SSS 2011-03-31_在线英语听力室_免费在线英语听力学习网站

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This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute.

It’s been nearly 20 years since astronomers² first identified a planet outside our solar system. More than 500 exoplanets have been discovered since then, yet it’s not clear if even one of them might be habitable. Now, astronomer¹ Eric Agol at the University of Washington says we’ve been looking in the wrong places. If we want to find planets that could support life, he says we should look at stars that are dying. He floats that suggestion in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

White dwarves³ are the remnants of stars like our sun that start to cool.

But they’re still warm enough to keep a planet at a nice cozy⁴ temperature…if that planet is close enough. Say, 10 to 100 times closer than Mercury gets to the sun. That proximity⁵ is what makes white dwarves so attractive--to astronomers, anyhow, because a planet that close to its star would dim the dwarf’s light as it passes. The dimming could be detected by even a puny⁶ one-meter telescope.

Agol suggests we survey the 20,000 white dwarves closest to Earth. Finding a planet would give us a good place to look for life. Or maybe someday live.

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Karen Hopkin.

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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 dwarves
n.矮子( dwarf的名词复数 )；有魔法的小矮人
参考例句：
Everyone will try to claim it: Men, Dwarves, wizards. 每个种族都会争取它的拥有权：人类，矮人，巫师。来自电影对白 Have you learned nothing of the stubbornness of Dwarves? 难道你还不了解那个矮人的倔强吗？来自电影对白

4 cozy
adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的
参考例句：
I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。 We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

5 proximity
n.接近，邻近
参考例句：
Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。 Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

6 puny
adj.微不足道的，弱小的
参考例句：
The resources at the central banks' disposal are simply too puny.中央银行掌握的资金实在太少了。 Antonio was a puny lad,and not strong enough to work.安东尼奥是个瘦小的小家伙，身体还不壮，还不能干活。