英语听力：自然百科 行星旅行：土星 Saturn—19

 The Prime Meridian(本初子午线) here is the longitude¹, the mark on the ground, from which all great voyages are measured.

 

This is the view back to our remarkable² home planet/ that the first human out here can look forward to, a distant blue dot lost in the beauty of Saturn³'s backlit rings. It’s a real image, another perfect postcard from Cassini urging us into the heavens.

 

Humans have looked out from the shores of seas and oceans and imagine great adventures. 

 

Now think about standing⁴ on the shore of an alien scene. 

And we know the shores are there, which have to go and experience, and that's what i like to do. I’d like to go, land on the balloon, step out, pick up one of those rounded pebbles⁵ and trusted Huygens .

 

And I’ve purposed that maybe we have a talk about the planetary park down the road, what should we preserve/ for / future’s generations, you know. Do you want to go on a mine tagging for its methane⁶? 

 

They will go, mess up about the places, perhaps. But Saturn’s just a wizzard place. And we should probably leave that alone. 

 

With so many interesting moons in its flight path, NASA is making plans for what to do when Cassini’s mission comes to an end, around 2017.

We want to make sure that the spacecraft doesn’t hit one of these bodies, and so what we are going to do is to put it into the atmosphere of Saturn.

Crash it in the Saturn and burn it in it, blaze of glory after a reach twenty -years of expiration⁷ in space, all the molecules⁸ that currently make up the Cassini’s spacecraft but still be in Saturn. And in fact it will there forever.

 

A fitting fiery⁹ funeral, for one of the greatest inter-planetary voyagers of all time.

 

It might be a ball of gas and floating water, but Saturn is a very solid destination both for science and for viewing spectacular science. We’ ve only begun to realize its richest offers and only because we have sent aircrafts to stay. 

 

It’s the same story everywhere in the solar system. You’ll never know what you are missing if you never go.

1 longitude   

n.经线，经度

参考例句：

• The city is at longitude 21°east.这个城市位于东经21度。
• He noted the latitude and longitude,then made a mark on the admiralty chart.他记下纬度和经度，然后在航海图上做了个标记。

2 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

3 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• 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。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

6 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

7 expiration   

n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物

参考例句：

• Can I have your credit card number followed by the expiration date?能告诉我你的信用卡号码和它的到期日吗?
• This contract shall be terminated on the expiration date.劳动合同期满，即行终止。

8 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

9 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。