托福阅读背景材料：火星的那些事儿

 　　Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is commonly referred to as the Red Planet. The rocks， soil and sky have a red or pink hue¹. The distinct red color was observed by stargazers throughout history. It was given its name by the Romans in honor of their god of war. Other civilizations have had similar names. The ancient Egyptians named the planet Her Descher meaning the red one.

　　Before space exploration， Mars was considered the best candidate for harboring extraterrestrial life. Astronomers² thought they saw straight lines crisscrossing its surface. This led to the popular belief that irrigation canals on the planet had been constructed by intelligent beings. In 1938， when Orson Welles broadcasted a radio drama based on the science fiction classic War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells， enough people believed in the tale of invading Martians to cause a near panic.

　　Another reason for scientists to expect life on Mars had to do with the apparent seasonal³ color changes on the planet’s surface. This phenomenon led to speculation⁴ that conditions might support a bloom of Martian vegetation during the warmer months and cause plant life to become dormant⁵ during colder periods.

　　In July of 1965， Mariner⁶ 4， transmitted 22 close-up pictures of Mars. All that was revealed was a surface containing many craters⁷ and naturally occurring channels but no evidence of artificial canals or flowing water. Finally， in July and September 1976， Viking Landers 1 and 2 touched down on the surface of Mars. The three biology experiments aboard the landers discovered unexpected and enigmatic chemical activity in the Martian soil， but provided no clear evidence for the presence of living microorganisms in the soil near the landing sites. According to mission biologists， Mars is self-sterilizing. They believe the combination of solar ultraviolet radiation that saturates⁸ the surface， the extreme dryness of the soil and the oxidizing nature of the soil chemistry prevent the formation of living organisms in the Martian soil. The question of life on Mars at some time in the distant past remains⁹ open.

　　Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is commonly referred to as the Red Planet. The rocks， soil and sky have a red or pink hue. The distinct red color was observed by stargazers throughout history. It was given its name by the Romans in honor of their god of war. Other civilizations have had similar names. The ancient Egyptians named the planet Her Descher meaning the red one.

　　Before space exploration， Mars was considered the best candidate for harboring extraterrestrial life. Astronomers thought they saw straight lines crisscrossing its surface. This led to the popular belief that irrigation canals on the planet had been constructed by intelligent beings. In 1938， when Orson Welles broadcasted a radio drama based on the science fiction classic War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells， enough people believed in the tale of invading Martians to cause a near panic.

　　Another reason for scientists to expect life on Mars had to do with the apparent seasonal color changes on the planet’s surface. This phenomenon led to speculation that conditions might support a bloom of Martian vegetation during the warmer months and cause plant life to become dormant during colder periods.

　　In July of 1965， Mariner 4， transmitted 22 close-up pictures of Mars. All that was revealed was a surface containing many craters and naturally occurring channels but no evidence of artificial canals or flowing water. Finally， in July and September 1976， Viking Landers 1 and 2 touched down on the surface of Mars. The three biology experiments aboard the landers discovered unexpected and enigmatic chemical activity in the Martian soil， but provided no clear evidence for the presence of living microorganisms in the soil near the landing sites. According to mission biologists， Mars is self-sterilizing. They believe the combination of solar ultraviolet radiation that saturates the surface， the extreme dryness of the soil and the oxidizing nature of the soil chemistry prevent the formation of living organisms in the Martian soil. The question of life on Mars at some time in the distant past remains open.

　　Mars has two moons， Phobos and Deimos， which are small and irregularly shaped. These may be captured asteroids¹¹， similar to 5261 Eureka， a Martian Trojan asteroid¹⁰. Mars can be seen from Earth with the naked eye. Its apparent magnitude reaches ?2.91，a brightness surpassed only by Venus， the Moon， and the Sun， although most of the time Jupiter will appear brighter to the naked eye than Mars. Mars has an average opposition¹² distance of 78 million km but can come as close as 55.7 million km during a close approach， such as occurred in 2003.

　　Mars is currently host to three functional¹³ orbiting spacecraft： Mars Odyssey¹⁴， Mars Express， and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. On the surface are the two Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) and several inert¹⁵ landers and rovers， both successful and unsuccessful. The Phoenix¹⁶ lander completed its mission on the surface in 2008. Observations by NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor show evidence that parts of the southern polar ice cap have been receding¹⁷.

 

1 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

2 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》

3 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

4 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。

5 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。

6 mariner   

n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者

参考例句：

• A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.平静的大海决不能造就熟练的水手。
• A mariner must have his eye upon rocks and sands as well as upon the North Star.海员不仅要盯着北极星，还要注意暗礁和险滩。

7 craters   

n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The battlefield was full of craters made by exploding shells. 战场上布满弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 saturates   

浸湿，浸透( saturate的第三人称单数 )； 使…大量吸收或充满某物

参考例句：

• The Port of Yangon, the principal trading centre of Myanmar, saturates in the nested area. 仰光港作为缅甸主要的贸易中心，位于嵌套区域。
• A model asphalt had been separated into four components: asphaltenes, saturates, aromatics and resins. 用四组分法将沥青分为饱和分、芳香分、胶质、沥青质。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

11 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

14 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

15 inert   

adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的

参考例句：

• Inert gas studies are providing valuable information about other planets,too.对惰性气体的研究，也提供了有关其它行星的有价值的资料。
• Elemental nitrogen is a very unreactive and inert material.元素氮是一个十分不活跃的惰性物质。

16 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

17 receding   

v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• Desperately he struck out after the receding lights of the yacht. 游艇的灯光渐去渐远，他拼命划水追赶。 来自辞典例句
• Sounds produced by vehicles receding from us seem lower-pitched than usual. 渐渐远离我们的运载工具发出的声似乎比平常的音调低。 来自辞典例句