(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
It took 100 years, but finally, scientists proved Albert Einstein's theory that gravitational waves exist.
The waves were predicted as part of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity nearly 100 years ago. It was the theory of the physics behind the workings of our world and the universe.
The idea was that the waves are like ripples in space, caused by some of the violent and energetic processes in the Universe. For example, two black holes crashing into each other.
Now a group of scientists, including ones from from CalTech, MIT and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration finally found the gravitational waves.
David Reitze is the executive director of the LIGO observatory at CalTech.
"We have detected gravitational waves. We did it! (applause)"
Reitze spoke with others at a press conference in Washington, DC this past week. The scientists announced they were able to see ripples in the fabric of space time.
This is what the waves sounded like. Listen for the "chirp" sound at the end:
What are these gravitational waves? Well, imagine throwing a rock into a pond. When the rock hits the flat surface of the water, it creates ripples or waves. Spacetime is like the surface of the water. So that means gravitational waves are like the ripples moving out from where the rock hits the water.
It might be hard to understand, but those gravitational waves expand and contract space and time as they move through space. And when they get to the Earth, the waves pass through, and contract and expand the planet as the wave goes by.
It was Einstein who said these gravitational waves should be observable.
But these are not huge waves. They are very, very small, which is why it took so long to find them. You cannot see them with your eyes. They are smaller than the size of an atom.
How did the scientists find them?
They used a giant scientific tool called LIGO—which stands for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. The billion-dollar LIGO project is two L-shaped observatories. One is in Louisiana and one in Washington state.
Their job was to watch for these gravitational waves. They have been looking on and off since 2002.
For years, scientists have been watching two black holes in another galaxy faraway. The two were spinning around each other, moving closer and closer together. When they finally crashed into each other, it was with such power and force, that gravitational waves rang throughout the universe, like a giant bell.
Those waves, traveling at the speed of light, finally reached the Earth, some 1.3 billion years later. They are the same waves that the scientists announced this past week.
The National Science Foundation tweeted that each of the black holes was thought to be 29 to 36 times the mass of our sun.
So, what does this discovery mean?
Abhay Ashtekar is a Penn State physicist, who was not on the discovery team. He said:
"Our understanding of the heavens changed dramatically."
I'm Anne Ball.
词汇解释
1.gravitational adj. [力] 重力的，[力] 引力的
A neutron star has a gravitational field strong enough to generate X-rays.
中子星上存在强大的重力场，足以产生X射线。
2.ripple n. 波纹；涟漪；[物] 涟波 vi. 起潺潺声 vt. 在…上形成波痕
Gleaming ripples cut the lake's surface.
闪着微光的涟漪打破了湖面的平静。
3.chirp n. 唧唧声；喳喳声；[通信] 啁啾声 vi. 吱喳而鸣；尖声地说；咂嘴打招呼 vt. 吱喳而鸣；尖声地说；咂嘴向…打招呼
The crickets chirped faster and louder.
蟋蟀叫得越来越快，越来越响。
4.observable adj. 显著的；觉察得到的；看得见的 n. [物] 可观察量；感觉到的事物
Mars is too faint and too low in the sky to be observable.
火星太暗，在空中位置太低，所以观测不到。
5.tweet n. 小鸟叫声；自录音再现装置发出的高音；推特 vi. 吱吱地叫；啾鸣
Avoid sending a tweet in the heat of the moment.
避免一时冲动发送不恰当的信息。
内容解析
1.They used a giant scientific tool called LIGO—which stands for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory.
stand for 代表；支持；象征；担任…的候选人
AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
AIDS是的首字母缩写。
I would like to see him stand for re-election.
我希望看到他竞选连任。
2.Their job was to watch for these gravitational waves. They have been looking on and off since 2002.
on and off 断断续续地，不时地
Sam was flicking a flashlight on and off.
萨姆啪啪不停地把手电筒开了又关。
It rained on and off all day.
哩哩啦啦下了一天雨。
参考译文
科学家用了100年时间终于证明了重力波的存在。
重力波是爱因斯坦近100年前提出的广义相对论的一部分，相对论是有关世间万物和宇宙运行的物理学理论。
爱因斯坦认为重力波就像宇宙中的涟漪，由宇宙中激烈、能量巨大的震动所引起，比如，像个黑洞碰撞到一起。
现在，来自加州理工学院、麻省理工学院和LIGO科学合作联盟的科学家们最终发现了重力波。
戴维是加州理工学院LIGO天文台的执行总监。
“我们探测到了重力波，我们做到了！”
上周在华盛顿特区，他和其他科学家参加了一个新闻发布会，这些科学家们宣布自己能看到时空中的涟漪。
重力波的声音是这样的，听听最后的“唧唧声”。
这些重力波在哪里呢？想想下把石块扔到池塘里，当石块打到水平面上时就产生了涟漪或水波。时空就像是水平面，这就意味着重力波就像石块打到水面时产生的涟漪一样。
这一点可能比较难以理解，但在太空穿过时，重力波会扩大和收缩时空。当重力波抵达并穿过地球时会令地球收缩和扩张。
爱因斯坦称重力波是可以观察到的。
但重力波并不是巨大的波纹，而是非常非常小的，因为科学家花了这么长时间才发现它。而且无法用眼睛看到重力波，重力波比原子还要小。
科学家是如何发现重力波的呢？
他们使用一种巨大的科学工具LIGO，也就是激光干涉引力波天文台，这个耗资数十亿美元的LIGO项目是两个L形的天文台，一个在路易斯安那州，一个在华盛顿州。
它们的职责是观测这些重力波，它们自2002年起就开始断断续续地观测。
多年来，科学家一直在观测另一个遥远的星系中里的两个黑洞，这两个黑洞相互旋转，彼此距离越来越近。最终相碰撞时所产生的巨大力量使得重力波像巨大的鸣钟一样穿透宇宙。
这些以光速前进的重力波最终在大约13亿年后抵达地球，上周科学家宣布发现的就是这种重力波。
全国科学基金会发表推文称认为每个黑洞都是太阳的29到36倍大。
那么这一发现意味着什么呢？
阿贝·阿西提卡是宾州大学物理学家，他并不是发现重力波团队的一员，他说：
“我们对宇宙的理解彻底改变了。”
我是安·鲍尔。
