神秘的月球 第3期

 　　The full moon triggers a frenzy¹ of activity.

　　满月会引发一连串狂乱的事件

　　It is the time of the highest tides.

　　海水在此时达到满潮

　　And in the oceans the full moon's bright light

　　在海中，满月明亮的胧光

　　is a mating call for sea creatures all over the world.

　　是世界各地海洋生物的求偶讯号

　　The full moon governs the very reproduction of these species.

　　满月掌控了这些物种的繁衍

　　And now scientists have discovered it may be

　　现在科学家发现

　　doing the same for us humans.

　　满月对人类似乎也有相同的影响

　　Research suggests that the full moon may

　　研究结果显示

　　play a significant role in our own cycles of fertility.

　　满月似乎在人类的生殖周期中扮演了重要角色

　　In the late 1970s scientists studying

　　1970年代末期，研究女性生殖能力的科学家

　　female fertility noticed a baffling coincidence.

　　发现了一个令人困惑的巧合

　　We knew that the moon cycled every 29.5 days

　　我们知道月亮的周期是29.5天

　　and we knew a 29.5 day cycle was

　　我们也知道生理周期为29.5天的妇女

　　the most fertile women's cycle length,

　　生育力最好

　　that a women who had a 26 day cycle or a 40 day cycle

　　若生理周期为26天、40天

　　or a 60 day cycle was much less likely to be fertile in that cycle.

　　或60天的妇女，则比较不容易在生理周期期间受孕

　　At the time it was unclear whether this

　　当时人们不知道这是机缘巧合

　　was a chance phenomenon or whether the two were related.

　　还是两者之间确实相关

　　But further research on women with twenty nine

　　但在进一步研究

　　and a half day menstrual cycles threw up

　　生理周期为29.5天的妇女之后

　　even more links with the patterns of the lunar cycle.

　　科学家发现更多和月亮周期间的关联

　　In that group of women who cycle as frequently as the moon,

　　在生理周期和月亮周期相符的妇女中

　　they tended to be menstruating starting

　　有很多人

　　their periods in the full moon,at the day of the full moon,

　　会在满月的那一天来潮

　　and as you move away from the full moon toward the new moon,

　　随着月亮由望转朔

　　a smaller and smaller and smaller proportion

　　来潮妇女的数目

　　of the group is starting their menstrual period.

　　会越来越少

　　That was a very exciting,

　　这个自然生理现象让我们十分兴奋

　　natural biologic phenomenon that said there's something

　　因为这表示自然界中

　　in nature about the moon that coincides

　　月亮的变化

　　with women getting their period at the full moon.

　　和妇女在满月时来潮有关

　　The fertility cycles of women are related

　　妇女的生育周期和月亮周期有关系

　　to the moon's cycle and I don't think

　　我认为不是妇女的生育周期影响了月亮

　　women's fertility drives the moon, I think it's the other way around.

　　而是恰恰相反

　　No one knows for sure why this phenomenon exists,

　　没有人知道这个现象存在的原因

　　or how it works.

　　或原理

　　It is one of the moon's many mysteries.

　　这是月亮的诸多谜团之一

　　Until very recently, the moon remained an enigma².

　　人们一直到最近才揭开了月亮的神秘面纱

　　And it was this mysterious quality

　　月亮神秘的特质

　　which fuelled our fascination³.

　　挑动了人们的想像力

　　Where did it come from?

　　它来自何处？

　　What was it made of?

　　成分为何？

　　And the biggest question of all: Was it a world like ours

　　人们最想知道的是它是否跟地球一样？

　　did it harbour life?

　　有没有生物？

　　For millennia⁴, it was impossible to know.

　　数千年来，这些都是不解之谜

　　No-one even knew what the surface of the moon looked like.

　　我们连月亮的表面是什么样子都不知道

　　All that changed in 1608 when an Italian astronomer⁵

　　但这一切在1608年改变了，一名意大利天文学家

　　made a primitive⁶ telescope.

　　制作了一具原始望远镜

　　For the first time he was able to get a close up look at the moon.

　　他终于可以近距离观察月亮

　　His name was Galileo Galilei,

　　这位天文学家叫做伽利略

　　and what he saw shattered conventional wisdom.

　　他见到的情景，颠覆了当时的传统观点

1 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

2 enigma   

n.谜，谜一样的人或事

参考例句：

• I've known him for many years,but he remains something of an enigma to me.我与他相识多年，他仍然难以捉摸。
• Even after all the testimonies,the murder remained a enigma.即使听完了所有的证词，这件谋杀案仍然是一个谜。

3 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

4 millennia   

n.一千年，千禧年

参考例句：

• For two millennia, exogamy was a major transgression for Jews. 两千年来，异族通婚一直是犹太人的一大禁忌。
• In the course of millennia, the dinosaurs died out. 在几千年的时间里，恐龙逐渐死绝了。

5 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

6 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。