Nature & simple descriptions · News English
Bright rocks in Madagascar
A NASA picture shows a bright round area on Earth.
Read the story, check the words, then answer the questions and speak.
Earth or the Moon?
Where are the bright rocks?
1NASA shared a picture of southern Madagascar on 5 October. Madagascar is on Earth. But one part of the picture looks a little like the Moon.
2There is a bright, round area in the picture. It is rock. There are orange rocks around it. The bright rock has a long name: anorthosite. This kind of rock is also common on the Moon.
3An astronaut took the picture from the International Space Station on 28 August. So the picture is older than the new NASA report.
4Scientists study rocks on Earth to learn about the Moon, too. A picture can help us see shapes and colours. Look again: can you find the round, bright area?
Original teaching summary. Models and practice sentences are learning examples, not news quotations.
Word help · Three useful words
Read the meanings and examples. Choose one word to use in your own sentence.
bright
with a lot of light, or easy to see
The room is bright.
round
shaped like a circle
The clock is round.
rock
hard material in the ground
This rock is grey.
Check your reading · Three questions
Choose one answer for every question, then check. You can change an answer and check again.
Useful English: is and are
One thing: The rock is bright. More than one: The rocks are orange. Say a colour or shape after is or are.
Find one thing near you. Say its colour and shape.
Model and help
Model: The clock is white. It is round.
Help: The ___ is ___. It is ___.
Speak: your ideas
Describe two things near you. Use is for one thing and are for two things.
Labelled model answer
The clock is white. It is round. My pens are blue.
This is an illustrative learning example.
Alone: say it again. Tutor: ask What colour is it?
Mastery check · Three questions
Choose one answer for every question, then check. You can change an answer and check again.
Sources and reporting date
NASA published this report on 5 October 2026 at 00:01 EDT (04:01 UTC). The photograph was taken on 28 August 2026.
- NASA: Moon-Like Madagascar
NASA published this report on 5 October 2026 at 00:01 EDT (04:01 UTC). The photograph was taken on 28 August 2026. - Photograph source and credit
Astronaut photograph of southern Madagascar, 28 August 2026, featured in the NASA report of 5 October. NASA has cropped and enhanced the image; resized for display.