04 Venus

Venus is sometimes called Earth's sister planet because of its similar size. At night it is easily viewed with the naked eye and is sometimes called “the evening star” or “the morning star”. However, Venus is covered by thick, poisonous clouds that obscure the surface. These thick clouds cause an extreme insulating effect that radiates the heat back to the surface. The surface temperature is often over 800 degrees Fahrenheit!

The surface of Venus is rocky and dusty and dotted with mountains, canyons, and some volcanoes. Some of the mountains are enormous–higher than the highest mountains on Earth! In contrast to the high mountains, however, 65 percent of Venus is covered by smooth plains.

Venus is about 95 percent as big as Earth and about 80 percent its weight. It is the second closest planet to the Sun at about 108 million kilometres away. It has no moons.

Word List

obscure : not able to see

insulating : keeping heat in

You Practice

I. Answer the following questions.

1) Why is Venus sometimes called Earth's sister planet?

2) What is the surface of Venus like?

3) How close to the Sun is Venus?

4) How many moons does Venus have?

5) Would you like to live on Venus? Why or why not?

II. What's the word? Using the clues, write the correct words from the reading.

1) the top layer: s _ _ _ _ _ _

2) not clear: d _ _ _ _

3) having many: d _ _ _ _ _

4) very different: c _ _ _ _ _ _ _

5) very big: e _ _ _ _ _ _ _

III. Read these sentences carefully. Write Yes or No for each one.

____ 1) Venus is larger than Earth.

____ 2) Venus is very cold.

____ 3) Venus is closer to the Sun than Earth.

____ 4) Venus has higher mountains than Earth.

____ 5) Venus cannot be seen in the sky.