📖 Reading Passage

The Aurora Australis: New Zealand's Dancing Lights

High above New Zealand's South Island, an extraordinary light show occasionally illuminates the night sky. The Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, creates spectacular curtains of green, pink, and purple light that dance across the darkness.

This magnificent natural phenomenon occurs when charged particles from the sun collide with gases in Earth's atmosphere, approximately 100 kilometres above our heads. The collision releases energy in the form of coloured light. Oxygen produces the brilliant green glow that dominates most auroral displays, while nitrogen creates stunning purple and pink hues.

Unlike its famous northern cousin, the Aurora Borealis, the Southern Lights are less frequently observed because most of the southern auroral zone lies over the ocean. However, New Zealanders are fortunate to witness this celestial spectacle, particularly from locations like Stewart Island, Queenstown, and the Canterbury Plains during periods of intense solar activity.

The intensity of auroral displays depends on solar storms - powerful eruptions on the sun's surface that send streams of particles hurtling towards Earth. When these solar winds are particularly strong, the aurora can be visible even from Auckland, though this occurs only a few times each decade.

Māori legends speak of these lights as the fires of ancestors or spirits travelling across the sky. Today, scientists and photographers travel thousands of kilometres to capture the aurora's ethereal beauty, making it one of nature's most sought-after phenomena.

🔍 Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions

✏️ Part 2: Short Answer & Inference Questions