阅读精讲

1. Spacecraftfromthe United States andfromRussiahave been to the moon,and menhave walked upon its surface.Rock and soil samples andinformation of manyotherkindshave becomeavailablein recent years.Yetwithallwe knowabout the moon,there isevenmorethatwe don't know.

1、美国和俄国的宇宙飞船都已经到达过月球，而且人类也在它的表面上行走过。月球上的岩石和土壤的样本，以及许多其它类型的信息，近些年来已经为人们所知所用了（have become available）。(这三句都使用了现在完成时态。)然而除了我们所知道的关于月球的那些外，还有更多是我们不知道的。

2.Followingthe end of the Apollo space program,the National Geographic Societypublished anexcellent set of articlesabout the moon. Here,inshorter form, are some questions and answersfromone of thesearticles.Forthe full story, seethe September, 1973, issue of National Geographic.

2、在阿波罗太空计划结束后，国家地理协会出版了一组有关月球的极好文章。这里，以简短的形式(in shorter form)，截取了其中一篇文章中的部分问答。完整的内容，请见1973年九月发行的《国家地理》。

Were scientists rightaboutwhatthe moonwould be like? 科学家关于“月球外貌”的描述是正确的吗？

3. Many were, of course, butmany were mistaken. Onesaid there was nolavaon the moon.Anothersaid that themoon materialwouldexplode as soon asanastronaut's boottouchedit.Onesaid there would certainly be water on the moon. Many feltthere was a chancethat theastronautscouldbring back to earth some strange infection. These ideasarenow known to be incorrect, and no doubt we are stillwrong aboutmany other things,also.

3、大多数是正确的，当然，也有相当部分是错误的(mistaken)。(1)一个说法是月球上没有熔岩(lava)。(2)另外一个说法是宇航员的靴子一旦碰上月球物质就会爆炸（从句是过去时，主句是过去将来时）。(3)有人说月球确实存在水。(4)许多人还认为宇航员有可能把某些奇怪的传染病菌带回地球。这些说法现在被证明都是不正确的，无疑(no doubt)，我们关于月球的许多其它的看法也是错误的。

Is the moon like theearth? 月球像地球吗？

4. Yes and no. It ismore like it thanmanyscientiststhought before Apollo. Like the earth, the moon is inlayers,witha crust on theoutsideanda deep mantlebelow. It may also have a core,asthe earth does. However, the crust isalmostfour timesthicker thanthe earth's crust.We do not know much yet about the moon's mantle, that section ofsuperheatedrock whichgoes down hundreds of miles below the crust（that引导的同位语从句）. We think-but we are not sure-that the moon has acenter corewhichincludes molten rock,as the earth does.

4、答案是，像也不像。月球比科学家在阿波罗计划之前想象的还要像地球。如同地球一样，月球上有地层，表面是一层地壳，其下是很深的地幔(mantle)。月球也可能如同地球一样有一个地核。然而，月球地壳几乎是地球地壳厚度的四倍。我们对月球地幔所知不多，那些过热的岩石在外壳几百英里以下。我们预料，但是我们不能确定，月球有一个由熔岩构成的地核，如同地球一样。（地壳crust; 地幔mantle; 地核core）

5. In other ways, of course, the moon is very different. There isno life, and there is no water.Themakeup of itsatmosphere is very different; the earthcreatures cannot breathe in it.

5、在其它的方面（inother ways），当然，月球非常不同。它没有生命，没有水。它的大气的构成（themakeup of its atmosphere）也非常不同，地球生物在那里不能呼吸。

Of what is the moon made? 月球是由什么构成的？

6. Definitely not green cheese.It hasthe same chemical elements as have theearth and the rest of the solar system butin very different amounts-more ofsome,less ofothers. Carbon,whichis a very important part oflivingthingson the earth, is rare on the moon.

6、很明显不是绿色奶酪。月球有如同地球和其余太阳系行星(the restof the solar system)一样的化学元素，但是其比率非常不同，某些多一点，其它少一些。碳是地球上生物(livingthings)的一个非常重要组成部分，在月球上非常稀少。

Is the moon hot or cold? 月球是酷热的还是寒冷的？

7. Most scientists agreethatsome of the moonwas hotfor at least a time. Rocks from the moon showthattheywere once melted.Right nowthere seems to be heatsomeplaceinside the moon, possibly a great deal of it. On the surface, however, there is no sign ofheat-no volcano, for example.The surface itself rangesfromheat of 230℉tocold ofminus 290℉,dependinguponwherethe sun is.

7、大多数的科学家认为月球的一部分至少在一个时期是热的。来自月球的岩石表明它们曾经被融化。现在(right now)，似乎在月球内部的某些地方(someplace inside the moon)仍处于高温，也可能它是很大的一片地方，然而在表面上，没有高温的特征，例如没有火山。月球表面温度范围从华氏正230度到华氏负290度，取决于太阳在什么地方。

Where did the moon comefrom? 月球来自哪里呢？

8. We don't know. The three main theories (ideas)are (1)thatthe moonwasborn from the earth, (2)thatthe earth and the moonwere borntogetherat thesame timefromthe same cloud of gas and dust, and (3)thatthe moonwas born someplace else inthe solar systemand then captured by the earth'sgravity. So far,none of these theorieshas beenprovedto beeitherrightorwrong. ProfessorGeorge W.Wetherill of the University of California in Los Angeles saysthathewouldgivethe first two theorieseacha 10 percent chanceandthethird theorya 20 percent chance.Theother60 percenthe would give to "thingswe haven't thoughtof yet."

8、我们不知道。主要存在着三个理论：（1）月球产生自地球，（2）地球和月球在同一时间从同一气云和尘埃里共同产生，（3）月球是产生在太阳系的其它某个地方(someplace else in the solar system)，而后被地球的地心引力所捕获。到现在为止，这些理论中没有任何一个已经被证明正确或错误。洛杉矶加州大学的乔治教授说，他认为前两个理论各有10%的正确性，第三个理论有20%的正确性，另外的60%他将给“至今我们都还没想到的事物”。

9. In spite of all we have learned from space flights,the moon is still a riddle from the distant past-andwill be for a long timetocome. Although we knowmuch morenow, we find that, somehow,forevery answernew questions spring up.

9、尽管我们已经从太空飞行（space flight）中了解了一些，月球仍然是来自遥远过去的一个谜，而且仍将会在未来很长一段时间如此。尽管我们现在比过去知道的更多，但是我们也发现，不知何故（somehow），每个新答案都会引发出更多的新问题。a你的英语听上去会更自然。

课后习题

课后练习：

1 Rock and soil samples and information of many otherkinds have become ______ in recent years.

A accountable Bconsiderable C available D possible

2 Many felt______ the astronauts could bring back toearth some strange infection.

A it was achance that Bthere was a chance that

C it is a chancethat D there is a chance that

3 Like the earth，the moon is in ______, with a crust on the outside and adeep mantle below.

A liars B layers C lava D lead

4 It has the same chemical elements­­­ _____ have theearth and the rest of the solar system but in very different ______.

A that,amounts B which, numbers C as, amounts D that, numbers

5 The surface itself ranges from heat of 230F to cold of _____ 290F, depending upon where the sun is.

A plus B minus C major D minor

6 The moon was born someplace else in the solar systemand then _____ by the earth’s gravity.

A captained B capitalized C captured D capped

7 _____ all we have learned from space flights ， the moon is stilla riddle from the distance past.

A Despiteof B Despited C In spite D In spite of

答案：1C 2B 3B 4C 5 B 6 C 7D