美国英语听力80篇2 Lesson34

[00:05.62]34) Ancient Quasar
[00:11.96]Astronomers² have discovered what they say is one of the earliest known structures ever to form in the universe.
[00:20.82]It is a star-like object called a quasar.
[00:24.76]Quasars are very large.
[00:27.69]They produce huge amounts of energy, up to ten thousand times that produced by our solar system.
[00:35.74]Astronomers believe the energy of a quasar is produced by a huge black hole that attracts surrounding matter.
[00:45.77]Several teams of scientists found the ancient object in the constellation³ Cetus.
[00:52.82]The teams used two telescopes.
[00:55.33]One is the Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory⁴ in California.
[01:01.57]The other is the National Science Foundation's 'telescope at Kitt Peak in Arizona.
[01:08.78]Scientists at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii did a special study of the object's light.
[01:15.94]Daniel Stern is an astronomer¹ with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
[01:24.69]He played an important part in the recent discovery.
[01:28.92]He says the distant object looked very much like a star.
[01:33.75]However, study of the light from the object proved it to be a quasar.
[01:39.34]He said further study showed the quasar is extremely old.
[01:44.54]Tests showed that light from the object takes about 13,000,000,000,000 light years to reach Earth.
[01:52.54]Scientists say that means the quasar existed at a time when the universe was less than 8% of its current age.
[02:01.94]Tests of the red light from an object in space
[02:06.33]can show how fast the object is moving away from us as the universe expands.
[02:13.77]The faster it moves away, the more its light appears to be a red color.
[02:19.02]Mister Stern says finding a quasar at that distance is like turning on a flashlight at the edge of the universe.
[02:29.19]He says quasars act like very bright flashlights because they are brighter than distant galaxies⁵.
[02:37.62]He says this permits astronomers to study everything that has ever developed between Earth and the quasar.
[02:46.27]Mister Stern says the newly discovered quasar will add to the knowledge
[02:52.75]of how matter spread in the early history of the universe.
[02:57.29]He says it also will help show how black holes

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 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 constellation   

n.星座n.灿烂的一群

参考例句：

• A constellation is a pattern of stars as seen from the earth. 一个星座只是从地球上看到的某些恒星的一种样子。
• The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. 北斗七星本身不是一个星座。

4 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。

5 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。