时间:2019-02-13 作者:英语课 分类:英语听力精选进阶版


英语课

Are You Ready? 你准备好了吗?


You might have never heard of the CERN laboratory, but this is all about to change.


On 10th September 2008 the most powerful scientific experiment ever attempted will take place at this quiet research centre near Geneva on the border of France and Switzerland.


Buried underground, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is about to be switched on. In laymen's terms, it is a kind of time machine that could open a window on how the universe appeared in the first few microseconds of its existence.


Particle accelerators and detectors 1 are the key parts to the whole experiment. The accelerators are housed in a near circular tunnel under the Jura Mountains, buried between 50 – 175m underground at various points.


Beams of protons will be accelerated in opposing directions and smashed into each other at near light speed, and in conditions colder than the space between the stars.


In order to photograph the moment of these explosive collisions, detectors, which are as large as a five-storey building, have been built at CERN, yet they're capable of pinpointing 2 a particle with an accuracy of 15 microns, that's 20 times thinner than a human hair.


The journey to build this giant experiment has taken 14 years, more than 10,000 scientists from 40 countries and a whopping £5 billion (60 billion yuan) to complete.


If the experiment succeeds in recreating the conditions soon after the Big Bang, scientists are hoping to discover new physics which may answer questions about what the universe is made of, and how it came to be the way it is.


However, not everyone is eagerly anticipating the big day. There are fears that the experiment could open black holes and the whole planet might disappear. But Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith says there's no threat at all.


"The chance we produce a black hole is minuscule 3, it's one of the wildest speculations 4. But even if we do, it can't swallow up the earth," he said.


GLOSSARY 词汇表


CERN 欧洲粒子物理实验室


Large Hadron Collider 大型强子对撞机


in laymen's terms 简单来说


particle accelerator 粒子加速器


detector 探测器


circular tunnel 圆形隧道


a beam of protons 一束质子


accelerated 被加速


smashed 被碰撞


light speed 光速


explosive collision 爆炸性的冲撞


pinpointing a particle 精确的锁定一颗粒子


micron 微米


whopping 巨大的,天大的


Big Bang 宇宙大爆炸


black hole 黑洞


miniscule 极小的


wildest speculation 不切实际的推测



探测器( detector的名词复数 )
  • The report advocated that all buildings be fitted with smoke detectors. 报告主张所有的建筑物都应安装烟火探测器。
  • This is heady wine for experimenters using these neutrino detectors. 对于使用中微子探测器的实验工作者,这是令人兴奋的美酒。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
准确地找出或描述( pinpoint的现在分词 ); 为…准确定位
  • The difficulty of pinpointing primitive and derived characters remains. 要正确地指出原始性状和次生性状仍然感到困难。
  • Pinpointing the true source of power in Japan is a notoriously slippery task. 要准确指出日本真正的权力来源,是一项非常困难的任务。
adj.非常小的;极不重要的
  • The human race only a minuscule portion of the earth's history.人类只有占有极小部分地球历史。
  • As things stand,Hong Kong's renminbi banking system is minuscule.就目前的情况而言,香港的人民币银行体系可谓微不足道。
n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 );思考;投机活动;推断
  • Your speculations were all quite close to the truth. 你的揣测都很接近于事实。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • This possibility gives rise to interesting speculations. 这种可能性引起了有趣的推测。 来自《用法词典》
学英语单词
air weapons controller
analytical geometry of space
antifungal factor
antihomomorphism
ball bearing shielded
BEOP
bilge board scow
cassone
castane
chelon
Chirico, Giorgio de
civilized behavior
civitas
clett
complementary arc
concentrate fresh milk
courtlike
coveners
crosswind stability test
crown of beam
decoster
densifications
dispatch tables
Elatolite
electro-optic transmitter
Empoundment
farm sth out
fi-lb
flint corn
forsung
free oil lubricating compressor
free-verser
fruge
gapest
grism
haematogeneses
halden
hammady
human interface technology laboratory
idumean
Impatiens toxophora
implementation of the transport level
inelasticity coefficient
initial test
integrated optical spectrum analyzer
intracanaliculi
issuable
italicus
Kartarpur
lexian distributions
lymphadenovarix
memorialized
mennonitisms
mental energy
microwave source
mole skin
networked community
Nicollella
noncontaminated atmosphere
objective behavior inventory
odd electron spin
order of dimensioning
oxygen fill valve
parathyroid tetany
penetrating effect
Philippopolis
pinto bean
platform end door
protoform
publicly
pyres
refractometric analysis
return-tube boiler
rounds per shift
Saiyid Mazār
short shut-down
simple and opposite
Sovkhoznyy
static convergence correction
subdelirium
sums up
super-short
superheater flue
swallow nest
taeniarhynchosis
tear gases
terry sole
thyristor brush
transfer tensor
underscan
unhaired hide
upper window edge
valerian fluidextract
vibration proofing material
vinactane
weigh on sb
without further ado
woonerfs
woronoff ring
wrapping-up
xerophytia
zamia pumilas