【一起听英语】与外星人的联系

真的存在外星人吗？这至今都是一个谜...

Rob: Hello! I’m Rob and this is 6 Minute English. I’m joined today by

Alice. Hello Alice.

Alice: Hi Rob.

Rob: Today, we’re talking about alien life form – and who on planet earth would

aliens speak to if they one day made contact?

Alice: Alien life form. This is something that is written about in science fiction books

but nobody has actually discovered anything extra-terrestrial yet.

Rob: Extra-terrestrial – that’s something that’s not from our planet. Now, Alice, I’ve

got a question for you.

Alice: OK.

Rob: What was the year that man first walked on the moon?

Alice: Mmm, I’m not sure, can I have a think? 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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Rob: Of course, you can give me the answer at the end of the programme. But back

to the subject of contact from aliens. If someone from another planet did land

on Earth what do you think they might say?

Alice: Would they say “take me to your leader”?

Rob: That’s a nice thought. But who would our leader be? Who would be the first

person they should speak with?

Alice: That’s difficult. Maybe the President of the United States of America? The

leaders of China or Russia? What about me?

Rob: Well the answer, according to one expert, is a Space Ambassador 1.

Alice: A Space Ambassador? What would they do?

Rob: Well, they would be the first point of contact for aliens trying to communicate

with us.

Alice: So they would be the first person to talk to – a point of contact - and would

they meet and greet these aliens when they land in their UFOs – their

Unidentified Flying Objects? 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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Rob: Not exactly. A space scientist called Professor John Zernecki, who has

suggested the idea of a Space Ambassador, can explain. He thinks it is unlikely

to be a face to face meeting.

Extract 2 1:

The likelihood 3 is not that aliens will suddenly appear in Guildford or Manchester or

somewhere like that. The contact, if it does happen, is most likely to be through radio

signals. Because, you know, in the last decade we have discovered something like 500

planets orbiting other stars, like our sun, so it’s no longer fanciful to think about the

possibility of life on distant planets.

Alice: Ah, so Professor Zernecki doesn’t think aliens will land in a town or a city.

Our contact will be through radio signals.

Rob: Yes, radio signals. We will pick up some kind of sound. He believes it might

really happen one day and the idea is no longer fanciful.

Alice: Fanciful – that is something that is unreal or imagined – but he says this is no

longer fanciful.

Rob: Yes, that’s because in the last decade five hundred new planets orbiting other

stars have been discovered so it’s no longer fanciful to think that there may be

life on distant planets.

Alice: I see, so he wants us to be prepared for a possible contact from aliens? 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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Rob: Yes

Alice: And who might this Space Ambassador be?

Rob: Well next week a meeting at The Royal Society in London will be discussing

the appointment of someone, and a likely candidate is an astrophysicist called

Mazlan Othman. She already heads the Office of Outer Space Affairs for the

United Nations.

Alice: So the UN has an Office of Outer Space Affairs. It deals with issues that are

literally 4 ‘out of this world’.

Rob: That’s right. Professor Zernecki can explain a bit more about the things it looks

after.

Extract 2:

There are laws and regulations that have been signed up by many countries about what

we can and can’t do on the moon; who owns the moon – and also concerning the nonproliferation

of weapons in outer space.

Alice: So the Office of Outer Space Affairs oversees 5 laws and regulations about

which activities can take place on the moon, who owns it and also the nonproliferation

of weapons in outer space.

Rob: Non-proliferation – that’s a limit on the use of weapons in space and keeping

it a peaceful place. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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Alice: Well having a Space Ambassador seems like a good idea, but they may have a

lot of waiting to do.

Rob: Possibly. Professor Zernecki says alien contact could happen next week, next

year, next century or maybe even never but it would be really unfortunate to

miss their call. Now Alice, what’s the first thing you would say if you were

contacted by aliens?

Alice: Ha! I would ask them if they knew the answer to your question – what year did

man first walk on the moon?

Rob: And what do you think their answer might be?

Alice: 1969?

Rob: Yes, that’s correct. American, Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the

moon in 1969. And what do you think he said?

Alice: “After such a long journey I would love a cup of tea”?

Rob: No! His famous words were “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for

mankind”. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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Alice: It really was a big step but he didn’t encounter any aliens!

Rob: OK Alice, we’ve taken a small step in learning English today. Could you

remind us of the some of the words we have learnt please?

Alice: Alien life form

Science fiction

Extra-terrestrial

Ambassador

Fanciful

Orbiting

Appointment

Non-proliferation

Weapons

Rob: Thank you. That’s all we’ve got time for today. So thanks for joining us and

see you next time.

Rob/Alice: Bye.