英语播客EnglishPod 280

 A:    What’s up? You don’t look too good.

 B:    Yeah, my head hurts, that’s all. I’ve been in
       physics class all day. It’s killer¹!

 A:    I liked physics. It’s all math, really; arcs, curves,
       velocity², cool stuff.

 B:    Yeah, yeah, but today’s lesson was all about the
       creation of the universe.

 A:    A physics class about the creation of the uni-
       verse? That’s some pretty unscientific language
       there. Sounds more religous to me.

 B:     It’s all religion. Take the theory of the Big Bang.
        How is it possible that all of the stuff in the uni-
       verse comes from an explosion? That’s no bet-
       ter than Atlas³ carrying the globe on his back or
       African myths about turtles and stuff.
 A:    Turtles? Whatever... Look, all that’s required for
       the creation of matter an imbalance of particles
       and anti-particles. At least, that’s what the math
       says.

 B:    Math, shmath. What’s the evidence?

 A:    There is evidence! You know Edwin Hubble? He’s
       the guy who in the early twentieth century was the
       first scientist to measure the drift of matter in the
       universe, thus advancing notions of an expanding
       universe. What would it be expanding from? Well,
       the Big Bang... DUH!

 B:    Anyway, it’s just a theory. Why do people go
       around touting⁴ theories? Where’s the scientific
       rigor⁵ in that?

 A:    Dude, don’t equivocate⁶. A theory only becomes
       a theory after withstanding rigorous testing. You
       slept through class, didn’t you?
 B:    Agh! You’re making my head hurt again! Quit with
       the questions!
 

1 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

2 velocity   

n.速度，速率

参考例句：

• Einstein's theory links energy with mass and velocity of light.爱因斯坦的理论把能量同质量和光速联系起来。
• The velocity of light is about 300000 kilometres per second.光速约为每秒300000公里。

3 atlas   

n.地图册，图表集

参考例句：

• He reached down the atlas from the top shelf.他从书架顶层取下地图集。
• The atlas contains forty maps,including three of Great Britain.这本地图集有40幅地图，其中包括3幅英国地图。

4 touting   

v.兜售( tout的现在分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• He's been touting his novel around publishers for years. 他几年来一直到处找出版商兜售自己的小说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Technology industry leaders are touting cars as a hot area for growth. 科技产业领袖吹捧为增长热点地区的汽车。 来自互联网

5 rigor   

n.严酷，严格，严厉

参考例句：

• Their analysis lacks rigor.他们的分析缺乏严谨性。||The crime will be treated with the full rigor of the law.这一罪行会严格依法审理。

6 equivocate   

v.模棱两可地，支吾其词

参考例句：

• Don't equivocate with me I want a straight answer to a straight question!别跟我绕弯子--我问的问题直截了当，回答也要直截了当！
• He is equivocating a lot about what is going to happen if and when there are elections.他支支吾吾地说着很多万一进行选举会发生的状况。