英语听力：自然百科 行星旅行指南：火星 Mars—11

 It was 119° Fahrenheit¹ here yesterday; really, really, really hot day on Mars ever get up to about 30° Fahrenheit and at night it goes to more than 100 below. Martian deserts are both frozen and sun baked. With no Ozone² layer, UV levels are so high that any unprotected organism, even a Martian microbe will be burnt to a crisp within minutes. A good hat is just not going to cut it. So why not leave all the dirty works of exploring Mars to robots? 

 

One thing about human is that they have a capability³ to improvise⁴ on the spot. Even if you don’t have the right tools with you that robots lack. In Death Valley, this stuff was wet, they got dry when it dried, they cracked, we were investigating the idea that something similar happened on Mars. You know I’d love to be ought to do this on Mars, and we can’t, but you know, human on the scene can provides pretty well. 

 

Getting down and dirty on Mars will mean exactly that. When an ill wind blows on the red planet, dust really does go everywhere. About once every 3 years, local storms go global. And the dust can block your view for months.  It happened the very first time we sent a probe into orbit in 1971. When Marian N9 got to the planet, there was a giant dust storm that it completely shrouded⁵ the surface from it. They could see nothing just dust, and as the dust started to recede⁶, also these dots appeared, there are 3 of them lined up, what the heck are those? It turned out to be the peaks of the 3 great volcanos on Mars. And then we gain to realize just how varied⁷ the terrain⁸ and topography Mars was. This was the moment that Mars began to reveal itself, a world with a secret history and spectacular scenery to match.

1 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

2 ozone   

n.臭氧，新鲜空气

参考例句：

• The ozone layer is a protective layer around the planet Earth.臭氧层是地球的保护层。
• The capacity of ozone can adjust according of requirement.臭氧的产量可根据需要或调节。

3 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

4 improvise   

v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成

参考例句：

• If an actor forgets his words，he has to improvise.演员要是忘记台词，那就只好即兴现编。
• As we've not got the proper materials,we'll just have to improvise.我们没有弄到合适的材料，只好临时凑合了。

5 shrouded   

v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密

参考例句：

• The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
• The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 recede   

vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进

参考例句：

• The colleges would recede in importance.大学的重要性会降低。
• He saw that the dirty water had begun to recede.他发现那污浊的水开始往下退了。

7 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

8 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。