原文视听

Hidden away in the dusty archives
隐藏在尘土飞扬的档案室中
were tantalising clues that would help Mike understand
是诱人的线索 能帮助迈克理解
what was happening to our nearest star.
离我们最近的恒星上究竟发生了什么
Because 300 years ago, men of science
因为三百年前的科学家
were carefully observing the face of the Sun.
仔细地观察过太阳表面
The records show
记录表明
that they were mystified by something they hadn't seen before.
他们对一些从未见过的情况感到困惑
The Sun's spots, which they had known about for years,
当时 人们知道太阳黑子已有多年
seemed to have unexpectedly vanished.
但它们出人意料地消失了
Initially, it was thought this was
最初 人们以为
because people weren't looking properly at that time.
那是因为当时观测不当导致的
Then as more and more observers' records were found,
之后越来越多的观测记录被发现
it became quite clear that wasn't the case,
表明观测没有问题
there just weren't spots there.
根本就没有太阳黑子
There were people who carried on looking for sun spots for 50 years,
有人继续寻找太阳黑子 观测了五十年
despite the fact they hardly ever appeared.
尽管它们基本没有出现过
Those records are invaluable because
这些记录是无价的
they tell us about the state of the Sun just 300 years ago.
因为这告诉了我们三百年前太阳的状态

重点解释

The Sun's spots, which they had known about for years,seemed to have unexpectedly vanished.人们知道太阳黑子已有多年，但它们出人意料地消失了

know about知道； 了解； 听说过有关 ... 的情况

I'd love to know about the plan.

我想知道这个计划。

This is all I know about it; for the rest, you may ask others.

对这件事我就知道这些，至于其他情况，你可以问别人。

There were people who carried on looking for sun spots for 50 years,有人继续寻找太阳黑子观测了五十年

carry on继续进行；从事，经营

We'll carry on our conversation tomorrow.

我们明天将继续进行会谈。

look for寻找；寻求

He turned on the torch to look for his keys.

他打开了手电筒，寻找钥匙。

As the tide receded we were able to look for shells.

潮水退去，我们就能寻找贝壳了。