英语听力or阅读材料注释版

一、

This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'mChristopher Intagliata. The more astronomers study the heavens, the more they realize: our solar system is weird.

\

kind of strange.\the University of Montreal. \planet. Only about 10 percent of sun like stars have a giant planet. And there are

probably even fewer that have two giant planets.\

In addition to giant Jupiter and lesser giant Saturn, we have tiny Mercury—just a bit bigger than Earth's moon.

So if we're weird, what does a typical solar system look like? Weiss and her team trained their

telescopes on 355 star systems known to host a handful of small exoplanets（外行星）. And they found

that most of the planets within individual star systems tended to be similar in size.

\planet, and I'm, say, two times the size of Earth, my neighbor, the next planet

over, is also likely to be two times the size of Earth, give or take a little bit.\And they were strung out at similar distances from each other too...like peas in a pod, she

says. Compared to that orderly array, our system looks more like, \stick

with food...I don't know...like a whole Thanksgiving dinner or something?\The results are in The Astronomical Journal. As for hunting for habitable worlds:

\planet in the

habitable zone\—not too close to the star but not too far away either—\e find an Earth-sized planet closer in, it might be worthwhile to continue searching for planets around that star.\

Because there might just be a few more peas in the pod.

Thanks for listening for Scientific American —60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。 天文学家对宇宙的研究越多就越意识到：我们的太阳系非常奇怪。

“有几件事让太阳系变得有些奇怪。”蒙特利尔大学的天体物理学家劳伦·韦斯说道。“其一，太阳系有一颗巨行星。在类似太阳的恒星中，只有约10%拥有巨行星。”拥有两颗巨行星的恒星可能更少。

除了巨大的木星和较小一些的土星之外，太阳系还有小型行星水星——其体积只比月亮稍大一些。 因此，如果我们的太阳系很奇怪，那典型的太阳系是什么样的呢？韦斯和团队用望远镜观察了355个星系，这些是已知拥有少量小型系外行星的星系。他们发现，独立星系中大多数行星的体积大小往往很相似。

“所以，如果我是一颗行星，体积是地球的两倍，那我旁边行星的体积很可能也是地球的两倍，误差只有一点儿。”

她说，这些行星排成一排，彼此之间的距离也相似，就像豆荚中的豌豆一样。与那种有序排列相比，我们的太阳系看起来更像是……“嗯，让我想想，如果用食物来形容……我不知道……可能就像完整的感恩节晚餐之类的吧？” 这项研究结果发表在《天文学期刊》上。

至于寻找宜居世界：“如果我们试图在宜居地带寻找地球大小的行星”，既不会离恒星太近也不会离得太远，“然后我们发现了与地球大小接近的行星，那可能继续搜寻其周围的行星是值得的。”

因为“豆荚”中可能有更多的“豌豆”。

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。 重点讲解：

1. in addition to 另外；加之；除…之外； 例

句

：

In addition to the psychological reasons

that lead a person to deny his own mental illness, there may be a physiological one, as well.

除了心理方面的原因，导致患者否认病情的原因也有可能来自生理方面。 2. give or take 相差不到…；出入至多；

例句：They grow to a height of 12 ins — give or take a couple of inches. 它们会长到12英寸高——出入至多几英寸。 3. compared to 与…相比；和…比起来； 例句：The American style of education, compared to that of other countries, is quite informal.

美国式的教育跟别的国家比起来是相当不正式的。 4. as for 至于； 例句：As for the identity of the 75 guests, Prince Robert kept it a secret to the last. 至于75位来宾的身份，罗伯特王子则保密至最后一刻。 二、

This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. Are you one of those people who can tell when

a storm is approaching based on your achy knees? Well, you may think you are. But a new study of more than 1.5 million seniors finds no relationship between rainfall and doctor visits for pain. The results are in the British Medical Journal.

The idea that our bodies are barometers for all sorts of weather-related phenomena—including changes in temperature, pressure and precipitation—is not a new one.

\ Jena, a physician

and expert in health care policy at Harvard Medical School and the Massachus

etts General Hospital, who led the study.

\hat things like

rainfall influence symptoms of joint pain and stiffness. But if you look at the studies there's

actually been surprisingly little evidence to suggest that is true. Most of the studies have been

quite small. And we were interested in thinking about whether we could approach this question in a 'big data' sort of way.\

He and his colleagues looked at information collected in more than 11 million visits that older

Americans made to their primary care physicians. They compared these records with data on

daily rainfall. And they asked: do more people report sore backs or swollen joints when the weather is inclement?

\t didn't rain, there

is no difference in the proportion of visits to a doctor that involved a complaint of joint pain or back pain.\

They saw no \you're thinking, well, what if people couldn't get an appointment until the skies cleared up...

\ionship. And that

doesn't mean that factors like rainfall or temperature or humidity don't affect joint pain and symptoms of joint achiness（疼痛achy的名词） and stiffness. But in this sort of big data approach, we didn't find any evidence for it.\

Of course, it could still be that the pain from rain is not enough to complain. \

patients take over-the-counter pain medications once these symptoms hit, and so when they

see their doctor they're not actually in enough pain to mention it.\sualties of low-pressure fronts simply move on—gingerly. Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. 这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。

你是那种可以根据膝盖疼痛来判断暴风雨即将来临的人吗？嗯，你可能认为自己是。但是一项针对150多万名老年人的新研究发现，下雨和疼痛就医之间没有联系。这项研究结果发表在《英国医学期刊》上。

我们的身体是温度、压力和降水变化等各种天气现象的晴雨表，这种想法并不新鲜。 “希波克拉底本人实际上在公元前400年就提出了这个想法。”安努帕姆·耶拿是哈佛医学院和麻省总医院的内科医生兼医疗保健政策专家，也是这项研究的负责人。

“如果你和人们谈论这点，我敢说，可能有数百万人认为，降雨会影响关节疼痛和僵硬。但

是如果你看看这些研究，出乎意料的是，实际上几乎没有证据可以证明那是真的。以前大多数研究规模都相当小。我们想知道是否可以用“大数据”的方式来解决这个问题。” 他和同事查看了从1100多万次就诊纪录中收集到的信息，这些信息是美国老年人在他们的初级保健医生那里留下的记录。研究人员将这些记录与每日降雨量数据进行了比较。然后他们提出疑问：天气恶劣时，会有更多人说自己背部酸痛或关节肿痛吗？

“我们发现，将下雨天和不下雨天相比较时，你会发现因为关节疼或背部疼痛而就医的比例没有差异。”

即使连续下7天大雨，他们也没有看到任何“降雨效应”。要是你在想，也许在放晴之前人们无法预约就诊……

“如果观察暴雨过后的那周，你依然看不到任何联系。这并不意味着降雨量、温度或湿度等因素不会影响关节疼痛和僵硬。但是利用这种大数据的方法，我们依然没有找到任何证据。” 当然，也可能是降雨引发的疼痛并不足以抱怨。“可能这些症状一出现，患者就会服用非处方止痛药，而当他们看医生时，他们实际上并没有很疼，所以不会向医生提及。”低压锋过境造成的伤亡人数持续增加，请小心。

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。 重点讲解：

1. all sorts of 各种各样的；形形色色的；

例句：We overlook all sorts of warning signals about our own health. 我们忽视有关自身健康的种种预警信号。

2. be interested in 感兴趣的；有兴趣的；关心的；

例句：She was interested in the furnishings of that room. 她对那个房间的摆设儿很感兴趣。 3. compare with 比较；对比； 例句：Liz was then able to compare the eagle's eyesight with that of humans. 随后，莉斯将老鹰和人类的视力加以对比。 4. clear up (天气)放晴，变晴朗；

例句：It all depends on the weather clearing up. 这完全取决于天气是否会放晴。 三、

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute.

Music includes a lot of repetition. What would your favorite song be without a chorus? But the

connection runs even deeper than that. Because the very act of repeating something can

render that thing melodious—even the sound of a shovel being dragged across the pavement. That's according to a study to be published soon in the journal Music & Science.

A few years back, psychologists at the University of California, San Diego, discovered that when

words or phrases are repeated a few times, they can start to sound more like singing than speaking.

(\are not only different from those that a

re really present, but they sometimes behave so strangely as to seem quite impossible. But they sometimes

behave so strangely. Sometimes behave so strangely. Sometimes behave so strangely. So

strangely. So strangely. So strangely. So strangely.\illusion/Deutsch)

The effect is perhaps not entirely surprising. Talking and singing are both forms of vocal

communication. But researchers got to wondering: could repetition also musicalize（编成音乐剧） other types of sounds?

So they collected clips of 20 different environmental sounds...including water dripping, ice

cracking, whales calling, and the aforementioned shovel. And they played the snippets to 58 undergraduates...first, as single sounds (single whale call) and then in a series with increasing reiteration (whale call repeated).

What they found is that...as the repeats stacked up...the participants rated the sounds as being more tuneful. The conclusion:

\extend to a broader variety of sounds than just speech.\

Elizabeth Margulis, director of the music cognition lab at the University of Arkansas, who led the study.

\perceptual transformations are powerful because nothing changes in the acoustic

signal itself. That is held fixed. Everything that sounds different comes from the mind itself, making these illusions particularly useful for understanding the musical mode of listening. What

are we doing when we're hearing something musically? How is this different from other kind

soft hearing? These transformations allow us to tackle these kinds of questions head on.\

(ice crack sound repeated)

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是凯伦·霍普金。 本期节目只需要一分钟时间。 音乐包含很多重复部分。你最喜欢的歌曲没了副歌会变成什么样子？但是，音乐与重复还有更深层的联系。因为这种重复会让声音变得有音乐性——即使是在人行道上拖动铁铲的声音。这一结论来自即将在《音乐与科学》期刊上发表的一项研究。

几年前，加州大学圣地亚哥分校的心理学家发现，单词或短语重复几次以后，它们就开始听起来更像是唱歌而不是说话了。

“你听到的声音不仅和那些存在的声音不同，而且有时候还表现得非常奇怪，以致于听起来相当不可思议。而且声音有时表现得非常奇怪。有时就是非常奇怪。非常奇怪。非常奇怪。

非常奇怪。”（来源：语音变歌曲幻觉/多伊奇）

这种效果也许没什么奇怪的。因为说话和唱歌都是口头交流的形式。但是研究人员想知道：重复是否也能音乐化其他类型的声音？

所以，他们收集了20种不同环境中的声音片段，其中包括水滴落的声音、冰裂声、鲸鱼叫声以及前面提到的铲子声。然后，他们给58名大学生播放了这些声音片段，首先是单一的片段（单次鲸鱼叫声），然后播放一系列不断重复的声音（重复的鲸鱼叫声）。 他们发现，重复次数增加时，参与者认为这些声音变得更加悦耳。 结论是：

“重复在音乐化方面的力量似乎可以扩大到更广泛的声音范畴，而不仅仅是语言。” 阿肯色大学音乐认知实验室主任伊丽莎白·马古利斯负责这项研究。

“这些感知转换很强大，因为声音信号本身没有任何变化。那是恒定不变的。所有听起来不同的声音都来自于思维本身，这使这些错觉对于理解听觉的音乐模式尤为有用。我们在听到具有音乐性的声音时会有什么反应？这与听到其他类型的声音有什么不同？这些转换使我们能够正面解决此类问题。” （重复的冰碎裂声）

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。 重点讲解：

1. according to 据…所说；按…所载； 例句：According to an article in The Economist the drug could have side effects.

《经济学家》杂志上的一篇文章讲到这种药可能有副作用。 2. be different from 有差别的；不同的；

例句：The worker of today is different from the worker of yesterday. 如今的工人和以往的不同了。

3. allow sb. to do sth. 允许；容许；准许；

例句：The compromise will allow him to continue his free market reforms. 妥协将使他得以继续他的自由市场改革。 4. head on 正面的，直接的；

例句：Once again, I chose to confront the issue head-on. 我又一次选择了直接面对该问题。 四、

I ①Your wireless carrier loves you deeply and they want you to know.②

That's why, if you try to break your contract with them, they'll charge you a fee of up to $350. ③It's just one of the many ways they show they care.

II ①But before you start forking over your hard-earned money, check out these ways you may be able to skip the fee and push through your wireless carrier divorce.

III ①Get out while the gettin’s（getting的省语） good. ②This option won't apply to everyone, but it's worth mentioning that you can usually cancel a new contract within 2-4 weeks without having to pay an early termination fee

（ETF）. ③You may be responsible for a restocking fee, but it will be much smaller than the ETF at the beginning of a contract.

IV ①Find out if the Devil changed the deal. ②Cell phone companies don't exactly run around advertising this, but you two are in the contract together.③That means if they have changed the terms of the contract, you have a right to end the agreement. ④By law, your carrier has to notify you of these changes, but they may try to hide the info in your multi-page bill, so be sure to review it carefully. ⑤Generally, you have 14 days from receiving notice of the change to challenge it.

V ①Move to the middle of nowhere. ②If you let the customer service rep at your phone company know that you are moving to an area with no mobile coverage, you may be able to wiggle out of your contract without paying the fee. ③It isn't a sure thing, but it may be worth a try!

VI ①Be really, really annoying. ②Customer service is expensive. ③Every time you are on the phone with a customer service rep, you are costing your cell company money. ④If you have encountered terrible service and spent tons of time on the phone with your carrier, take it up a notch and you might be able to get them to end the contract for you. ⑤There's no need to be rude, patience and persistence are the key to convincing your carrier that you are just going to keep costing them money. ⑥Note: remember to weigh the value of your time against the ETF.

VII ①Foist it off on someone else. ②One woman's crummy, detestable cell phone carrier can be another woman's gold. ③If other methods have failed, you may be able to trade your contract away to someone else. ④Why would anyone else want your contract? ⑤Because along with the contract, they'll be getting your phone free. ⑥Not to mention the fact that they won't be stuck in a contract for as long. 词汇短语

1. wireless carrier 无线运营商

2. early termination fee 提前解约费，违约金 3. restocking fee 退货费

4. middle of nowhere 无所适从，与世隔绝的地方 5. customer service 客户服务 6. coverage 覆盖，覆盖范围

7*.wiggle['w?g(?)l] vi. 使……摆动，使……扭动 8*.notch[n?t?] n. 刻痕，凹口；等级

9. persistence[p?'s?st(?)ns] n. 持续；坚持不懈 10. weigh[we?] v.称…重量,称;重达;考虑,权衡 11. foist [f??st] vt.硬卖给；把…强加于

12. crummy ['kr?m?] a. 微不足道的；卑鄙的 13. detestable [d?'test?b(?)l] a. 可憎的，可恶的 14. not to mention更不必说；不必提及 翻译点评

I ①Your wireless carrier loves you deeply and they want you to know.②

That's why, if you try to break your contract with them, they'll charge you a fee of up to $350. ③It's just one of the many ways they show they care.

翻译：你的无线运营商想让你知道他对你爱得很深，所以如果你试图违约，他会向你收取高达350美元的费用。这只是运营商对你表示关心的一种方式。 点评：段I为引出主题做铺垫，关键词是wireless carrier、contract和fee，由此可以看出整篇文章讲述的是手机用户与手机运营商的爱恨纠缠。全段三句话全部运用拟人的修辞手法，吸引眼球，引人注意，尤其句①的loves you deeply极大地勾起读者的阅读兴趣。

II ①But before you start forking over your hard-earned money, check out these ways you may be able to skip the fee and push through your wireless carrier divorce. 翻译：但是，在把辛辛苦苦赚来的钱支付出去之前，你可以先参考以下几种方法，说不定可以跳过缴费这一环节，从而不花费一分一毛便可以与你的运营商“和离”。

点评：段II是主题段，全段共一句话，句①开头使用but一词，用转折来突出强调主题，即对于缴纳违约金一事，手机用户并非无计可施，有下文列举的几种方法可供参考。同时值得注意的一点是，本句采用比喻的修辞手法，将用户与运营商的合约关系比作一场婚姻，而解除合同则是离婚。

III ①Get out while the gettin’s good. ②This option won't apply to everyone, but it's worth mentioning that you can usually cancel a new contract within 2-4 weeks without having to pay an early termination fee（ETF）. ③You may be responsible for a restocking fee, but it will be much smaller than the ETF at the beginning of a contract.

翻译：趁形势不错时赶紧脱身。这一选择并非对每个人都适应，但值得一提的是在通常情况下，如果你在签订合约后的2-4周内取消合同，那便不需要交违约金。你可能需要缴纳一笔退货费，但是与签约初期便违约需要缴纳的违约金相比，这笔退货费要少得多。

点评：从段III开始，一直到文章结束，共5段内容，每段分别讲述一种方法。段III的方法是趁形势不错时赶紧脱身，倡导用户抓住时机，及早脱身，句②对脱身方法做出详细解释，并用数字具体说明，句③是通过对比违约金和退货费，证明此种方法的可行性。

IV ①Find out if the Devil changed the deal. ②Cell phone companies don't exactly run around advertising this, but you two are in the contract together.③That means if they have changed the terms of the contract, you have a right to end the agreement. ④By law, your carrier has to notify you of these changes, but they may try to hide the info in your multi-page bill, so be sure to review it carefully. ⑤Generally, you have 14 days from receiving notice of the change to challenge it.

翻译：查明魔鬼是否改变交易。手机公司运营商不会到处宣扬这一点，但是你要记得，你也是合同的一方。这意味着如果他们改变合同条款，你有权终止这份合同。根据法律，你的运营商必须告知你条款有哪些改动，但是他们可能利用合同页数众多等条件隐瞒相关信息，所以合同拿到手之后，你一定要仔细阅读。一般而言，获知合同条款有改动后，你有14天的时间采取行动。

点评：段IV介绍了避免缴纳违约金的第二种方法——及时查明运营商是否改变合同条款。其中句①是与魔鬼的交易是西方国家的一种固定说法，喻指对方难缠，

奸诈等；句②③解释了这种采取这种方法的原因，接着句④⑤借助法律规定和数字说明这种方法的可行性。

V ①Move to the middle of nowhere. ②If you let the customer service rep at your phone company know that you are moving to an area with no mobile coverage, you may be able to wiggle out of your contract without paying the fee. ③It isn't a sure thing, but it may be worth a try! 翻译：跑到与世隔绝的地方。如果能让运营商的客服人员相信你要去到一个没有手机信号覆盖的地方，那你有可能不需付违约金便可提前终止合同。这种做法不是十分可靠，但是值得一试。

点评：段V介绍了第三种方法，跑到与世隔绝的地方，本段充分体现了整篇文章的一大特色，即用词活泼，其中middle of nowhere（与世隔绝的地方） 和wiggle（ 使……摆动，使……扭动）等词为文章增色不少。

VI ①Be really, really annoying. ②Customer service is expensive. ③Every time you are on the phone with a customer service rep, you are costing your cell company money. ④If you have encountered terrible service and spent tons of time on the phone with your carrier, take it up a notch and you might be able to get them to end the contract for you. ⑤There's no need to be rude, patience and persistence are the key to convincing your carrier that you are just going to keep costing them money. ⑥Note: remember to weigh the value of your time against the ETF.

翻译：做到非常非常让人讨厌。客户服务非常昂贵。每次你与客服人员通话时，都是在花费运营商的钱。如果你遇到客服态度恶劣的情况，并且已经花费许多时间与运营商通话，那么不妨再进一步，多骚扰几次，这样他们可能会主动与你解除合同。你不必粗鲁无礼，只需要有耐心，持之不懈，让运营商意识到你会一直这样花费他们的钱。注意：要衡量好到底是违约金贵还是你的时间更值钱。 点评：段VI介绍了第四种方法，即努力做到讨人厌，并且列举实例说明本种方法的可行性，其中句⑤用一本正经的口气为读者和手机用户提供建议，再次体现了文章的特点——幽默。

VII ①Foist it off on someone else. ②One woman's crummy, detestable cell phone carrier can be another woman's gold. ③If other methods have failed, you may be able to trade your contract away to someone else. ④Why would anyone else want your contract? ⑤Because along with the contract, they'll be getting your phone free. ⑥Not to mention the fact that they won't be stuck in a contract for as long.

翻译：推给他人。可能一个运营商在这个人眼里是卑鄙、可恶的形象，却被那个人当成宝贝。如果其他方法行不通，你可以尝试把你的合同转让给他人。为什么会有人愿意接手你的合同？因为他们在接手你的合同的同时，还可以获得你的电话资费，更不必说，这样他们就不需要被合同捆绑那么久了。

点评：段VII介绍了最后一种方法，即将烫手山芋——与运营商的合同——移交给别人，句②又是对西方固定说法“One man's meat is another man's poison”的改编，翻译成中文俗语就是各花入各眼，或者萝卜青菜各有所爱，句④使用问句，句⑤⑥分别列举答案，即这种方法可行的原因。

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