We Are Made of Stardust

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Highlighted words are key vocabulary — tap one to see its translation. Colors show the part of speech:

Verb Adjective Adverb Expression

Where did the elements that make up our bodies come from? Astonishingly, the carbon, oxygen and iron inside us were originally forged deep within stars. In the distant past, enormous stars reached the end of their lives and exploded with tremendous force.

Through these explosions, the elements that had been trapped inside the stars were scattered across space. Over billions of years, they gradually clumped together to form planets and living things. So when we gaze up at the stars at night, we are, in a sense, looking at distant relatives. Every one of us was born from the shining dust of long-dead stars.

Vocabulary from this story

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elements

elementlar, unsurlar

Astonishingly

hayratlanarli tarzda

forged

yaratilgan, quyilgan

distant

olis, uzoq

enormous

ulkan, bahaybat

exploded

portladi

tremendous

dahshatli, ulkan

trapped

qamalgan

scattered

sochilib ketdi

gradually

asta-sekin

clumped

jipslashdi, birlashdi

gaze

tikilmoq

relatives

qarindoshlar

shining

yaltiroq, porloq

Grammar from this story

Key patterns that appeared in the text.

had been + past participle (past perfect passive)

...langan edi — oʻtmishdagi boshqa ishdan avval sodir boʻlgan majhul harakat.

The elements had been trapped inside the stars.
By the time we arrived, the food had been eaten.

in a sense

Maʼlum maʼnoda, bir jihatdan (fikrni yumshatuvchi ibora).

In a sense, we are looking at distant relatives.
In a sense, he was right.

Check your understanding

Read the story, then choose the best answer. Tap a choice to check it.

1. Where were the elements in our bodies originally created?

2. How were these elements spread across space?

3. Why does the writer call the stars our 'relatives'?