VOA标准英语2009年-Discovery of Pre-Human Fossil Cited as

Others include water on the Moon, gene¹ therapy

Art Chimes | Washington 23 December 2009

 
The prestigious² journal Science is out with its top 10 breakthroughs of 2009. They include developments in anthropology³, astronomy, and biology.

The breakthrough of the year was 15 years in coming. That's how long it took for an international team of scientists to excavate⁴ and analyze⁵ the fossilized skeleton of a 4.4 million year old human ancestor, Ardipithecus ramidus, which was discovered in Ethiopia. Science magazine deputy news editor Robert Coontz said "Ardi," as the creature was nicknamed, was especially surprising to scientists because of how she walked.
 
"The main thing was that it walked upright, just as we do. But what's unexpected about that is that our closest evolutionary⁶ relatives, chimpanzees and gorillas⁷, don't do that. And so there was an assumption that our common ancestor with them would have been something that also walked that way. And it turns out that, no, Ardipithecus was designed for walking in trees or climbing trees."

Several of Science magazine's notable breakthroughs of the past year focused on astronomy and space. The journal cited the astronauts' service call to the Hubble Space Telescope, which gave the orbiting observatory⁸ a new lease on life. And editor Robert Coontz says the top 10 breakthroughs also included the discovery of water on the moon by the LCROSS mission.

"The poles of the moon have dark craters⁹ that never see. So if any ice were to wind up there, it really wouldn't go anywhere. So this year NASA sent up a spacecraft and sent the rocket stage right into the moon to 'bomb' the moon, basically, and see what came up. And they looked at it with a spectrometer and they found that the molecules¹⁰ that were coming up included water."

In the life sciences, the journal's editors noted¹¹ advances in gene therapy — something that has long seemed on the verge¹² of a breakthrough.

"This year, however, there were some very promising¹³ clinical results that indicate that it may be starting to work the way that people always hoped that it would. There was a form of inherited blindness, and some researchers in Britain injected patients with these viruses attached to genes¹⁴. And it turns out that the patients actually did regain¹⁵ some of their sensitivity to light."

Coontz says some of the children in the study actually regained¹⁶ enough eyesight to be able to play sports normally.

Science magazine reports on these and the rest of its breakthroughs of the year online at ScienceMag.org. You'll have to register, but there's no cost.

At the website you'll also get a hint about areas to watch for breakthroughs in the coming year, including America's human spaceflight program.

"NASA is going to have to decide what it's going to do about the human space program. It will determine the whole direction that the future space program of the United States is going to take, and so that's something that we'll be looking at very closely."

Science magazine editor Robert Coontz says other areas to watch in 2010 include stem cell research and possible new cancer treatments. 
 

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

3 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

4 excavate   

vt.挖掘，挖出

参考例句：

• They plan to excavate a large hole.他们计划挖个大洞。
• A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs.一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。

5 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

6 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

7 gorillas   

n.大猩猩( gorilla的名词复数 )；暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• the similitude between humans and gorillas 人类和大猩猩的相像
• Each family of gorillas is led by a great silverbacked patriarch. 每个大星星家族都由一个魁梧的、长着银色被毛的族长带领着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

9 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》

10 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

13 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

14 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

15 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

16 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。