英语听力文摘 English Digest 530、为何天空不是统一的蓝色？

 　　Why The Sky Is Not Blue

 

　　Look at various parts of the sky on a clear day and you will see that it is not a uniform blue. Even if the sky is deep blue when you look straight up, near the horizon it is lighter¹.

 

　　This is partly due to pollution, but even in the cleanest air the sky is lighter near the horizon due to the effect of earth’s atmosphere on sunlight. When the rays of sunlight enter the atmosphere, the atmosphere tends to deflect² the light from its straight-line path from the sun to the earth, and spread it around the sky, a process that is called scattering³.

 

　　If all the colors were spread equally the sky would look white, since all of the colors of light combined make white light. But the atmosphere does not spread all colors equally in all parts of the sky, and that is why the sky is not a uniform color.

 

　　The color that is most readily spread is blue. So when we look up on a clear day we see blue sky, since the sunlight has had to pass through the least atmosphere, and fewer of the other colors of light have been spread.

 

　　However, closer to the horizon the sunlight must pass through more of the atmosphere before it reaches our eyes. This gives the rays of other colors of light a chance to be spread so that the light reaching our eyes is more a mixture of all the colors and therefore appears lighter.

 

　　Which all sounds pretty good. But note that most of the subjects in the study were people already into mystical practices such as prayer and meditation⁴. So it’s not as though anyone who wants to become a nicer person can simply take a dose of psilocybin and be instantly transformed. It’s possible that the effect only happens with people already leaning toward openness.

 

　　But it’s also possible that psilocybin could be used to help treat people with personality disorders⁵ and other psychological problems.

1 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

2 deflect   

v.(使)偏斜，(使)偏离，(使)转向

参考例句：

• Never let a little problem deflect you.决不要因一点小问题就半途而废。
• They decided to deflect from the original plan.他们决定改变原计划。

3 scattering   

n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散

参考例句：

• The child felle into a rage and began scattering its toys about. 这孩子突发狂怒，把玩具扔得满地都是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The farmers are scattering seed. 农夫们在播种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

5 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》