VOA标准英语2015--天文学家家乡庆祝冥王星飞行器

Astronomer¹'s Hometown Celebrates Pluto² Fly-by 天文学家家乡庆祝冥王星飞行器

STREATOR, ILLINOIS—

Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, born in rural Illinois in 1906, discovered what became the ninth planet in our solar system – Pluto.  Today, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is providing the clearest images of this distant body. The probe's encounter with the dwarf³ planet is an historic moment for the astronomer's hometown.

Streator, Illinois, is about as far away from Pluto as you can get on planet Earth.

But Pluto is at the center of Streator’s universe.

“We are pro-Pluto in Streator,” said Streator City Councilman Ed Brozak.

The reason why began in the backyard of a rural Streator farmhouse⁴ almost a century ago, when 12-year-old Clyde Tombaugh looked to the heavens through this telescope made by his uncle, who was Judith Bliss⁵’s grandfather.  What he saw through it, says Bliss, changed Tombaugh's life.

“They looked at the moon that night.  And that was the first time Clyde had seen anything through a telescope.  And he was very impressed,” Bliss said.

Tombaugh went on to build his own telescopes that took the human eye further into the cosmos⁶.

In 1930, from the Lowell Observatory⁷ in Flagstaff Arizona, Tombaugh spotted⁸ the celestial⁹ body we know as Pluto.  The discovery made headlines in Streator.

What also made headlines 76 years later was the International Astronomical¹⁰ Union’s reclassification of Pluto as a “dwarf” planet.

“I think we all feel, it was a planet, we knew it as a planet, so why is not it a planet?” asked Streator Mayor Jimmie Lansford.

But what the International Astronomical Union took away from Pluto, it has in a way, given back to Streator.

“With all the controversy¹¹ over the last several years, it has really brought attention to the city of Streator,” Councilman Brozak said.

So planet or not, Streator used Pluto’s spotlight¹² to honor its famous son.

“There are new road signs going up on Main Street and will be dedicated¹³ very soon, 'Pluto Pathway,” Brozak said.

There is also a mural of Tombaugh in Streator’s downtown, and a plaque¹⁴ honoring his discovery that stands outside city hall.  And there are T-shirts as well.

But, Bliss says the greatest honor to Tombaugh is not bound to these earthly confines.  It is on the New Horizons spacecraft - her cousin’s cremated¹⁵ remains¹⁶.

“It is kind of neat that someone from Streator has ashes that are almost to Pluto, or going by Pluto,” Judith Bliss said.

In mapping out the far reaches of our solar system, Tombaugh put Streator on the map of history.  Now, a little part of Streator, and a part of Bliss -- the DNA¹⁷ she shared with her cousin -- hurtles on through space, continuing the journey on New Horizons as it maps out unchartered depths of our solar system.

1 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

2 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

3 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
• The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。

4 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

5 bliss   

n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福

参考例句：

• It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
• He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

6 cosmos   

n.宇宙；秩序，和谐

参考例句：

• Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
• Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗？

7 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

8 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

9 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

10 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

11 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

12 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

13 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

14 plaque   

n.饰板，匾，(医)血小板

参考例句：

• There is a commemorative plaque to the artist in the village hall.村公所里有一块纪念该艺术家的牌匾。
• Some Latin words were engraved on the plaque. 牌匾上刻着些拉丁文。

15 cremated   

v.火葬，火化（尸体）( cremate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He wants to is cremated, not buried. 他要火葬，不要土葬。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bodies were cremated on the shore. 他们的尸体在海边火化了。 来自辞典例句

16 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。

17 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。