Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Adam Navis.
And I'm Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier
for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Imagine a world where the sun never sets. Children can laugh and play in the streets
all through the night. Fishermen enjoy 24 hours of daylight on the open sea. To get
any sleep, people must block all the light from their windows.
Now imagine a world with only darkness. Even in the middle of the day, the sun does not
shine. The only light comes from the moon and the stars in the black sky. Cars must
drive with their lights on all the time. When people awake in the morning, it looks like
the middle of the night.
This is the situation for people who live above the Arctic Circle. The sun clearly influences
their lives. This includes people in northern Russia, Canada, Alaska and Greenland. For
part of the year they cannot see the sun. And part of the year the sun never disappears.
But do you ever think about the sun? All life depends on the power of the sun. Year after
year, the sun warms the earth, gives us light, builds life on our planet, and even keeps
us healthy. Today's Spotlight is on the sun and its place in our lives.
Ancient cultures knew that the sun was important. Many cultures worshipped the sun as a god.
Here is a part from an ancient Egyptian song to the sun
"You are beautiful, in the sky, Oh living Sun, beginning of life. When you rise in the
east, you fill every land, with your beauty. Bright is the earth when you rise in the east.
When you shine by day, you drive away the darkness. You feed every plant. When you rise,
they live. They grow because of you. You make the seasons, in order to create all your work.
Winter to bring them cold. Summer brings heat, that they may feel you."
Other cultures also knew that they depended on the sun for their food to grow. But they
did not think the sun was a God. Early Christians believed that the sun gave glory to God. Here
is a part of the Bible.
"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise
him all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all
you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!"
Voice 1
Whatever early people thought about the sun, they did not know much about it. But as people
began to use science they learned more about the sun. In 1543, Nicholas Copernicus demonstrated
that the earth travels around the sun. One hundred years later, scientists estimated
the distance to the sun. And as recently as 1904, a man named Ernest Rutherford showed
how the sun produced such large amounts of heat. These people discovered that the sun
is a star like all the other stars in the sky. However, for our planet, it is a very
special star.
The earth is 150 million kilometers from the sun. Here is one way to imagine this great
distance. Imagine that you are standing on the sun. Your friends are on the earth. If
they turned on a light, it would take eight minutes for you to see it! But this is the
perfect distance for the earth to use the sun's heat.
The temperature of the sun is around 6,000 degrees Celsius at its surface, and 15 million degrees
at its centre! If the earth were any closer, we would burn. But if the earth were any further
away, we would freeze. And yet, the sun is more than a big heater.
The sun also helps provide us with fresh air. The sun heats the oceans. Then the water heats
the air. The changing air temperatures create most of the world's wind. Wind moves air to
different places so plants can remove carbon dioxide from the air and create oxygen.
But the sun also affects plants directly. The sun makes plants grow through the process
of photosynthesis. Plants can change light from the sun into energy. They use the energy
to grow bigger and stronger. All life on earth depends on plants. Without the sun, we could
not grow food for ourselves or for our animals.
Plants are not the only things who capture the power of the sun. Human can turn sunlight
into electricity with solar cells. A solar cell collects the power of the sun and stores
it. Then, this power can be used to run anything that uses electricity: cars, computers, or
homes.
Besides all these amazing things, the sun also helps us to do something very simple,
but needed. Without the sun, we would not be able to see anything!
The sun also helps people to be healthy and strong. It acts as a natural cleaner for our
skin. The sun can help kill harmful bacteria that live on our skin. And the sun helps our
bodies produce vitamin D. People need vitamin D to have strong bones.
The sun can also improve our mental health. In places where the sun does not shine, people
can suffer from seasonal affective disorder. This is a kind of depression. People with
season affective disorder do not have energy and feel sad. They are treated by sitting
near a special light. But nothing is as good as being in real sunlight. Sunlight can help
prevent depression and keep people happy. When the sun is shining, people have more
hope about the future.
The sun does many other things as well. It helps us tell time. It controls the where
and when animals travel. The sun's gravity keeps the planet in orbit. It even lets us
see at night. This is because the sun shines on the moon and the moon sends the light down
to the earth. The sun makes the colors of a rainbow after it rains. And it paints the
sky during a sunset.
There are many things we still do not know about the sun. But the more we learn about
the sun, the more we can thank God for giving us this wonderful gift.
This program was written by Sara DeKoster and Adam Navis. The voices you heard were
from the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight.
Computer users can hear our programs, read our scripts, and see our word list on our
website at www.radioenglish.net. This program is called "The Sun."
If you have a comment or question for Spotlight you can email us. Our email address is radio@radioenglish.net.
We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Thank you for listening.
Goodbye!