英语听力：自然百科 宇宙新领域 鲁特西亚真容曝光

 Scientists are likening the new images from a large asteroid¹ to discovery of a new world. Asteroid 21 Lutetia is located between Jupiter and Mars and the European Space Agency's probe Rosetta passed within about 2,000 miles of it, its onboard camera Osiris snapping pictures as it whizzed by. 

 

We discovered tonight a new world. It's the largest asteroid ever seen by human and it's really, really exciting. It's so cool. 

 

Though it has been observed before by ground-based telescopes, astronomers² and graphic³ artists have imagined its shape and no one is sure of what it's made of or it's origin. The Lutetia asteroid is estimated to be about 80 miles long at its longest side. It's very old, perhaps 4.5 billion years of age and shows signs of its wear, sporting lots of craters⁴

 

We saw really great craters of 70 kilometers size. They are like a bowl. They are so large, so huge and they are covered. So, most of them, of the larger craters, they have very a round rim⁵, so they are very, very old craters. So, it's a worth discovery. So, we have a lot of large craters, tons of old craters, tons of small craters, even small craters in the large craters. So, it's a lot of topography, a lot of excitement. We don't understand right now and it will keep us busy for months and years working these images. 

 

ESA's probe made its flyby Saturday, capping a tense weekend for scientists at the agency's Darmstadt Germany operation center who have guided the Rosetta spacecraft since its launch more than 6 years ago. They will spend several weeks receiving transmission of the 400 images of Lutetia it captures.

1 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

2 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》

3 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

4 craters   

n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The battlefield was full of craters made by exploding shells. 战场上布满弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。