放下锤子和羽毛，演示了它们几乎同时落地。月球几乎没有地球这样的大气。
资料来源：NASA, Apollo 15 Hammer-Feather Drop。