开口英语

70. Saving the World

第70课 拯救世界

A student is talking to her teacher. (S=student; T=teacher)
一位学生正在和她的老师说话。
I hear that scientists are planning to study asteroids and meteors, right?
我听说科学家正计划研究小行星和陨石, 对不对？
Yes. They want to determine whether Earth is in danger of being struck by such a rock.
对。他们要判定地球是否会有被那种石头撞上的危险。
What if they discover that a big one is coming straight for us?
如果他们发现有一颗大石头直接朝我们来怎么办？
In that case, there are two things they can do. They can launch rockets to push the rock off its course.
那样的话, 他们能做的有两件事。他们可以发射火箭将石头推离轨道。
So that it will miss Earth, right?
这样的话石头便撞不着地球了, 对不对？
Right. And if that fails, we can try destroying the rock with nuclear missiles.
对。这个方法不成功的话, 我们还可以尝试用核子导弹来摧毁石块。
Wow! I never thought that nuclear weapons could save the world instead of ending it!
哇！我从来没有想到核子武器可以拯救世界而不是毁了它！

69. Earth in Danger

第69课 地球危机
Seeing is believing.
眼见为实，
But seeing a huge rock half the size of Earth smash into Jupiter in July 1996 was incredible.
但目睹一颗有地球一半大的巨大石块在公元一九九六年七月撞向木星却令人无法置信。
Can you imagine what would happen if Earth collided with a huge space rock?
你能够想像地球如果撞上太空中的一颗巨大石块会怎么样吗？
It would be disastrous.
那后果将不堪设想。
In fact, it is thought that a meteor killed the dinosaurs millions of years ago.
事实上，有人认为在数百万年前就是一块陨石造成所有的恐龙灭绝。
A rock like the one that hit Jupiter could split Earth in two.
一颗像撞到木星那样的岩石便可把地球撞成两半。
Doing nothing about it is like waiting for the end of the world.
如果不提出对策就无异于等待地球末日的来临。
So scientists plan to start project to identify all space rocks that could hit Earth.
因此科学家打算展开一项计划来辨识所有可能击中地球的陨石。

27. Life Seems Unfair 人生似乎不公平

They say that good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people. This doesn't always feel true. People who have done great things die before they should. It makes life seem unfair, and it is sometimes. People who do bad things get away with it(逃脱), sometimes. Eventually(最终), people's deeds(行为) catch up to them.
Shawn was a good person. He volunteered(做志愿者) every week at the animal shelter(动物收容所). He was nice to everyone, even strangers. He took care of his grandparents. Good things should happen to him, right? Unfortunately(不幸地), Shawn just found out that he got laid off(被解雇) at work. This is unfair. However, losing a job when he needed it badly made him very motivated(有动力的) to look for a new job that paid well. Eventually, he found a great job as a teacher in China.
Lizzie was a bad person. She stole people's credit card information(信息), yelled at waiters, and used all her friends. Bad things should happen to her, right? Well, Lizzie happened to win $200,000 from a lottery(彩票). This is unfair. Justice was served eventually. She was sued(起诉) for credit card fraud(诈骗), and had to use the money she won to hire a lawyer.