Richard Firestone

BBC Learning English

People and places

Richard Firestone

Dima: Hello, I'm Dima, and today our guest is Richard

Firestone, an American

scientist in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who has

recently been involved in a fascinating research into an

unusual 'meteor', that's a piece of rock or other matter

from space.
Firestone - taster 0'12"

We think that this impact was the air burst, or an

explosion in the air, of a meteor, so anything underneath¹

this impact was likely to be injured or killed …

Dima: Richard Firestone explaining the theory behind a

unique discovery: ancient animal bodies pierced with small

pieces of matter which scientists believe came from outer

space some 35,000 years ago. As you can imagine, with a
topic like this we're certain to hear a number of words and

expressions that can be used when talking about science,

and in particular, about natural history. Words like

'impact', meaning the force of one object hitting another;

'burst' and
'explosion', both meaning a blast, or sudden expanding

after a release of energy;

'meteor' - a piece of rock or other matter from space that

produces a bright light as it travels through the Earth's

atmosphere; and 'shrapnel' - small pieces of matter that

cover an area in a blast, usually causing damage or death.

Let's now listen to Richard Firestone as he describes what

his team thinks happened to
the meteor, but before we listen, here's a quick reminder²

of the words to look out for: 'impact', 'burst',

'explosion', 'meteor' and 'shrapnel'.
Firestone 0'18"
We think that this impact was the air burst, or an

explosion in the air, of a meteor. Probably an iron meteor,

right, that came in over Siberia and Alaska and exploded

maybe several miles up in the air sending shrapnel,

essentially³, in all directions.
 
Dima: So to sum up, when the meteor entered the

atmosphere, there was an impact that caused a burst, or an

explosion in the air, and as a result of the explosion many

small pieces, or shrapnel, covered a large area. Listen

again and as you're listening, try to find answers to these

questions: first, which two regions of the Earth did the

meteor fly over? And second, how high above the ground did

the explosion happen?
Firestone 0'18"

We think that this impact was the air burst, or an

explosion in the air, of a meteor. Probably an iron meteor,

right, that came in over Siberia and Alaska and exploded

maybe several miles up in the air sending shrapnel,

essentially, in all directions.

Dima: So which two regions of the planet did the meteor

travel over? Richard
Firestone mentions Siberia and Alaska. And how high above

the Earth's surface did the blast happen? The answer is -

'several miles up in the air'.

Sting

Dima: Today we're talking about a unique discovery -

ancient animal bodies severely⁴ damaged by particles, that

is small pieces of matter, from a burst meteor. But why are

scientists so excited by this find? Surely our planet has

been hit by meteors and comets uncounted number of times!

Well, as Richard Firestone
will explain, it's true that meteors are known to have

killed off whole species of animals, but not directly:

usually this happened because of resulting climate changes.

In this case, the shrapnel affected⁵ animals in a direct

way, damaging their body parts or even killing⁶ them.

Although Richard Firestone doesn't mention them, he means

'mammoths' - large hairy elephant type animals which no

longer exist. And how do we know this? Well, because, as

you're about to hear, he does mention particular body parts

which mammoths had. See if you can spot the word for these

body parts. Here's a clue: this word appears right at the

end of the clip and means pointed⁸ teeth which stick out

from some animals' mouths:
 Firestone 0'12"

And these animals were lying under it, so anything

underneath this impact was likely to be injured or killed

by these things. Because there was one every few

centimetres, hitting these tusks¹⁰.

Dima: Did you manage to spot the word for large pointed

teeth? It was 'tusks'. And if you're still not sure what

tusks are, take a look at the picture on the web page where

you can see an artist's impression of a mammoth⁷ - just

visit bbclearningenglish.com and follow the link to People

and places. In a moment we'll hear from Richard Firestone

again, but just before that, here again is today's

vocabulary:

'meteor'

'impact'

'a burst'

'an explosion'

'shrapnel'

'a mammoth' and

'a tusk⁹'.

Firestone 0'30"

We think that this impact was the airburst, or an explosion

in the air, of a meteor. Probably an iron meteor, right,

that came in over Siberia and Alaska and exploded maybe

several miles up in the air sending shrapnel, essentially,

in all directions. And these animals were lying under it,

so anything underneath this impact was likely to be injured

or killed by these things. Because there was one every few

centimetres, hitting these tusks.

1 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

2 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

8 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。

9 tusk   

n.獠牙，长牙，象牙

参考例句：

• The wild boar had its tusk sunk deeply into a tree and howled desperately.野猪的獠牙陷在了树里，绝望地嗥叫着。
• A huge tusk decorated the wall of his study.他书房的墙上装饰着一支巨大的象牙。

10 tusks   

n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头

参考例句：

• The elephants are poached for their tusks. 为获取象牙而偷猎大象。
• Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used in some parts of Africa. 非洲的一些地区则使用象牙、猴尾和盐。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）