英语听力：自然百科 平行宇宙(5)

But the problem with the Big Bang was soon overshadowed; the Strings¹ were in trouble too. The hope had been that the String theory would evolve into the single definitive² explanation for the universe. But as more and more people worked on it, something puzzling happened. The physicists³ found a second version of it, and then a third. Soon they had found five different String theories. That wasn't single and it didn't sound very definitive.

但是大爆炸的问题很快就暗淡下来，弦理论也有了麻烦。弦论被寄予厚望进化到对于宇宙有一个完美的解释。但随着越来越多的人开始对其进行研究,一些莫名其妙的事情发生。这些物理学家发现了1个第3个版本,然后是第3个版本。很快他们发现了5种不同的弦理论。那不是单一的,而且听起来不是很确切。

"Five, even though it is not a very large number, it's too large for us, because we would like to have a more unique theory than that. And this definitely was a problem, was a great crisis. So a lot of time was spent studying those individual five theories, but in the back of our minds always was why are there five of these things. Shouldn't there only be one?"

“5，尽管这不是一个非常大的数字，但对于我们来说则太大了,因为我们想要的是一个更独特的理论。这确实是一个问题,是一个巨大的危机。所以有很多时间都被用于研究这5个独一无二的理论,但我们脑中总是想为什么有5个诸如此类的东西，不是应该只有一个吗?”

String theory had begun to unravel⁴. It seems that the dream of theory of everything was as far away as ever.

弦理论已经开始瓦解。似乎万物论成了遥不可及的目标。

"Cynics began to come out and say that String theory is too hard, it's a dead end, it's simply not the way to go, and it's not the theory of everything, it's the theory of nothing."

“愤世嫉俗者们站出来说,弦理论太强硬,这是一个死胡同,不应该走这条路,而且它不是万物论,它根本就什么也不是。”

But just as the scientists were about to give up hope, a new and startling discovery would be made. This would inspire them to begin their quest again and force them at last to confront their least popular idea - Parallel Universes.

然而就当科学家正准备放弃希望时,一个新的惊人发现横空出世。这将促使他们再次踏上征程并且强迫他们又一次面对最不受欢迎的想法——平行宇宙。

1 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

2 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

3 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

4 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。