VOA慢速英语 2007 1106b

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - New Telescope to Search for Life Beyond Earth
By Soo Jee Han, Mario Ritter and Caty Weaver¹ / Broadcast: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 16:00:00 UTC
VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty².

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week, we will tell about an effort to search for intelligent life beyond our universe. We will tell about a method shown to increase attention and reduce tension. We will also report on new concerns about the health of children in Africa.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Allen Telescope Array in Hat Creek³, California, is being used to search for intelligent life

The search for life in the universe took a step forward last month with the opening of the Allen Telescope Array in Hat Creek, California.

The telescopes were partly made possible by a gift of twenty-five million dollars from Paul Allen. He helped start the computer software company Microsoft. He joined with the Radio Astronomy Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley and the SETI Institute to provide money for the project. The total cost of the project is already fifty million dollars.

Currently, there are forty-two radio telescopes working at the Hat Creek observatory⁴. The signals they receive are combined to create what is equal to a single, very large telescope.

VOICE TWO:

Objects in space release radio waves that can be collected and studied. Astronomers⁵ can make pictures of objects using radio wave information. These pictures can show structures not observed in other wavelengths⁶ of light.

The telescope will be used to observe objects like exploding stars, black holes and other objects that are predicted but have not yet been observed. Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute says this is the first telescope whose main purpose is to search for signals from intelligent life in space.

What makes the Allen Telescope Array unusual is that it can collect and study information from a wide area of the sky. In addition, the forty-two telescopes can study information about several projects at the same time. That means studies of large areas of the sky can be made faster than ever before.

VOICE ONE:

The Allen Telescope Array uses parts that are not specially⁷ made. But they are easily available, including telecommunications technology. This helps keep the cost down. Each telescope is about six meters across.

Some officials estimate the Allen Telescope Array will be completed in three more years. Three hundred fifty individual radio telescopes are planned.

The SETI institute is based in Mountain View, California. The organization supports the search for other life forms in the universe. The new abilities of the Allen Telescope Array will make searching for stars similar to the sun much faster.

An earlier search by SETI, Project Phoenix⁸, studied about eight hundred stars to a distance of two hundred forty light years. The project ended in two thousand four. With the Allen Telescope Array, astronomers hope to gather thousands of times more information in the search for life beyond our planet.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Students practice transcendental meditation⁹

Recent studies have shown that performing intensive meditation for long periods can help to improve attention. They also showed meditation reduces emotional or mental pressure and makes it easier to deal with difficult activities.

Meditation is a kind of guided thought. People who meditate¹⁰ often spend months or years in training. But an American study found that people can get the same helpful effects in five days if they use a process called integrative mind-body meditation. The process combines rest, controlled breathing, mental imagery and mindfulness training. In earlier studies, such activities have been shown to improve attention, emotion, and social behaviors.

VOICE ONE:

Researchers at the University of Oregon developed integrative mind-body training. The researchers taught it to forty university students in China. They compared the results of the training to the results of deep rest in another group of students.

The study found that the students in the trained group performed better than the others on measures like attention and emotion. The researchers also measured levels of the natural hormone¹¹ cortisol. Cortisol has been called the worry hormone. The body produces it when we are afraid. The study found cortisol levels were much lower in the mind-body trained group than in the other group.

VOICE TWO:

Michael Posner is an expert on attention at the University of Oregon. He helped to write a report on the study. Professor Posner says he was surprised by the findings. He says he thought they might have resulted from where the study was carried out. He says many people in China are already believers in intensive meditation. But he says Chinese university students have concerns about traditional Chinese medicine.

The report on the gains of short-term mind-body training is published in Proceedings¹² of the National Academy of Science.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

You are listening to the VOA Special English program IN THE NEWS. With Faith Lapidus, I'm Bob Doughty in Washington.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Health officials in Sudan have launched a campaign to vaccinate¹³ eight million children after a case of polio was reported there. United Nations and Sudanese agencies are carrying out the campaign. Sudan had been polio-free since two thousand five. The new case of wild poliovirus was confirmed in South Darfur two months ago.

Health officials also announced in September that Nigeria has had almost seventy new cases of polio since two thousand five. Those cases, however, were caused by the polio vaccine¹⁴ itself.

VOICE TWO:

There are two kinds of polio vaccine. The one given by injection contains killed virus, which cannot cause polio. The one given by mouth contains live but weakened virus. In very rare cases, the virus can change and cause polio.

The way to stop the spread now is more vaccinations¹⁵. But officials worry that people in northern Nigeria may, once again, fear the vaccine. In recent years, local leaders spread stories that Western nations had poisoned the vaccine with the virus that causes AIDS.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Recently, major science publications around the world produced what was called a Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development. The Council of Science Editors organized the project. The Council said it involved two hundred thirty-five scientific journals from thirty-seven countries.

The group said the goal was to increase interest and research in the subject and to spread the results as widely as possible. It said the journals published more than seven hundred fifty stories involving eighty-seven countries.

The web site of the Council of Science Editors released a partial list of the stories. The group has urged all journals that published the articles to make them available free to the public.

VOICE TWO:

This is the third time scientific journals have joined together to report on a single issue. The first time was in nineteen ninety-six. That is when thirty-six journals published articles about worldwide threats from diseases. In nineteen ninety-seven, ninety-seven journals joined together to report on the issue of aging.

The editors of the Journal of the American Medical Association, JAMA, organized the two earlier efforts. JAMA published several articles for the newest one. The research examined how knowledge about effective health interventions¹⁶ can be put to use locally to help poor people.

VOICE ONE:

Other widely read journals that published articles included Science, Nature and The Lancet. The project also included journals on medicine and biology from the Public Library of Science. That organization publishes its journals free of charge on the Internet.

America's National Institutes of Health held an event to launch the Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development. Experts from the N.I.H. and the Council of Science Editors chose seven articles for recognition. The subjects included childbirth safety, AIDS, malaria¹⁷ treatment and the effects of influenza¹⁸ on children.

Seven years ago, the United Nations recognized the link between health and development in the Millennium¹⁹ Development Goals. But many experts believe the targets for health improvements will not be reached at current rates of progress.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Soo Jee Han, Mario Ritter and Caty Weaver. Our producer was Brianna Blake. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Bob Doughty. .

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

3 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

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 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》

6 wavelengths   

n.波长( wavelength的名词复数 )；具有相同的/不同的思路；合拍；不合拍

参考例句：

• I find him difficult to talk to—we're on completely different wavelengths. 我没法和他谈话，因为我们俩完全不对路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sunlight consists of different wavelengths of radiation. 阳光由几种不同波长的射线组成。 来自辞典例句

7 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

8 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

9 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

10 meditate   

v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想

参考例句：

• It is important to meditate on the meaning of life.思考人生的意义很重要。
• I was meditating,and reached a higher state of consciousness.我在冥想，并进入了一个更高的意识境界。

11 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

12 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

13 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

14 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

15 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

17 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

18 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

19 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。