|
|
| 大学英语精读第二册01 |
|
作者：未知 文章来源：www1.ebigear.com 点击数： 更新时间：2006-12-15  |
|
◆送给老师、长辈最贴心的礼物 ◆30位专家让你说一口流利英语,100%保证!
◆送给老师、长辈最贴心的礼物 ◆30位专家让你说一口流利英语,100%保证!
Previous Unit | Next Unit | Back
Unit One
Click the button to listen to the text
It is a humorous essay. But after reading it you
will surely find that the author is most serious in writing it.
IS THERE LIFE ON EARTH?
Art Buchwald
There was great excitement on the planet of Venus this week. For the
first time Venusian scientists managed to land a satellite on the planet
Earth, and it has been sending back signals as well as. photographs ever
since.
The satellite was directed into an area known as Manhattan (named
after the great Venusian astronomer Prof. Manhattan, who first discovered
it with his telescope 20,000 light years ago).
Because of excellent weather conditions and extremely strong signals,
Venusian scientists were able to get valuable information as to the feasibility
of a manned flying saucer landing on Earth. A press conference was held
at the Venus Institute of Technology.
"We have come to the conclusion, based on last week's satellite land-
ing, "Prof. Zog said, "that there is no life on Earth. "
"How do you know this?" the science reporter of the Venus Evening
15 Star asked.
"For one thing, Earth's surface in the area of Manhattan is composed
of solid concrete and nothing can grow there. For another, the atmosphere
is filled with carbon monoxide and other deadly gases and nobody could
possibly breathe this air and survive. "
"What does this mean as far as our flying saucer program is con-
cerned?"
"We shall have to take our own oxygen with us, which means a much
heavier flying saucer than we originally planned. "
"Are there any other hazards that you discovered in your studies? "
"Take a look at this photo. You see this dark black cloud hovering
over the surface of Earth? We call this the Consolidated Edison Belt. We
don't know what it is made of, but it could give us a lot of trouble and
we shall have to make further tests before we send a Venus Being there."
"Over here you will notice what seems to be a river, but the satellite
findings indicate it is polluted and the water is unfit to drink. This
means We shall have to carry our own water, which will add even greater
weight to the saucer. "
"Sir, what are all those tiny black spots on the photographs? "
"We're not certain. They seem to be metal particles that move along
certain paths. They emit gases, make noise and keep crashing into each
other. There are so many of these paths and so many metal particles that
it is impossible to land a flying saucer without its being smashed by one. "
"What are those stalagmite projections sticking up?"
"They're some type of granite formations that give off light at night.
Prof. Glom has named them skyscrapers since they seem to be scraping the
skies. "
"If all you say is true, won't this set back the flying saucer program
several years? "
"Yes, but we shall proceed as soon as the Grubstart gives us the added
funds."
"Prof . Zog, why are we spending billions and billions of zilches to
land a flying saucer on Earth when there is no life there? "
"Because if we Venusians can learn to breathe in an Earth atmosphere
sphere, then we can live anywhere. "
Click the button to listen to the pronunciations of new words
New Words
humorous a.
funny; that makes people laugh 幽默的
humor n.
essay n.
散文，随笔
excitement n.
the state or quality of being excited
planet n.
large body in space that moves round a star, esp.
round the sun 行星
Venusian a.
of or having to do with the planet Venus金星的
n.
supposed Venus being 金星人
satellite n.
spacecraft that goes round the planet earth and
sends back radio and television signals; heav-
enly body that goes round a planet (人造)卫星
signal n.
信号; 暗号
astronomer n.
person who studies the science of the sun,
moon, stars and planets 天文学家
telescope n.
instrument with special glasses used for seeing
distant things
extremely ad.
very 极端, 非常
extreme a.
feasibility n.
possibility of being carried out or don 可行性
feasible a.
manned a.
occupied by one or more persons 载人的
saucer n.
浅碟；茶托
flying saucer n.
飞碟
conference n.
meeting
press conference n.
meeting arranged by an important person to
which news reporters are invited to listen to
a statement or ask questions 记者招待会
technology n.
技术
conclusion n.
decision or opinion reached by reasoning 结论
conclude v.
reporter n.
person who gathers news for a newspaper, magazine,
or radio or TV station 记者
compose vt
make up, form 组成, 构成
concrete n.
building material made by mixing cement with
sand, small stones and water 混凝土
atmosphere n
all tlie gases round the earth; air in a place
大气；空气
carbon n.
碳
monoxide n.
一氧化物
deadly a.
causing death; likely to cause death 致命的
gas n.
气体
survive vi.
remain alive; continue to live or exist 活下来; 幸存
vt.
remain alive after; live longer than 经历…后还
活着；比…活得长
survival n.
program n.
plan of what is to be done 计划
concern vt.
be of importance or interest to; have an effect
on 涉及;关系到
oxygen n.
氧；氧气
originally ad.
formerly 起初, 原来
original a.
hazard n.
danger
hover vi.
stay in or near one place in the air 盘旋
consolidated a.
united; combined 联合的
consolidate vt.
belt n.
area that has some special quality;zone(地)带
indicate vt.
show
indication n.
pollute vt.
make (air, water, soil, etc.) dirty with man-
made waste 污染
pollution n.
unfit a.
not good enough; not suitable
particle n.
粒子；微粒
emit vt.
send out 散发 , 射击
emission n.
crash v.
fall or strike suddenly, violently and noisily
坠落；猛撞
smash v.
(cause to) break into pieces violently(使)碎裂
stalagmite n
石笋
projection n.
sth. that stands out from a surface 凸出物
project v.
type n.
a particular kind, class or group 类型, 种类
granite n.
hard grey stone used for building 花岗岩
formation n.
sth. that is formed; way in which sth. is formed
形成(物)
skyscraper n.
very tall building 摩天大楼
scrape vt.
rub with sth. rough or sharp 刮, 擦
proceed vi.
continue after having stopped ( 停顿后 )
继续进行
fund n.
sum of money set apart or available for a
special purpose 资金 ; 基金
billion n.
one thousand million
zilch n.
zero; nothing at all
Phrases & Expressions
(be) known as
also publicly called; named 以…闻名,通常名叫
name after .
give the same name 以…名字命名
as to
about, concerning 关于
base on upon ,
use as a basis or foundation for 以…为基础 把…基于
for one thing…(for another)
in the first place… (in the second place)
be composed of
have as members or parts 由…组成
as far as… be concerned
to the degree that it matters to 就…而言
stick up
stand upright; project 直立; 突出
give off
emit; send out 发出 ; 散发出
set back
delay the advance or development of 耽搁 ; 阻碍
Proper Names
Art Buchwald
阿特·布奇沃德
Venus
金星
Manhattan
曼哈顿(纽约市中心区)
Zog
佐格(姓氏)
Edison
爱迪生(姓氏)
Glom
格洛姆(姓氏)
Previous Unit | Next Unit | Back
文章来源网站：www1.ebigear.com(www1.ebigear.com)，该站的Alexa排名：
|
| 文章录入：烈火寒冰 责任编辑：yanglj |
|
上一篇文章： 大学英语精读第三册01
下一篇文章： 大学英语精读第四册07 |
| 【发表评论】【加入收藏】【告诉好友】【打印此文】【关闭窗口】 |
| 关于版权解释： |
搜英语网站内容由网友自行上传，取自网络或者是作者原创，我站要求所用用户上传资源时，必须声明转载（自何处，并一定是允许转载之资源），或者是原创（并未发布在任何平面媒体，或其他有“版权所有”申明的网络媒体），请恕我站不能尽查所有资源正确来源，其版权问题由上传者确定，我站不承担连带责任，如果有资源（内容）侵犯您的版权（无论是个人、网络媒体、平面媒体），请立即通知我站（联系方式），我们在核实之后，将立即删除侵权资源和关闭侵权用户，并将在我站公布处理结果和公开致歉。 搜英语网站欢迎各种媒体转载我站之资源，但请明显注明转载自搜英语网站。 搜英语网站更欢迎媒体与我站签订（专有）网络资源转载（发布）协议，洽谈联系方法（电话：010-6396.7098，134.3656.1969，电子邮件：dengh#soenglish.com.cn）。 搜英语网站法律顾问：盛邦(中国)法津顾问有限公司。 |
| 网友评论：（只显示最新10条。评论内容只代表网友观点，与本站立场无关！） |
|
|
|
|
|
