联合国任命首位星际外交官

    A space ambassador（大使,代表） could be appointed by the United Nations to act as the first point of contact for aliens trying to communicate with Earth.
    Mazlan Othman, a Malaysian astrophysicist(天体物理学家), is set to be tasked with co-ordinating humanity’s response if and when extraterrestrials make contact.
    Aliens who landed on earth and asked: “Take me to your leader” would be directed to Mrs Othman.
    She will set out the details of her proposed new role at a Royal Society conference in Buckinghamshire next week.
    The 58-year-old is expected to tell delegates（代表） that the proposal has been prompted by the recent discovery of hundreds of planets orbiting other stars, which is thought to make the discovery of extraterrestrial life more probable than ever before.
    Mrs Othman is currently head of the UN’s little known Office for Outer Space Affairs (Unoosa).
    In a recent talk to fellow scientists, she said: “The continued search for extraterrestrial communication, by several entities¹, sustains the hope that some day human kind will receive signals from extraterrestrials.
    “When we do, we should have in place a coordinated² response that takes into account all the sensitivities related to the subject. The UN is a ready-made mechanism³ for such coordination⁴.”
    Opinion is divided about how future extraterrestrial（天外来客） visitors should be greeted. Under the Outer Space Treaty on 1967, which Unoosa oversees⁵, UN members agreed to protect Earth against contamination by alien species by “sterilising” them.
    Mrs Othman is understood to support a more tolerant approach.
    But Professor Stephen Hawking⁶ has warned that alien interlopers should be treated with caution.
    He said: “I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. The outcome for us would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans.”(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

2 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

4 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

5 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

6 hawking   

利用鹰行猎

参考例句：

• He is hawking his goods everywhere. 他在到处兜售他的货物。
• We obtain the event horizon and the Hawking spectrumformula. 得到了黑洞的局部事件视界位置和Hawking温度以及Klein—Gordon粒子的Hawking辐射谱。