英语听力：自然百科 金星和水星旅行指南 Venus and Mercury-18

 Despite all this scientific effort, we still don't know what triggered Venus' diabolical¹ transformation².

 

People debated over whether Venus ever had a moon. If Venus had a satellite at one point, could that satellite eventually impacted onto the surface and caused some catastrophe³ to happen? We don't know. It could've been possibly a factor.

 

Perhaps such an impact explains both the strange calendar and climate on Venus. Was it hit hard enough to flip⁴ upside down? And for its day to be slowed to a crawl? Was this the moment Venus'climate was thrown into chaos⁵?

 

Whatever the cause of Venus' climate calamity⁶, could Iife have ever survived such an ordeal⁷?

 

If I had to guess or I had to bet, I would say,Yeah, the Venus did have life.

And I say that because what we do understand about life on Earth is that it started early and doesn't seem to have required any extraordinary conditions.

 

If there was life of our kind, the organic kind, on the surface of Venus a long time ago, then what happened to that life?

 

Well one possibility is that it just died out. But there's another possibility

that's a little more exotic, which is it may have migrated up into the clouds.

 

There is some speculation⁸ that Venus might actually still harbor life even

though it is such a hostile place.

 

And the reasoning is that at one time Venus was like the Earth in the first two billion years or so of its history. So if life were to grab a hold, maybe life was able to stay ahead of the environmental disaster that befell Venus as

the water basically left the planet.

 

Could life really exist in the clouds of Venus?  The best way to know for sure is to float into the atmosphere and find out. Right behind us is the Valor⁹ balloon which we intend to fly in the skies of Venus in a couple of years from now.

1 diabolical   

adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的

参考例句：

• This maneuver of his is a diabolical conspiracy.他这一手是一个居心叵测的大阴谋。
• One speaker today called the plan diabolical and sinister.今天一名发言人称该计划阴险恶毒。

2 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

3 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

4 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

5 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

6 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

7 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

8 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

9 valor   

n.勇气，英勇

参考例句：

• Fortitude is distinct from valor.坚韧不拔有别于勇猛。
• Frequently banality is the better parts of valor.老生常谈往往比大胆打破常规更为人称道。