国家地理 月亮的故事

Whether it was believed to have been a big ball of cheese, home to the men in the moon, or possess the power to turn people into werewolves, the moon has been a perpetual source of wonder from ancient time to today. Just one quarter the size of the Earth, the moon is small compared to other more spectacular bodies in the universe. But since it's only 240 thousand miles away, a relatively¹ short distance when compared with the vastness of space, nothing looms² larger in the night sky.

有人认为月亮是一个大奶酪球，有人认为月亮上有月球人，还有人认为月亮可以将人类变成狼人，从古至今，月亮一直非常奇妙。月球只有地球的四分之一大小，与宇宙中其他更壮观的天体相比，它是很小的。但由于它距离地球只有24万英里，与浩瀚的太空相比，这是一段相对较短的距离，因此在夜空中没有什么比它更大了。

Many scientists believe the moon formed about 4.6 billion years ago. One theory is that a huge asteroid³ struck earth with such force that rock and debris⁴ were shot into orbit around the planet like the rings of Saturn⁵. Over time this cloud of fragments came together to form the moon. Since it has little of any atmosphere to protect it, the moon has been and continues to be bombarded by space debris. The evidence appears all over its dusty surface. Its entire surface is pocked with tens of thousands of craters⁶. It wasn't until Galileo pointed⁷ a telescope at moon in 1609 that we got the first close look at its features.

许多科学家认为月球是46亿年前形成的。有一种理论认为，一颗巨大的小行星撞击地球的力量很大，导致岩石和碎片像进入土星环一样的环绕地球的轨道。随着时间的推移，这一大团碎片聚集在一起形成了月亮。由于几乎没有任何大气层来保护它，月球始终受到太空碎片的撞击。它尘土飞扬的表面就是最好的证明。它的整个表面布满了成千上万个火山口。直到1609年伽利略用望远镜对准月球，我们才第一次近距离观察到它的特征。

The moon orbits the earth like the earth orbits the sun. Since the moon doesn't shine on its own but only reflects light from the sun, we see more or less of it during its monthly revolution depending on its position. We call these varying views--phases. When the moon is on the far side of the earth away from the sun, the moon is fully⁸ illuminated⁹ or full. As the moon travels around the earth, we can only see the sunlight falling on part of it resulting in crescent moons and half moons. When the moon is directly between the earth and the sun, light falls on the far side of the moon, blocked from earth's view, the moon is dark or new. It takes about 29 days for the moon to complete its cycle. On rare occasions a full moon passes through the earth's shadow and the sun's light is blocked. This is called a total lunar eclipse. The moon has quite an effect on our planet. As earth turns the moon's gravity tugs¹⁰ on our oceans creating the tides. The tidal forces have curved our planet's coastlines, buoyed¹¹ its polar icecaps and influenced the rhythm of life. Our nearest celestial¹² neighbor is a lot more than a beautiful view.

月球绕地球运行，就像地球绕太阳运行一样。由于月球本身并不发光，只反射太阳的光，我们可以在它每月公转过程中的不同位置看到它大大小小的样子。我们把这些看到不同的样子称为月相。当月球在远离太阳的地球的另一边时，月球就会被完全照亮或变成满月。月球绕地球运行时，我们只能看到阳光落在它的一部分上，出现新月和半月。当月球位于地球和太阳中间时，光线落在月球的另一侧，挡住了地球的视线，月球就全暗了或是新月。月球完成一个周期大约需要29天。极少数的时候，整个月亮进入地球的阴影，太阳的光线会被挡住。这被称为月全食。月球对我们的星球有相当大的影响。当地球转动时，海洋会受到月球的引力，形成潮汐。潮汐力弯曲了地球的海岸线，使极地冰盖漂浮起来，影响了生活节奏。我们天体近邻不仅仅是美丽的景色。

1 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

2 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

5 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。

6 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》

7 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

10 tugs   

n.猛拉( tug的名词复数 )；猛拖；拖船v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The raucous sirens of the tugs came in from the river. 河上传来拖轮发出的沙哑的汽笛声。 来自辞典例句
• As I near the North Tower, the wind tugs at my role. 当我接近北塔的时候，风牵动着我的平衡杆。 来自辞典例句

11 buoyed   

v.使浮起( buoy的过去式和过去分词 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神

参考例句：

• Buoyed by their win yesterday the team feel confident of further success. 在昨天胜利的鼓舞下，该队有信心再次获胜。
• His encouragement buoyed her up during that difficult period. 他的鼓励使她在那段困难时期恢复了乐观的情绪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。