美天文学家提出一年为364天的历法

 

US Astronomer¹ Proposes 364-Day Calendar

美天文学家提出一年为364天的历法

 

An American physicist² is proposing a new calendar in which important days could fall on the same day of the week year after year. Instead of the familiar Gregorian 365-day year with one extra day added every four years. The new calendar offers a 364-day year with a leap week every five or six years. It’s the bearing child of Richard Henry.

 

He’s taught physics and astronomy courses in Johns Hopkins University for nearly thirty years. Although the curriculum remains³ essentially⁴ the same, the homework is due on different dates each year and the exam dates changed, too. So, each year, he has to make up a different schedule for his students.

 

Professor Henry: I said to myself, 'I don't mind doing that because I have to do it.' But then one year I said, 'Wait, I'm a professional astronomer. Let me see whether this is necessary or not.' And quickly I discovered that it is not necessary at all.

 

That is because, under Professor Henry's Calendar and Time Plan, each 12-month period is identical to the one that came before and has only 364 days.

 

Professor Henry: An astronomical⁵ year set by the motion of the earth's rotation⁶ going around the sun is 365.2422 days long. And of course, 365 is not divisible by seven -- whereas 364 days, which is the year I'm advocating, can be divided by seven and that is what allows it to be the same every year.

 

Each month in this revised year would have either 30 or 31 days, which means that eight months would be longer or shorter than they are now. March, June, September and December would each contain 31 days, while the other months would last 30. Instead of the quadrennial leap year of the Gregorian calendar, Professor Henry says his calendar would add an extra week every five or six years.

 

Professor Henry: We have this extra day and quarter each year that we are missing out on. So my idea is to accumulate those until we have a full week and then stick it in. That's the extra week, which I call Newton. It dose not have to be named that of course. I named Newton because I'm a physicist, but I'm sure that if this idea does get adopted, there will be some kind of international conference and they will decide on either a different name for it or maybe just make a June one week longer.

 

注释：

fall on 落到，指向

Gregorian [5^ri5^C:riEn] adj. 罗马教皇的

astronomy [E5strRnEmi] n. 天文学

curriculum [kE5rikjulEm] n. 课程

rotation [rEu5teiFEn] n. 旋转

quadrennial [kwC5drenjEl] adj. 继续四年的，每四年一次的

1 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。

2 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

6 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。