时间:2019-02-13 作者:英语课 分类:TED演讲教育篇


英语课

   How old is the Earth? 地球的年龄有多大?


  Well, by counting the number of isotopes 1 in a sample of rock that's undergone radioactive decay, 通过对岩石样品中正经历着放射衰变的同位素计数,
  geologists 2 have estimated the Earth's birthday, 地质学家们已经估算出了地球的生日,
  when it first formed from a solar nebula 3, to be 4.6 billion years ago. 它从太阳星云中诞生大约是在46亿年之前。
  But just how long is that really? 但是那到底是多久呢?
  Here's some analogies that might help you understand. 这里有几个类比应该会帮助我们理解。
  For example, let's imagine the entire history of Earth until the present day as a single calendar year. 例如,我们把地球到现在的整个历史想象成一个日历年。
  On January 1st, the Earth begins to form. 在1月1号的时候,地球诞生了。
  By March 3rd, there's the first evidence of single-celled bacteria. 到了3月3号,开始有证据证明单细胞细菌的出现。
  Life remains 4 amazingly unicellular until November 11th 直到10月11号之前,生物仍惊人地保持着单细胞的状态,
  when the first multicellular organisms, known as the Ediacaran fauna 5, come along. 这时第一种多细胞生物也就是埃迪卡拉动物群出现了。
  Shortly thereafter, on November 16th at 6:08 p. m. is the Cambrian Explosion of life, 不久之后的11月16号下午6点08分,寒武纪生命大爆发,
  a major milestone 6, when all of the modern phyla started to appear. 它是一个重要的里程碑,现代生物门类开始出现。
  On December 10th at 1:26 p. m. , the dinosaurs 7 first evolve but are wiped out by an asteroid 8 just two weeks later. 12月10号下午1点26分,恐龙首先发展起来,但仅仅在两周后就被一个小行星彻底抹去。
  On December 31st, the mighty 9 Roman empire rises and falls in just under four seconds. 12月31号,强势的罗马帝国崛起又衰落,仅仅用了4秒钟。
  And Columbus sets sail for what he thinks is India at three seconds to midnight. 哥伦布在他认为是印度三秒到午夜的时候扬帆起航。
  If you try to write the history of the Earth using just one page per year, 如果你想要把地球历史写下来,且一页纸便是一年,
  your book would be 145 miles thick, more than half the distance to the international space station. 那么这本书将会有145英里(约233公里)那么厚,比我们到国际空间站的一半距离还远。
  The story of the 3.2 million year-old Australopithecine fossil known as Lucy would be found on the 144th mile, 320万岁南方古猿化石露西的故事将在第144英里处被找到,
  just over 500 feet from the end of the book. 仅仅还有500英尺便到了书的结尾。

n.同位素;同位素( isotope的名词复数 )
  • the many isotopes of carbon 碳的诸多同位素
  • Tritium is one of the mildest radioactive isotopes. 氚是最和缓的放射性同位素之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》
地质学家,地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )
  • Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
  • Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。
n.星云,喷雾剂
  • A powerful telescope can resolve a nebula into stars.一架高性能的望远镜能从星云中分辨出星球来。
  • A nebula is really a discrete mass of innumerous stars.一团星云实际上是无数星体不连续的集合体。
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物,动物区系
  • This National Park is an area with unique fauna and flora.该国家公园区域内具有独特的动物种群和植物种群。
  • Fauna is a biological notion means all the animal life in a particular region or period. 动物群是一个生物学的概念,指的是一个特定时期或者地区的所有动物。
n.里程碑;划时代的事件
  • The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
  • I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。
n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 );守旧落伍的人,过时落后的东西
  • The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.小行星;海盘车(动物)
  • Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
  • It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小,但这样的危险还是存在的。
adj.强有力的;巨大的
  • A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
  • The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。
标签: TED演讲
学英语单词
0710
abdominal filaments
age to absorption
amplitude internal friction peak
anderson br-ldge
astrantias
axis out of line
barfly
barnwells
Bleiswijk
bracteal leaf
carbonylh(a)emoglobin
cation exclusion
chastity rings
chelid
chromorhinorrhea
citrus anthracnose
classical adjoint
column headers
comes back to
conduct a business
constrictions
continuousamplitude filter
cotaneous ureterostomy
counterplotters
dance-club
debt crisis
Diazinamide
direct drive wtgs
double pointed
electrical noise
energy absorbing roadside crash barrier
eri silk
Erysimum cheiri
euboia
exclusive patronage contract
f-inger
fit quantity
foot line
frequency doubler
grate-fired boiler
Gunn arteriovenous phenomenon
gurgitator
heaving bottom
hysterophyte
ignitron control
indpendent
interdental space
Kaes-Bechterew's layer
keep top side up
knuckle thread
lard stock
locus function
mandatory extension mechanism
manganotremolite
Marseille-en-Beauvaisis
mine disposals
minimovies
mislead
mydricamide
Māchī Kheyl
net apartment unit area
news-driven
non-acceptation
non-seismic regions
nonprocedural reference
Not to be-tipped
np completeness
Nycoff
oil pressure gage
omniscope
peasant family
periodontal principle fibers
permeamete
physically handing
pick up ears of wheat
pneumatic filling
potential conflict
poulsen arc generator
regrindability
renewal of track
rhabdoweisia laevidens broth
Rodellar
screechin'
sell us
sessility
spelling-bee
superposes
swing from
swing-out
throttled
top roller
topology of uniformity
tractor performance
under God
vacuum suspended power brake
viverrine
watered-down
Whitgiftian
year-to-date used