万物简史 第28期:走进太阳系(6)
英语课
So if Pluto 1 really is a planet, it is certainly an odd one. It is very tiny: just one-quarter of 1 percent as massive as Earth. If you set it down on top of the United States, it would cover not quite half the lower forty-eight states.
因此，如果冥王星真是一颗行星，那肯定是一颗很怪的行星。它很小，只有地球的四百分之一大。假如你把它盖在美国上面，它还盖不住美国本土48州的一半面积。
This alone makes it extremely anomalous 2; it means that our planetary system consists of four rocky inner planets, four gassy outer giants, and a tiny, solitary 3 iceball. Moreover, there is every reason to suppose that we may soon begin to find other even larger icy spheres in the same portion of space.
光这一点就使它显得极其反常，这说明，我们的行星系统是由4颗稳固的内行星、4颗气态的外行星和1颗孤独的小冰球组成的。
Then we will have problems. After Christy spotted 4 Pluto's moon, astronomers 5 began to regard that section of the cosmos 6 more attentively 7 and as of early December 2002 had found over six hundred additional Trans-Neptunian Objects, or Plutinos as they are alternatively called. One, dubbed 8 Varuna, is nearly as big as Pluto's moon.
接着，问题又来了。克里斯蒂发现冥王星的卫星以后，天文学家开始更加仔细地观察宇宙的这一部分，截至2002年12月初止，又在天王星以外发现了600多个物体，其中一颗被命名为伐楼拿星，差不多和冥王星的卫星一般大小。
Astronomers now think there may be billions of these objects. The difficulty is that many of them are awfully 9 dark. Typically they have an albedo, or reflectiveness, of just 4 percent, about the same as a lump of charcoal 10—and of course these lumps of charcoal are about four billion miles away.
天文学家现在认为，也许存在几十亿个这类物体。困难在于，它们当中有许多暗淡无光。一般来说，它们的反射度只有4％，大约相当于一块木炭的反射度--当然，这些"木炭"是在60多亿公里以外。
n.冥王星
- Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
- Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。
adj.反常的；不规则的
- For years this anomalous behaviour has baffled scientists.几年来这种反常行为让科学家们很困惑。
- The mechanism of this anomalous vascular response is unknown.此种不规则的血管反应的机制尚不清楚。
adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士
- I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
- The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。
adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的
- The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
- Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。
n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )
- Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.宇宙；秩序，和谐
- Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
- Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗？
adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神
- She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制
- Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
- Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地
- Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
- I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
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