英语听力—环球英语 1155 Northern Lights

 　　Voice 1

 

　　Welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Rena Dam.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　And I’m Ryan Geertsma. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Picture a dark black sky. Suddenly, a large line of light appears. It looks like someone cut through the sky with a knife. The light shines through the opening.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Now, the light begins to move. It gets softer. It starts to look green in colour. The lines of light move around the sky. They look like they may touch the ground very far away.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Then, a burst of light appears! There are more colours now. They look like rays of sunshine all over the sky. The lights are changing very fast. They form a large curtain. The curtain moves. It looks like it is dancing. The lights dance away back into the dark black sky.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　These lights in the sky are called the Aurora² Borealis or the Northern Lights. Today’s Spotlight is on these Northern Lights.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Pierre Gassendi was a famous scientist and philosopher³ in the early 1600s.  He was the one who named the Aurora Borealis. This name comes from Ancient Roman stories. Aurora was the name that Romans gave to the goddess of the dawn - the rising of the sun. The second half, Borealis, is named after the north wind. So in English Aurora Borealis means “the dawn of the north.”

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　If you live in the Northern part of the world you may have seen the northern lights before. They also appear in the far south. There they are called the Aurora australis. The Northern Lights appear in many colors. People most often see green or red. The colour is different depending on how far north or south you are. The Northern Lights also look different at different altitudes - they look different high up in the mountains than at sea level.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　But what are the Northern lights? What causes them? People have been wondering about this for years. The Northern lights are a part of folk culture in many countries. People around the world have traditional stories that explain the Northern lights. Here are a few of them:

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　During the Viking period, people thought that the Northern Lights were images of young women who were dead. Other people believed that the northern lights were signs of huge fires in the north. And other people thought that it was God lighting⁴ up the cold, dark parts of the world.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Inuit people believe that the lights are the land of the dead. They believe that dead friends in this land try to connect with living people. They think that this is what is happening when the lights change very fast.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The lights often change shape and colour. The Scots call them "merry dancers" because of this movement. Some Native Americans believe that they can connect with spirits of the dead by whistling at the lights.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Danish people have a traditional story about the Northern Lights. They say that a group of large white birds called swans once flew too far north. The swans got caught in the ice. They moved their wings up and down, flapping⁵ to get free. Every time they flapped⁶ their wings, they made images in the sky. These images became the northern lights.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　But not every country had a nice story about the Northern Lights like the Danish. Some cultures believed that the Northern Lights represented evil⁷. They were afraid of the lights. They thought the lights were a terrible force. And many people believed that the Northern Lights caused natural disasters, like earthquakes or floods.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　These traditional stories are very interesting. But there is a scientific cause of the northern lights - the Sun!

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　Sometimes there are storms on the sun. These storms release⁸ a cloud of solar particles⁹ into space. The solar particles are made up of atoms that have a magnetic¹⁰ charge. They are full of electric forces.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　Some of these magnetic solar particles come near to the earth. When they do, they are pulled in by the earth’s magnetic field. The magnetic field pulls the particles to the two magnetic poles on the earth: the North Pole and the South Pole.

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The Northern Lights appear when the solar particles crash into the gas of the earth’s atmosphere. More solar particles make the lights bigger and brighter. In certain years, the sun has more storms. During these times, the northern lights can be seen from farther¹¹ away. They may also be larger than usual. Rachel VanderVeen lives in Northern Canada. She says that the year twenty twelve had many solar storms. She tells Spotlight what happened:

 

　　Voice 3

 

　　“My husband does not often run. But one day he was walking home from school when the northern lights began. They moved across the dark sky in many colours. Even with the light from the town, they were amazing. Usually, we see the Northern Lights in bright green. But that day the colours made my husband run to find me. The lights were pink, purple and orange. We have lived in the north for many years now. That was the first time we have seen so many bright colours.”

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　You can see why so many people believe that the Northern Lights are special. People travel from all over the world just to see the Northern Lights. But it is difficult to capture¹² such an amazing sight.  Some people spend days taking pictures of the lights.  Other people try to describe the northern lights in words. Today’s program ends with a part of a poem about the Northern Lights. It is called ‘The Aurora Borealis’ by S. Moore:

 

　　Voice 4

 

　　“The Aurora Borealis or northern light

 

　　With its movements so strangely bright,

 

　　Moving and dancing along the sky -

 

　　A picture of beauty to please the eye.

 

　　How sweetly the shining particles fly!

 

　　How quickly the flashes of light in the sky!

 

　　You would think the young angels had gathered in crowds

 

　　To play hide-and-seek through the golden clouds,

 

　　Let wise philosophers¹³ search out the cause,

 

　　And tell me the Science of Nature's laws;

 

　　And how these magnetic rays of light

 

　　Enrich¹⁴ the north of a frosty night.

 

　　So let the stories be what they may,

 

　　I love to look on the bright display

 

　　Of the ever moving, changing hues¹⁵,

 

　　Seen in these grand but short lived views.”

 

　　Voice 2

 

　　The writers of this program were Sara DeKoster and Rena Dam. The producer was Rena Dam. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at http://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called, ‘Northern Lights’.

 

　　Voice 1

 

　　You can also leave your comments on our website. Or you can email us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook - just search for spotlightradio. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye

1 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。

2 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

3 philosopher   

n.哲学家，哲人

参考例句：

• The philosopher has his ideas built on the rock of reason.那位哲学家把思想稳固地建立于理性之上。
• What a philosopher seeks after is truth.一个哲学家所追求的是真理。

4 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

5 flapping   

（使）上下左右移动( flap的现在分词 )； 轻拍； 焦急，焦虑； 振（翅）

参考例句：

• The flag was flapping around in the light wind. 那面旗子在微风中飘动。
• Do stop flapping around, we'll get the job done in time. 大可不必担心，我们会按时完成这项工作的。

6 flapped   

（使）上下左右移动( flap的过去式和过去分词 )； 轻拍； 焦急，焦虑； 振（翅）

参考例句：

• The swan flapped its wings noisily. 天鹅大声地拍打着翅膀。
• He flapped the flies away with a fan. 他用扇子把苍蝇拍走。

7 evil   

n.邪恶，不幸，罪恶；adj.邪恶的，不幸的，有害的，诽谤的

参考例句：

• We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
• Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。

8 release   

vt.发布，发表，发行；释放，放开

参考例句：

• After my examination I had a feeling of release.考完试后我有如释重负之感。
• This medicine will give you release from pain.这药吃后会解除你的疼痛。

9 particles   

微粒( particle的名词复数 )； 颗粒； 极少量； 小品词

参考例句：

• These small particles agglomerate together to form larger clusters. 这些颗粒聚结形成较大的团。
• The nucleus of an atom consists of neutrons, protons and other particles. 原子核由中子、质子和其他粒子构成。

10 magnetic   

adj.磁的，有磁性的；有吸引力的，有魅力的

参考例句：

• If we charge it with electricity,it will become magnetic.如果充上电，它就会带有磁性。
• I have a magnetic disc.我有一张磁盘。

11 farther   

adj.更远的，进一步的；adv.更远的，此外；far的比较级

参考例句：

• I can throw the ball farther than you can.这个球我能比你扔得远。
• The farther hill is five kilometres away.那座更远的小山在五公里以外。

12 capture   

vt.捕获，俘获；占领，夺得；n.抓住，捕获

参考例句：

• The company is out to capture the European market.这家公司希望占据欧洲市场。
• With the capture of the escaped tiger,everyone felt relieved.逃出来的老虎被捕获后，大家都松了一口气。

13 philosophers   

n.哲学家( philosopher的名词复数 )；豁达的人

参考例句：

• Philosophers sometimes overweight their negativism. 哲学家往往偏重于否定态度。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Strictly speaking, they shouldn't be called philosophers, but rather 'philophilosophers.' 严格讲起来，他们不该叫哲学家Philophilosophers,该叫‘哲学家学家’philophilosophers.” 来自汉英文学 - 围城

14 enrich   

vt.充实，使丰富，使富裕，使富有

参考例句：

• Some cream will enrich the sauce.在调味汁里加一些奶油会使其味道更加丰富。
• Music can enrich your life.音乐能丰富你的生活。

15 hues   

色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点

参考例句：

• When the sun rose a hundred prismatic hues were reflected from it. 太阳一出，更把它映得千变万化、异彩缤纷。
• Where maple trees grow, the leaves are often several brilliant hues of red. 在枫树生长的地方，枫叶常常呈现出数种光彩夺目的红色。