时间:2018-12-07 作者:英语课 分类:(科普英语)Earth and Sky


英语课


 


Water Cycle 水循环


All the oceans on earth are salty, while inland water is typically fresh. How does water become salty? We'll answer a listener's question -- today on Earth and Sky.


DB: This is Earth and Sky. We recently visited the Austin Children's Museum in Texas to record your science questions. This one is from Jeana Lungwitz.


Jeana Lungwitz: Why are the oceans salt water and the rivers and lakes typically fresh water?


JB: Jeana, first imagine a tea kettle. If you boil tap water to make tea, some of it evaporates. After a while, you might notice a hard crust of mineral deposits forms on the bottom of your teapot


DB: That crust is there because when tap water evaporates it leaves behind any dissolved salts and minerals. Now take this scenario 1 to the ocean. Most water on Earth evaporates from the surface of the ocean. There it leaves behind dissolved salts. Then, when water precipitates 2 out of the atmosphere, it falls as fresh water.


JB: The freshwater that falls onto land cascades 3 over surfaces like rocks and sediments 4. Here it picks up nutrients 5, chemicals, and salts. The water carries the dissolved salts on its long journey back to sea. If you run this water cycle over and over again, through four and a half billion years, you eventually leave a lot of salt in the ocean.


DB: In fact, if you came back in another billion years, the ocean would be even saltier than it is now. Thanks for your question Jeana. And with thanks to the National Science Foundation, we're Block and Byrd for Earth and Sky.



1 scenario
n.剧本,脚本;概要
  • But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
  • This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。
2 precipitates
v.(突如其来地)使发生( precipitate的第三人称单数 );促成;猛然摔下;使沉淀
  • Water precipitates camphor from its alcoholic solution. 水能把樟脑从其酒精溶液中淀析出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Precipitates are usually collected by centrifugation at intervals. 常常是用离心法分段收集沉淀的。 来自辞典例句
3 cascades
倾泻( cascade的名词复数 ); 小瀑布(尤指一连串瀑布中的一支); 瀑布状物; 倾泻(或涌出)的东西
  • The river fell in a series of cascades down towards the lake. 河形成阶梯状瀑布泻入湖中。
  • Turning into the sun, he began the long, winding drive through the Cascades. 现在他朝着太阳驶去,开始了穿越喀斯喀特山脉的漫长而曲折的路程。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦
4 sediments
沉淀物( sediment的名词复数 ); 沉积物
  • When deposited, 70-80% of the volume of muddy sediments may be water. 泥质沉积物沉积后,体积的70-80%是水。
  • Oligocene erosion had truncated the sediments draped over the dome. 覆盖于穹丘上的沉积岩为渐新世侵蚀所截削。
5 nutrients
n.(食品或化学品)营养物,营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )
  • a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
  • Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》
学英语单词
-manifolds
a nip in the air
adrenal cortex hormone
agency un named principal
all important
apartment-house of direct access
Aulostomidae
autunezite
Bayan, Sungai
blood specimen
Brixton shuffle
bucket-line dredge
C-Quens
children's embedded figures test
communications technology
continuous span
delanium graphite
desintegration product
dipropyl tartrate
doudle
drift curve
Eble type
ectopatagium
edition time
eonomic
epoxy compound
equipment floater insurance
expel
family subsidy
Farino, Circonscription de
fleet ballistic missile submarines
followin
forced-water cooled transformer
Francis Chichester
furance
gellatley
georama
glossauxesis
gonsogolite (pectolite)
great northern prawn
grill pan
hampshire swine
hardballers
hatch carrier
hematonic
historical relic
hyaline cast
iliopagus
indium hydrosulfide
isolation cooling system
john mercers
kinematic accuracy
knowledge-acquisition bottleneck
Laurie Lee
lekson
line up against
Manganese Shale Group
Mantua
measles in pork
meksamin
mentzelia lindleyis
metravigor
mnemonic symbol
mussitated
Nafrine
nodules tabac
nonnegotiable treasury bond
oil pollution residues
onsite electrical system
particulars of offence
PHIBRFT
pidonia bivittata
piecharts
predistribution
price spiral
pushbutton array
quickfirer
rate of accumulation
rate of natural population growth
redressing coefficient of rolls
renascency
rice hopper
seam compound
self-affliction
shovelware
signalling engineering
Sihanouk, Prince Norodom
siliciophite
solar reflecting glass
speed at time of impact
tangipahoa r.
Taranaki
tele-com
testolactone
Thatcherising
the hell dances
U. S. T.
unbugged
uncollapsible
unshaling
water-jacket space
wind someone round one's fingers