the Perseid meteor shower

77 流星雨成因探索

Date=8-2-01
Ttle=science report - the Perseid meteor shower
Bline=Mario Ritter

（Start at 59")his is the VOA special English science report.
This month, you can see with your own eyes how material from space falls to earth.
Space material, which is mostly (1)rock, is often (2)captured by earth's (3)gravity and falls to the (4)surface of our planet¹. These falling space rocks are called (5)meteors. Large numbers of meteors fall during a meteor shower. The Perseid (per-see-id) (6)meteor shower is the most famous of these (7)events.
The Perseid meteor shower happens in early August every year. The largest number of meteors is expected to fall on August twelfth. Scientists measure meteor showers by the average number of meteors that fall in an hour. About ninety-five meteors fall in an hour during the most active day of the Perseid shower.
The Italian scientist Giovanni Schiaparelli named the Perseid meteor shower in eighteen-sixty-six.  He called it the Perseid meteor shower because its meteors appear to come from the group of stars called Perseus (per-see-us). Meteor showers are named for the group of stars, or (8)constellation, from which they come.
Mister² Schiaparelli discovered that the Perseid meteors had the same (9)orbit³ as a (10)comet⁴, another kind of space object.  A comet is a large body of gas, ice and rock. The Italian (11)astronomer found that the comet swift-tuttle had the same orbit as the Perseid meteors. Mister Schiaparelli's discovery showed that meteor showers come from material left behind by comets. 
Traditionally⁵, people believed that meteors were a weather event. Edward Herrick of new haven⁶, Connecticut, was one of the early (12)theorists who suggested that meteors came from space. In eighteen-thirty-eight, mister Herrick published a report claiming to have discovered a meteor shower in August. 
But he soon found that people had (13)observed the August meteor showers for (14)centuries. One German tradition calls the Perseid meteors the "tears of (15)saint⁷ Lawrence."  This was in (16)honor of a (17)religious person who was put to death by the Romans in the third century. The (18)anniversary of the death of saint Lawrence is August tenth.
To see the Perseids all you need to do is to watch the sky. This year, the moon will brighten⁸ the sky, making it more difficult to see meteors. But you still should be able to see about one meteor every minute during the early morning hours of August twelfth. 
This VOA special English science report was written by Mario Ritter.

(1) rock [ rCk ]n.岩石, 暗礁, 石头, 摇动vt.摇摆, 使动摇vi.摇, 摇动
(2) capture [ 5kAptFE ]n.捕获, 战利品vt.俘获, 捕获, 夺取
(3) gravity [ 5^rAviti ]n.地心引力, 重力
(4) surface [ 5sE:fis ]n.表面, 外表, 水面adj.表面的, 肤浅的
(5) meteor [ 5mi:tjE ]n.流星, 大气现象
(6) meteor shower 流星雨
(7) event [ i5vent ]n.事件, 事变, 结果, 活动, 精力, 竞赛
(8) constellation [ kCnstE5leiFEn ]n.[天]星群, 星座, 灿烂的一群
(9) orbit [ 5C:bit ]n.轨道, 势力范围, 生活常规, 眼眶vt.绕...轨道而行vi.进入轨道, 沿轨道飞行, 盘旋
(10) comet [ 5kCmit ]n.彗星
(11) astronomer [E5strRnEmE(r)]n.天文学家
(12) theorist [ 5WiErist ]n.理论家, 空谈家
(13) observe [ Eb5zE:v ]vt.观察, 观测, 遵守, 评述, 说
(14) century [ 5sentFuri, -tFEri ]n.世纪, 百年, 百个, 板球中的一百分, 百元(钞票)
(15) saint [ seint, sEnt ]n.圣人, 道德崇高的人, 圣徒adj.神圣v.成为圣徒
(16) honor [ 5CnE ]n.尊敬, 敬意, 荣誉, 光荣vt.尊敬, 给以荣誉
(17) religious [ ri5lidVEs ]adj.信奉宗教的, 虔诚的, 宗教上的, 修道的, 严谨的n.僧侣, 尼姑, 修道士
(18) anniversary [ 7Ani5vE:sEri ] n.周年纪念

1 planet   

n.行星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun. 海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Rubbish, however, is only part of the problem of polluting our planet. 然而, 垃圾只是我们这个星球的污染问题的一个方面。

2 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

3 orbit   

n.轨道；vt.使沿轨道运行；使进入轨道运行；vi.沿轨道运行，环行

参考例句：

• The space rocket was launched and went into orbit.宇宙火箭发射后进入轨道。
• We can draw the earth's orbit round the sun.我们可以画出地球绕太阳运行的轨迹。

4 comet   

n.慧星

参考例句：

• Recently they have discovered a comet.最近他们发现了一颗彗星。
• Halley's Comet is going to come back in 2061.哈雷彗星将于2061年回归。

5 traditionally   

adv.传说地；传统地

参考例句：

• Traditionally,people clean the house before the Spring Festival.传统上，人们在春节前打扫房子。
• Medicine is traditionally the first of the Nobel prizes awarded each year.根据传统，医学奖是诺贝尔奖每年颁发的第一个奖项。

6 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

7 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

8 brighten   

vt.使发亮，使开颜；vi.发光，发亮，生色

参考例句：

• Brighten the kitchen by painting it yellow.给厨房涂上黄色，使它发亮。
• She has brighten up my whole life.她给我的整个生活带来快乐。