万物简史第25期:走进太阳系(3)-英语课

时间：2019-01-29 作者：英语课 分类：愈忙愈要学社交英文

英语课

　　One nice touch about Christy's discovery was that it happened in Flagstaff, for it was there in 1930 that Pluto 1 had been found in the first place. That seminal 2 event in astronomy was largely to the credit of the astronomer 3 Percival Lowell.

　　克里斯蒂的发现有一点妙处：它发生在弗拉格斯塔夫，冥王星就是1930年在那里首次发现的。这个天文学上的重大发现，很大程度上要归功于天文学家珀西瓦尔·洛厄尔。
　　Lowell, who came from one of the oldest and wealthiest Boston families (the one in the famous ditty about Boston being the home of the bean and the cod 4, where Lowells spoke 5 only to Cabots, while Cabots spoke only to God), endowed the famous observatory 6 that bears his name, but is most indelibly remembered for his belief that Mars was covered with canals built by industrious 7 Martians for purposes of conveying water from polar regions to the dry but productive lands nearer the equator.
　　洛厄尔出生于波士顿一个最古老、最富裕的家族（就是那首关于波士顿是豆子和鳕鱼故乡的著名歌谣中提到的家族。歌词中说，洛厄尔家族只跟卡伯特家族说话，卡伯特家族只跟上帝说话）。他捐赠了以他的名字冠名的著名天文台，但人们最不会忘记的是他这样的看法：火星上到处是由勤劳的火星人修建的运河，用来积储来自极地的水，以灌溉赤道附近那干旱而又丰产的土地。
　　Lowell's other abiding 8 conviction was that there existed, somewhere out beyond Neptune 9, an undiscovered ninth planet, dubbed 10 Planet X. Lowell based this belief on irregularities he detected in the orbits of Uranus 11 and Neptune, and devoted 12 the last years of his life to trying to find the gassy giant he was certain was out there.
　　洛厄尔另一个令人不忘的看法是：在海王星以远的某个地方，存在着未被发现的第九颗行星，他给它起名为行星X。洛厄尔的这种看法是基于他在天王星和海王星的轨道上发现的不规律的现象。于是，他把生命的最后几年致力于找到那颗气态巨星。他断定它就在那里。
　　Unfortunately, he died suddenly in 1916, at least partly exhausted 13 by his quest, and the search fell into abeyance 14 while Lowell's heirs squabbled over his estate. However, in 1929, partly as a way of deflecting 15 attention away from the Mars canal saga 16 (which by now had become a serious embarrassment), the Lowell Observatory directors decided 17 to resume the search and to that end hired a young man from Kansas named Clyde Tombaugh.
　　不幸的是，他于1916年突然去世。至少在一定程度上，这是他的探索工作过于疲劳所致。洛厄尔的继承人为了遗产争吵不休，探索工作暂时搁置下来。然而，1929年，某种程度上是为了转移对火星运河传说的注意力（到那个时候，它已经成为一件非常令人难堪的事），洛厄尔天文台的负责人决定恢复探索，并为此从堪萨斯州请来了一位名叫克莱德·汤博的年轻人。

1 Pluto

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。

2 seminal

adj.影响深远的；种子的

The reforms have been a seminal event in the history of the NHS.这些改革已成为英国国民保健制度史上影响深远的一件大事。
The emperor's importance as a seminal figure of history won't be diminished.做为一个开创性历史人物的重要性是不会减弱的。

3 astronomer

n.天文学家

A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

4 cod

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。

5 spoke

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

万物简史 第25期:走进太阳系(3)

万物简史第25期:走进太阳系(3)