新编英语教程第一册Unit09

Unit 9

DIALOGUE I

If I Had the Chance to Travel in Space

A: If I had the chance, I would take a trip through the entire solar system. It's been my long-cherished dream since childhood to be able to visit the planets, satellites, comets, and other heavenly bodies in the solar system.
B: I've had the same wild dream for years. If I had the chance, I would first go to the moon, the earth's satellite. Then when I looked back, the earth would look like a big moon hanging in the sky.
A: You wouldn't be the first person to land on the moon, would you?
B: No, but that wouldn't matter. Although I could not leave my "name" there, I would certainly leave my footprints on the moon, anyway.
A: If I had the chance, my first stop would be Venus. It's the brightest planet in the solar system and the one that comes closest to the earth. If I were able to make the trip, I would not only leave my footprints but also our national flag on Venus.
B: You'd better do it now, or this planet will be occupied by creatures from outer space and you won't be allowed to leave even your footprints of fingerprints¹ there.
A: If that should happen, we would live in peace and harmony with outer space creatures. Anyway, Venus is not so far away from the earth and it has no moon. I think it would be strange to see no moon it the sky at night.
B: But you don't see the moon every day from the earth anyway, do you? In my case, I would travel to Jupiter after my trip to the moon. You know Jupiter has eleven moons. Can you imagine seeing eleven moons in the sky at the same time? What a strange sight it would be!
A: Oh, I would go farther than you. Saturn² has nine moons and beautiful rings around it, too. Wouldn't that be a rarer sight to see than a mere³ cluster of eleven moons?
B: Both planets are worth seeing, actually. Let's count in both Jupiter and Saturn on our itinerary⁴. But I will definitely spare Uranus⁵, Neptune⁶ and Pluto⁷ in my schedule. They are too far away from the earth. Besides, too little is known about them.
A: We'd certainly go to Mars, wouldn't we? It's closer to the earth and better known. I'd go there and explore its canals; and if I were lucky enough, I might meet a couple of Martians.
B: The Martians? I wonder if there are living creatures there. Where else in space could we go?
A: Mercury. Don't forget Mercury. I would be able to break the world's records in the high jump on Mercury and make a name in history. You know, the gravity there is only about a third as strong as it is on the earth.
B: Really. It's very ambitious of us to come up with the idea of touring around the solar system, I wonder if it will happen in three hundred years.


DIALOGUE II

Dialogue:
A: Hello, Bob.
B: Hello, Richard. How are you?
A: Fine, thanks, and you?
B: Not too bad. I'm thinking of going on holiday somewhere next month. I don't know if you've made your holiday plans yet, but if not, perhaps you'd like to come with me.
A: Thanks, that's very kind of you. Where are you planning to go?
B: I thought I might go camping in Scotland. What do you think of that?
A: Fine. Sounds like a good idea. And for how long — a fortnight?
B: Yes. I'm hoping to have two weeks' holiday next month.
A: Good. Well, providing I finish all my work on time, I'll be able to have two weeks' holiday, too.
B: Will Joyce be coming with us?
A: I'm not sure. Maybe. The problem is that she always gets one week's holiday, and of course she can't really afford a holiday this year.
B: Oh, dear! That's a pity! Well, the holiday shouldn't cost very much.
A: Supposing you had a lot of money, Bob, where would you like to go for a holiday?
B: Oh, I don't know. I think I would probably go to America or Japan.
A: If I had a lot of money, and 4 weeks' holiday I would go to Asia, I think, and travel.
B: Yes, that would be fantastic. Anyway, stop dreaming. We're going to Scotland and I hope it doesn't rain.

READING I

How Far Is the Sun from the Earth?

How far is the sun from the earth? This is a question you might have asked yourself ever since you began asking about anything. In fact, for thousands of years astronomers⁸ had been asking the same question. But they had no way of getting an accurate answer because the sun was so far, far away. Now with the use of the radio telescope, they are able to give a very accurate answer: the sun is 92,956,000 miles away from the earth.
Can you imagine how far away that is?
The jet airliner⁹ today travels at a speed of 700 miles an hour. Imagine that you were flying to the sun in this airliner. You could make no stops for rest, nor for gas or oil, because there would be no place for you to stop. You would fly day and night at such a speed. Yet by the time you arrived, fifteen years would have passed.
The electric train can travel as fast as 110 miles an hour. If a railway could be built on a sunbeam, it would take the train nearly 100 years to reach the sun. You would get very, very tired even if you lived long enough to finish the journey.
The aircraft carrier is one of the fastest warships¹⁰, having a speed of about forty miles per hour. If the ship could sail through space, it would take more than 200 years for her to get to the sun. A little over two hundred years ago America won her independence from Britain. Suppose someone had set off to the sun in this ship when George Washington became President of the United States. Now after traveling all these years, he would still have a long journey before him.
Suppose you lived with your parents in New York and you wanted to visit your grandmother in Philadelphia. You would be on the train for nearly an hour and a half. If you took a million trips to your grandmother's, you would have traveled as far as from the earth to the sun.
What a long way it is to the sun! Have you ever thought that the sun was as far away from us as that?

1 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

3 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

4 itinerary   

n.行程表，旅行路线；旅行计划

参考例句：

• The two sides have agreed on the itinerary of the visit.双方商定了访问日程。
• The next place on our itinerary was Silistra.我们行程的下一站是锡利斯特拉。

5 Uranus   

n.天王星

参考例句：

• Uranus is unusual because it is tilted.天王星非常特殊，因为它是倾斜的。
• Uranus represents sudden change and rebellion.天王星代表突然性的改变和反叛。

6 Neptune   

n.海王星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun.海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Neptune turned out to be a dynamic,stormy world.海王星原来是个有生气、多风暴的世界。

7 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

8 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

10 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。