BBC英語(yǔ)六分鐘-每天堅(jiān)持口語(yǔ)Life on Mars

LifeonMarsBBC英語(yǔ)六分鐘練起來(lái)（2023.03.05）TranscriptNote:Thisisnotaword-for-wordtranscriptSophie

Helloandwelcometo6MinuteEnglish.I'mSophie…Neil

AndI'mNeil.Sophie–didyouseethebeautifulskylastnight?Sophie

No,Iwenttobedearly.Why?Neil

Iwaswonderingiftherewaslifeoutthere.Sophie

Youmeanlifeonotherplanets?That'sjustsciencefiction,Neil.Neil

Itisn't!Peoplearefascinatedbylifeonotherplanetsforagoodreason.Sophie

Youbelieveinlittlegreenmen?Neil

Notnecessarily…butpossibly.Sophie

Well,Marsisourclosestneighbourinthesolarsystemandthesubjectoftoday'sshow.Andthatbringsmeontoourusualquizquestion.HowlongisadayonMars?Isitabout…

a)5hours?

b)25hours?

Orc)45hours?Neil

AndIthinkitmustbec)45hours.Thingsareweirdonotherplanets.AndMarsisfurtherfromthesunthanus…Marsmaybeourclosestneighbour,butit'shardlyinourbackyard,isit?Sophie

Itisinastronomicalterms,Neil–it'svisibleto

thenakedeye

–meaningwithoutusinginstruments–andit'sreachablebyspacecraft.Well,we’llfindoutlateronintheshowwhetheryougottheanswerrightornot.NowcanyoutellmeNeilwhypeoplelikeyougetexcitedaboutthepossibilityoflifeonMars?Neil

Well,MarsissimilartotheEarthinsomeimportantwayswhichmeansiflifedevelopedonourplanet,whynotMars?Sophie

That'strue.Itstemperatureisintherightzone–nottoohotandnottoocold.ButactuallywecouldfindMarsprettycold–anaveragetemperaturewouldbearoundminus63degreesCelsiuscomparedtoEarth's14degreesCelsius.It'salsovery

arid

–ordry.Neil

Anditneedstobewetforlifetodevelop,doesn'tit?Sophie

That'sright.Manyscientiststhinkthatliquidwaterisessentialforlife!ButtheremayhavebeenwateronthesurfaceofMarsinthepast.Andrecentresearchsuggeststhattheremaybewaterunderground.Let'shearsomemoreaboutthisfromProfessorJohnZarnecki,whoteachesSpaceScienceatTheOpenUniversity.INSERT

JohnZarnecki,ProfessorofSpaceScience,TheOpenUniversity

WearenowseeingthatinfactMarsprobablydoeshavewater–notliquidwater–thatthereisicejustbelowthesurfaceandthere'sevenjustrecentlytantalizingevidencethatperhapswaterdoesflowperiodically...Now,andalsocoupledwiththefactthathereonEarthwe'refindingthatlifeinveryprimitiveformexistsinthemostextremeenvironments,thesearethesocalled'extremophiles'thatexistatthebottomoftheoceans…Solifeismuch,muchtougher.Neil

Whatdoes

tantalizing

mean,Sophie?Sophie

Itmeanssomethingyouwantthat'salmost,butnotquite,withinreach.So,scientistswouldlovetothinkwaterflowsonMarsbuttheevidenceisn'tstrongenoughforthistobecertain.TheotherinterestingpointtheprofessormakesisthatlifemayexistintheveryharshMartianenvironment–becauseprimitivelifeexistsinextremeplacesonEarth.Neil

Extremophiles

are

organisms

–orsmallcreatures–thatliveinveryextremeenvironmentsandcansurviveconditionsthatwouldkillmostotherorganisms.ButonMarstheywouldbelivingundergroundbecausethe

radiation

–orlightandheat–fromtheSunwouldkillanyorganismslivingonthesurfaceoftheplanet.Sowhydoesn’ttheSun'sradiationkillusthen,Sophie?Sophie

TheEarthhasastrongmagneticfieldcreatedbyitshotmolten

core

–orcentre–andthisprotectsusfromtheSun'sharmfulsolarwinds.Neil

AndwhataboutMars-whydoesn'tithaveamagneticfield?Sophie

Itusedto–4billionyearsago.It’spossiblethatamassive

collision

withanasteroidmighthaveheatedupMars'score,disruptingthemagneticfields.Neil

Andifyou

disrupt

aprocessyoustopitfromcontinuingnormally.Now,toreturntothesubjectofcollisions,Sophie,Ihavesomethingveryinterestingtotellyou.Sophie

Yes?Neil

A

meteorite

–orapieceofrockfromouterspace–might'vecrashedintotheEarthmillionsofyearsago.ThatmeteoritemighthavecontainedMartianlifeforms.SowemightbedescendedfromMartians!Sophie

That'sactuallyaninterestingidea,Neil.Butlet'slistentoProfessorJohnZarneckitalkingaboutinterplanetarylife.INSERT

JohnZarnecki,ProfessorofSpaceScience,TheOpenUniversity

IfwedofindtracesoflifeonMarswedon'tknow,dowe-whetheritevolvedindependentlyorwasitperhapsseededfromEarth.ItispossiblethatlifeformsfromEarthtravelledtoMarsandperhapsexistedthere–ortheotherwayround.Neil

SolifeonMarsmayhave

evolved

–ordeveloped–onitsown.OritmighthavearrivedfromEarthinalumpofrock…Ortheotherwayround!SoMartiansmightbehumansorwemightbeMartians!Onebiginterplanetaryhappyfamily,Sophie!Sophie

WellNeil,let'shopeyoustayhappyafteryouheartheanswertotoday'squizquestion.Iasked:HowlongisadayonMars?Isit…a)5hours?b)25hours?Orc)45hours?Neil

AndIsaidc)45hours–theymusthavealongdayoverthere.Sophie

Andyouwere…wrong!Thecorrectanswerisb)becauseadayonMarsisslightlylongerthanhereonEarth–it's25hours.

Anyway,canweatleasthearthewordswelearnedtoday?Neil

Theyare:

thenakedeye

arid

tantalizing

extremophiles

organisms

radiation

core

disrupt

meteorite

evolvedSophie

Well,that'stheendoftoday's6MinuteEnglish.Joinusagainsoon!Both

Bye.

Vocabularythenakedeye

(seen)withoutusinginstrumentsarid

drytantalising

somethingyouwantthat'salmost,butnotquite,withinreachextremophiles

thingsthatliveinveryextremeenvironmentsandcansurviveconditionsthatwouldkillmostotherlivingthingsorganisms

smalllivingthingsradiation

energyfromheatorlightcore

centredisrupt

stopsomethingfromworkingnormallymeteorite

apieceofrockfromouterspaceevolved

(inthiscontext)developedTranscript（雙語(yǔ)版）Sophie:Helloandwelcometo6MinuteEnglish.I'mSophie…

大家好，歡迎收聽(tīng)英語(yǔ)六分鐘。我是索菲。Neil:AndI'mNeil.Sophie–didyouseethebeautifulskylastnight?

我是尼爾。索菲，你看昨天晚上的天空了嗎？非常美！Sophie:No,Iwenttobedearly.Why?

沒(méi)有，我很早就睡了。為什么問(wèn)這個(gè)？Neil:Iwaswonderingiftherewaslifeoutthere.

我當(dāng)時(shí)在想那里有沒(méi)有生物？Sophie:Youmeanlifeonotherplanets?That'sjustsciencefiction,Neil.

你是說(shuō)其他星球上存在生物嗎？那是科幻，尼爾。Neil:Itisn't!Peoplearefascinatedbylifeonotherplanetsforagoodreason.

不是的！很多人相信其他星球上有生物，這是有原因的。Sophie:Youbelieveinlittlegreenmen?

你相信有小綠人？Neil:Notnecessarily…butpossibly.

不一定是小綠人……但是也有可能。Sophie:Well,Marsisourclosestneighbourinthesolarsystemandthesubjectoftoday'sshow.Andthatbringsmeontoourusualquizquestion.HowlongisadayonMars?Isitabout…a)5hours?b)25hours?Orc)45hours?

在太陽(yáng)系當(dāng)中火星是我們最近的鄰居。今天我們節(jié)目的主題就是火星。那么照例我們今天的問(wèn)題就來(lái)了?；鹦巧弦惶焓嵌嚅L(zhǎng)時(shí)間？是a)5個(gè)小時(shí)？b)25個(gè)小時(shí)？還是c)45個(gè)小時(shí)？Neil:AndIthinkitmustbec)45hours.Thingsareweirdonotherplanets.AndMarsisfurtherfromthesunthanus…Marsmaybeourclosestneighbour,butit'shardlyinourbackyard,isit?

我想一定是45個(gè)小時(shí)。其他星球上的事情都很奇怪。而且火星比地球離太陽(yáng)遠(yuǎn)……火星可能是地球最近的鄰居，但是它距離我們也沒(méi)有那么近，不是嗎？Sophie:Itisinastronomicalterms,Neil–it'svisibletothenakedeye–meaningwithoutusinginstruments–andit'sreachablebyspacecraft.Well,we’llfindoutlateronintheshowwhetheryougottheanswerrightornot.NowcanyoutellmeNeilwhypeoplelikeyougetexcitedaboutthepossibilityoflifeonMars?

從天文學(xué)角度來(lái)說(shuō)是這樣的，尼爾。我們?nèi)庋劭梢钥吹剿?，即不借用任何儀器就可以看到它，而且太空飛船也可以到達(dá)那里。好了，我們稍后揭曉你的選擇正確與否。現(xiàn)在你可以告訴我為什么有一些像你這樣的人一說(shuō)到火星上可能有生命就這么興奮嗎？Neil:Well,MarsissimilartotheEarthinsomeimportantwayswhichmeansiflifedevelopedonourplanet,whynotMars?

在很多方面，火星和地球很相似，這就意味著如果我們的星球上有生命，火星上為什么不能有呢？Sophie:That'strue.Itstemperatureisintherightzone–nottoohotandnottoocold.ButactuallywecouldfindMarsprettycold–anaveragetemperaturewouldbearoundminus63degreesCelsiuscomparedtoEarth's14degreesCelsius.It'salsoveryarid–ordry.

的確?；鹦巧系臍鉁卦谠试S生命生存的范圍內(nèi)，不是很熱也不是很冷。但是我們會(huì)覺(jué)得火星上很冷——平均氣溫可以達(dá)到零下63℃，而地球上是14℃。而且那里還很干燥。Neil:Anditneedstobewetforlifetodevelop,doesn'tit?

要想有生命就需要有水，不是嗎？Sophie:That'sright.Manyscientiststhinkthatliquidwaterisessentialforlife!ButtheremayhavebeenwateronthesurfaceofMarsinthepast.Andrecentresearchsuggeststhattheremaybewaterunderground.Let'shearsomemoreaboutthisfromProfessorJohnZarnecki,whoteachesSpaceScienceatTheOpenUniversity.

對(duì)。很多科學(xué)家說(shuō)液態(tài)水對(duì)生命來(lái)說(shuō)是必須的。但是過(guò)去火星的表面可能有過(guò)水。而且最近的研究表明火星上可能存在地下水。讓我們聽(tīng)開(kāi)放大學(xué)教航天科學(xué)的約翰·扎內(nèi)奇教授為我們介紹更多這方面的知識(shí)。WearenowseeingthatinfactMarsprobablydoeshavewater–notliquidwater–thatthereisicejustbelowthesurfaceandthere'sevenjustrecentlytantalizingevidencethatperhapswaterdoesflowperiodically...Now,andalsocoupledwiththefactthathereonEarthwe'refindingthatlifeinveryprimitiveformexistsinthemostextremeenvironments,thesearethesocalled'extremophiles'thatexistatthebottomoftheoceans…Solifeismuch,muchtougher.

我們現(xiàn)在看到火星上或許真的有水存在——不是液態(tài)水——但是在地面以下存在著冰，最近甚至有迷惑性很高的證據(jù)表明這些地下水或許會(huì)有周期地流動(dòng)。另外，我們還在地球上找到了生活在極端環(huán)境下的原始形態(tài)的生物，這些被稱為“極端微生物”的生命生活在海洋的底部……所以它們生存起來(lái)一定相當(dāng)、相當(dāng)艱難。Neil:Whatdoestantalizingmean,Sophie?

索菲，迷惑性高是什么意思？Sophie:Itmeanssomethingyouwantthat'salmost,butnotquite,withinreach.So,scientistswouldlovetothinkwaterflowsonMarsbuttheevidenceisn'tstrongenoughforthistobecertain.TheotherinterestingpointtheprofessormakesisthatlifemayexistintheveryharshMartianenvironment–becauseprimitivelifeexistsinextremeplacesonEarth.

它的意思是非常接近，但并非完全可以確定的。也就是說(shuō)科學(xué)家很樂(lè)意相信火星上有流動(dòng)水，但是證據(jù)不夠充分。這位教授說(shuō)到的另外有趣的一點(diǎn)是，在火星的惡劣環(huán)境中可能真正存在生物，因?yàn)橛性忌锷嬖诘厍蛏檄h(huán)境很惡劣的地方。Neil:Extremophilesareorganisms–orsmallcreatures–thatliveinveryextremeenvironmentsandcansurviveconditionsthatwouldkillmostotherorganisms.ButonMarstheywouldbelivingundergroundbecausetheradiation–orlightandheat–fromtheSunwouldkillanyorganismslivingonthesurfaceoftheplanet.Sowhydoesn’ttheSun'sradiationkillusthen,Sophie?

極端微生物是一種生存在極端環(huán)境下的微生物，或者說(shuō)微型生物，它們可以在其他生物無(wú)法存活的地方生存下來(lái)。但是在火星上它們可能生活在地下，因?yàn)樘?yáng)的輻射，或者說(shuō)太陽(yáng)的光和熱，會(huì)殺死火星表面的所有微生物。那么為什么太陽(yáng)的輻射不會(huì)殺死我們呢，索菲？Sophie:TheEarthhasastrongmagneticfieldcreatedbyitshotmoltencore–orcentre–andthisprotectsusfromtheSun'sharmfulsolarwinds.

高溫地核內(nèi)的熔融物質(zhì)為地球創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)磁場(chǎng)，它可以幫我們避開(kāi)有害的太陽(yáng)風(fēng)。Neil:AndwhataboutMars-whydoesn'tithaveamagneticfield?

那火星呢？為什么火星沒(méi)有磁場(chǎng)呢？Sophie:Itusedto–4billionyearsago.It’spossiblethatamassivecollisionwithanasteroidmighthaveheatedupMars'score,disruptingthemagneticfields.

40億年前是有的?？赡苁腔鹦桥c其他小行星發(fā)生了劇烈的碰撞使火星核溫度升高，擾亂了磁場(chǎng)。

Neil:Andifyoudisruptaprocessyoustopitfromcontinuingnormally.Now,toreturntothesubjectofcollisions,Sophie,Ihavesomethingveryinterestingtotellyou.

擾亂是指讓某事物變得不再正?！，F(xiàn)在我們回到星球碰撞的問(wèn)題，索菲。我有有趣的事情要告訴你。Sophie:Yes?

是什么？Neil:Ameteorite–orapieceofrockfromouterspace–might'vecrashedintotheEarthmillionsofyearsago.ThatmeteoritemighthavecontainedMartianlifeforms.SowemightbedescendedfromMartians!

數(shù)百萬(wàn)年前，一塊來(lái)自太空的隕石落在了地球上。這塊隕石上可能攜帶著火星上的生命。所以我們有可能是火星人的后裔！Sophie:That'sactuallyaninterestingidea,Neil.Butlet'slistentoProfessorJohnZarneckitalkingaboutinterplanetarylife.

這的確是有趣的消息，尼爾。但是我們來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)約翰·扎內(nèi)奇教授對(duì)星際生命的介紹吧。

IfwedofindtracesoflifeonMarswedon'tknow,dowe-whetheritevolvedindependentlyorwasitperhapsseededfromEarth.ItispossiblethatlifeformsfromEarthtravelledtoMarsandperhapsexistedthere–ortheotherwayround.

如果