Step by Step 3000 第2册 Unit11:Space(2)

 　　Part 2. Astronomers¹ discover solar system.

　　Keywords. another solar system, planets, challenge.

　　Vocabulary. constellation², astronomy, full-fledged, Jupiter.

　　A. Listen to a science report, write down the information about the new solar system.

　　What science fiction once told of other worlds far far away, is now fact.

　　Astronomers confirmed another solar system like ours with multiple planets in the constellation Andromeda.

　　What we've found now for the first time ever, is indeed a full-fledged system of plants around the star Upsilon Andromeda.

　　It appears to have three planets, one close in, one at a middle distance and one farther out.

　　The star is slightly larger than our Sun. The planet are huge like our Jupiter.

　　"Here is the inner planet that goes around 4.6 days.

　　The middle planet that goes around every 242 days.

　　And then the outer planet which goes around every 3.5 to 4 years."

　　Astronomically³ it's not far away, 44 light years.

　　The Sun of that solar system, Upsilon Andromeda, is so near and bright, is can be seen by the naked eye during summer and fall.

　　For 12 years, astronomers searched the skies in the belief that if our Sun has planets arround it, surely others do, too.

　　And then starting 3.5 years ago, we began finding for the first time planets singly, one planet here around one star...

　　It was a wobble in the star that led Jeff Marcy to the planets.

　　The star wobbles around due to the gravity of the planet, much like a dog owner gets yanked around by a little poodle.

　　Can the planets support life? Don't know.

　　Because present technology is not advanced enough to determine what the planets are made of.

　　That, Mercy says, is astronomy's next challenge.

　　B. Listen again, decide whether the statements you hear are true or false. Write "T" or "F" in the brackets.

　　Statements.

　　1. The Sun of the new solar system, though very bright, is far away from our solar system.

　　So it can't be seen by our naked eyes.

　　2. The middle planet of Upsilon Andromeda goes around every three and a half years.

　　3. According to scientists, it's possible that the stars we see in the sky all have planets around them.

　　4. Scientists will soon find out whether the planet support life or not.

1 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 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》

2 constellation   

n.星座n.灿烂的一群

参考例句：

• A constellation is a pattern of stars as seen from the earth. 一个星座只是从地球上看到的某些恒星的一种样子。
• The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. 北斗七星本身不是一个星座。

3 astronomically   

天文学上

参考例句：

• The bill was astronomically high. 账单上的金额高得没谱儿。
• They have only been read as the multitude read the stars, at most astrologically, not astronomically. 它们之被群众阅读，有如群众之阅览繁星，至多是从星象学而不是从天文学的角度阅览的。