英闻天下——3 Professors Interpret Mayan Doomsday
英语课
Today is December 21st 2012. According to some the Ancient Mayan civilization predicted today would bring about a global doomsday.
This idea is gripping the world.
To discuss the potential doomsday we have Kristine Larsen, Professor at the Copernican Observatory 1 and Planetarium 2 at Central Connecticut State University and Lorenzo DiTommaso, Professor and Chair of Religion at Concordia University in Canada and a Specialist in Apocalyptic 3 Thought and Doomsday Speculation 4.
1 observatory
n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台
- Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
- Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。
2 planetarium
n.天文馆；天象仪
- The planetarium staff also prepared talks for radio broadcast.天文馆的工作人员还要准备讲稿给电台广播。
- It landed in a shallow basin fifty yards from the planetarium.它降落在离天文馆五十码处的一个浅盆地中。
3 apocalyptic
adj.预示灾祸的，启示的
- The air is chill and stagnant,the language apocalyptic.空气寒冷而污浊，语言则是《启示录》式的。
- Parts of the ocean there look just absolutely apocalyptic.海洋的很多区域看上去完全像是世界末日。
4 speculation
n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机
- Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
- There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。