Exoplanets托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

Exoplanets托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

一、Exoplanets托福听力原文：

MALE PROFESSOR:OK,we've been discussing the planets in our solar system,and how some of the ones farthest from the Sun were discovered.Well,today I'd like to turn to what are called exoplanets,and how researchers detect them.Maria?

FEMALE STUDENT:Exoplanets are planets that orbit around a star other than our Sun,right?They're not in our solar system…

MALE PROFESSOR:Right.They have different,what're called host stars.The study of exoplanets has been getting more and more exciting;hundreds of them have been discovered so far.This is quite remarkable in view of the fact that the discovery of the first exoplanets was confirmed only in the mid-1990s.Now we’re finding new ones every few weeks or so.

FEMALE STUDENT:So,uh—exactly why are we interested in these exoplanets,anyway?Is it to see if there's life on them?'Cause it seems to me like the only exoplanets we ever hear about are gas giants,like Jupiter and Saturn,that couldn’t possibly support carbon-based life….

MALE PROFESSOR:OK,well,let's talk about that.

First,as for discovering life…wellll,I think that sort of discovery is pretty far in the future,but it is an eventual goal.

For now,the focus is on locating planets within a host star's so-called habitable zone,a zone that's a certain distance from its star.Because only planets within this zone could conceivably support carbon-based life.

So what would such a planet need?

FEMALE STUDENT:Water?

MALE PROFESSOR:Yes,it'd need to be the right temperature to sustain liquid water.

MALE STUDENT:#And it would need to be a rocky planet….I mean,as opposed to a gas giant….

MALE PROFESSOR:OK,good.An Earth-like planet.

Now,as to that,there are some recently detected exoplanets that might actually be Earth-like.

For example,there's a red dwarf star—that's what most stars are—uh,that's called Gliese 581.

Gliese 581 is…well,it's a lot more interesting than that name makes it seem.This host star is considered a near neighbor of our solar system because it's only about twenty light-years away.That's pretty close,by astronomical standards.And being a red dwarf star,it's small and relatively cool,at least compared with the Sun.

And researchers have discovered planets orbiting Gliese 581.These exoplanets have been named—ready?—Gliese 581 b,c,d,e…in alphabetical order of their discovery.

Gliese 581d and e are the planets I want to focus on now.See,in 2009 a group of researchers made an announcement:these two exoplanets,Gliese 581d and e,do have some Earth-like qualities.Gliese 581d had actually been discovered a couple of years earlier,and when its orbit was originally calculated,it was thought to be too far away from its host star to be warm enough to support a liquid ocean,let alone carbon-based life.But then its orbit was recalculated,and now we see that Gliese 581d is within its host's habitable zone.

MALE STUDENT:#So it might have an ocean?

MALE PROFESSOR:Well,conceivably.

See,Gliese 581d weighs seven times what Earth weighs,and it's unlikely that it's made entirely of rocks…because it's so massive.The researchers studying it said that it could have a rocky core;an ice layer;a large,deep ocean;and an atmosphere.

OK,and there was another announcement,along with the recalculated orbit of Gliese 581d.That was the discovery of another planet in the system,Gliese 581e.Compared with other exoplanets,its mass is quite small—only about twice that of Earth's.

FEMALE STUDENT:So is Gliese 581e a more Earth-like planet?

MALE PROFESSOR:Well,we have to consider its orbit.Gliese 581e orbits its host star in a much shorter period of time than the other planets in the system,meaning it's very close to the star.And therefore too hot for water,for an ocean.

However,the fact that it's relatively close to the size of Earth—small,in astronomical terms—that was pretty exciting.It's impressive that we have the technology to detect it.And it bodes well for future research.Who knows what we'll find the more we search?

二、Exoplanets托福听力中文翻译：

男教授：好吧，我们一直在讨论太阳系中的行星，以及一些离太阳最远的行星是如何被发现的。今天，我想谈谈所谓的系外行星，以及研究人员如何探测它们。玛丽亚？

女学生：系外行星是围绕太阳以外的恒星运行的行星，对吗？它们不在我们的太阳系中…

男教授：对。他们有不同的，被称为宿主星。对系外行星的研究越来越令人兴奋；到目前为止，已经发现了数百个。鉴于第一批系外行星的发现仅在20世纪90年代中期才得到证实，这一点相当显著。现在我们每隔几周左右就会发现新的。

女学生：那么，我们到底为什么对这些系外行星感兴趣？是不是要看看他们身上有没有生命因为在我看来，我们听到的唯一的系外行星是像木星和土星这样的气体巨星，它们不可能支持碳基生命…。

男教授：好吧，让我们谈谈这个。

首先，关于发现生命，我认为这种发现在未来相当遥远，但这是最终的目标。

目前，重点是在主恒星的所谓可居住区内定位行星，该区域距离恒星有一定距离。因为只有在这个区域内的行星才能支持碳基生命。

那么，这样一个星球需要什么呢？

女学生：水？

男教授：是的，需要合适的温度来维持液态水。

男学生：#而且它必须是一个岩石星球…。我的意思是，相对于气体巨人…。

男教授：好，很好。类似地球的行星。

现在，关于这一点，最近发现的一些系外行星实际上可能与地球类似。

例如，有一颗红矮星，大多数恒星都是这样的，叫做Gliese 581。

格利泽581是…嗯，它比这个名字看起来更有趣。这颗主星被认为是我们太阳系的近邻，因为它距离我们只有大约20光年。以天文标准来说，这相当接近。作为一颗红矮星，它很小，相对较冷，至少与太阳相比。

研究人员发现了围绕格利泽581轨道运行的行星。这些系外行星已经被命名为“准备好了吗？”-格利泽581 b，c，d，e…按他们发现的字母顺序排列。

Gliese 581d和e是我现在要关注的行星。2009年，一组研究人员宣布：这两颗系外行星，Gliese 581d和e，确实具有类似地球的性质。Gliese 581d实际上是在几年前被发现的，在最初计算其轨道时，人们认为它离宿主恒星太远，温度不足以支撑液态海洋，更不用说碳基生命了。但后来重新计算了它的轨道，现在我们看到Gliese 581d位于其宿主的可居住区内。

男学生：#所以它可能有海洋？

男教授：嗯，可以想象。

你看，Gliese 581d的重量是地球的七倍，它不可能完全由岩石组成，因为它太大了。研究人员说，它可能有一个岩石核心；冰层；大而深的海洋；和气氛。

好的，还有另一个公告，还有重新计算的Gliese 581d轨道。这是在星系中发现的另一颗行星，Gliese 581e。与其他系外行星相比，它的质量非常小，只有地球的两倍。

女学生：那么格利泽581e更像地球吗？

男教授：我们必须考虑它的轨道。Gliese 581e围绕其主星运行的时间比系统中的其他行星短得多，这意味着它离恒星非常近。因此对于水和海洋来说太热了。

然而，从天文角度来看，它相对接近地球的大小，这一事实非常令人兴奋。令人印象深刻的是，我们拥有检测它的技术。这是未来研究的好兆头。谁知道我们搜索得越多会发现什么？

三、Exoplanets托福听力问题：

Q1:1.What do the speakers mainly discuss?

A.Whether life could exist outside a star's habitable zone

B.Techniques used by researchers to detect exoplanets

C.Exoplanets that share certain characteristics with Earth

D.Characteristics of several recently discovered red dwarf stars

Q2:2.What does the professor say about the host star Gliese 581?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.It is larger than the Sun.

B.It is cooler than the Sun.

C.It is a relatively young star.

D.It is relatively close to Earth.

Q3:3.What does the professor suggest about life on other planets?

A.It most likely does not exist.

B.It probably will not be discovered in the near future.

C.It probably would not be similar to life on Earth.

D.It could possibly be found even on gas giants.

Q4:4.What did researchers discover about the planet Gliese 581d when they reexamined it?

A.It is made entirely of rocks.

B.It is not able to support an ocean.

C.It is smaller than previously thought.

D.It is closer to its host star than previousty thought.

Q5:5.Why is the planet Gliese 581e unlikely to support carbon-based life?

A.It is too hot.

B.It is too small.

C.It is covered in ice.

D.It is made entirely of gas.

Q6:6.What does the professor find most exciting about the discovery of the planet Gliese 581e?

A.It showed that some exoplanets have an atmosphere like Earth's.

B.It helped researchers better understand exoplanets'orbits.

C.It showed that the technology exists to detect small exoplanets.

D.It proved that some stars'habitable zones are larger than once thought.

四、Exoplanets托福听力答案：

A1:正确答案：C

A2:正确答案：BD

A3:正确答案：B

A4:正确答案：D

A5:正确答案：A

A6:正确答案：C

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