BBC英語六分鐘-每天堅持口語Life on Mars

LifeonMarsBBC英語六分鐘練起來（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（雙語版）Sophie:Helloandwelcometo6MinuteEnglish.I'mSophie…

大家好，歡迎收聽英語六分鐘。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?

沒有，我很早就睡了。為什么問這個？Neil:Iwaswonderingiftherewaslifeoutthere.

我當時在想那里有沒有生物？Sophie:Youmeanlifeonotherplanets?That'sjustsciencefiction,Neil.

你是說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?

在太陽系當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題就來了?；鹦巧弦惶焓嵌嚅L時間？是a)5個小時？b)25個小時？還是c)45個小時？Neil:AndIthinkitmustbec)45hours.Thingsareweirdonotherplanets.AndMarsisfurtherfromthesunthanus…Marsmaybeourclosestneighbour,butit'shardlyinourbackyard,isit?

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

從天文學角度來說是這樣的，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。火星上的氣溫在允許生命生存的范圍內(nèi)，不是很熱也不是很冷。但是我們會覺得火星上很冷——平均氣溫可以達到零下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。很多科學家說液態(tài)水對生命來說是必須的。但是過去火星的表面可能有過水。而且最近的研究表明火星上可能存在地下水。讓我們聽開放大學教航天科學的約翰·扎內(nèi)奇教授為我們介紹更多這方面的知識。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有周期地流動。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……所以它們生存起來一定相當、相當艱難。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。也就是說科學家很樂意相信火星上有流動水，但是證據(jù)不夠充分。這位教授說到的另外有趣的一點是，在火星的惡劣環(huán)境中可能真正存在生物，因為有原始生物生存在地球上環(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，或者說微型生物，它們可以在其他生物無法存活的地方生存下來。但是在火星上它們可能生活在地下，因為太陽的輻射，或者說太陽的光和熱，會殺死火星表面的所有微生物。那么為什么太陽的輻射不會殺死我們呢，索菲？Sophie:TheEarthhasastrongmagneticfieldcreatedbyitshotmoltencore–orcentre–andthisprotectsusfromtheSun'sharmfulsolarwinds.

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

那火星呢？為什么火星沒有磁場呢？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。

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)百萬年前，一塊來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。但是我們來聽聽約翰·扎內(nèi)奇教授對星際生命的介紹吧。

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

如果