高中英语人教版必修3 04

[00:06.58]Reading   HOW LIFE BEGAN ON THE EARTH
[00:11.44]After the "Big Bang",the earth was just a cloud of energetic dust.
[00:17.08]What it was to become was a mystery until the dust began to slowly combine
[00:22.41]into a ball moving around the sun.
[00:26.25]The problem was that the earth became violent
[00:30.69]because it was not clear whether the solid shape was to last or not.
[00:36.34]It exploded loudly with fire and rock,
[00:40.83]which were in time to produce the water vapour¹,
[00:44.98]carbon dioxide,oxygen,nitrogen and other gases,
[00:51.33]which were to make the earth's atmosphere.
[00:54.49]As the earth cooled down,water began to appear on its surface.
[01:00.34]Nobody knew that it was going to be different from other planets³
[01:05.10]going round the sun.
[01:07.74]Water had already disappeared from planets like Mars⁴ or satellites like the moon,
[01:15.31]but it stayed on the earth.
[01:18.05]This is how the earth began to show its special qualities.
[01:22.42]Many people think that this was important for the beginning of life.
[01:28.35]It allowed the earth to dissolve harmful gases,
[01:32.71]which had become part of the earth;satmosphere,into the oceans and seas.
[01:40.08]That made it possible for life to begin to develop.
[01:44.23]What scientists think is that the earth was different
[01:48.64]because of the arrival of small plants growing in the water on its surface.
[01:55.49]Nobody understood that these plants were the start of many changes.
[02:01.26]They multiplied and filled the first oceans and seas with oxygen.
[02:08.03]This encouraged the development of early shellfish and all sorts of fish.
[02:14.58]Many millions of years later the first green plants began to appear on land.
[02:20.83]Scientists believe that taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
[02:26.78]and filling the air with oxygen helped life to develop.
[02:32.06]Later land animals appeared.Some were insects.
[02:37.41]Others,called amphibians,were able to live on land as well as in the sea.
[02:44.36]When the plants grew into forests,reptiles appeared for the first time.
[02:49.93]They produced young generally by laying eggs.
[02:54.50]Later,some huge animals,called dinosaurs,developed.
[03:00.35]They laid eggs too.
[03:02.70]They became the most important animals on the earth for millions of years.
[03:08.66]But when they they disappeared,mammals became more important.
[03:13.62]They were the last group of animals and they were different
[03:17.77]because they produced their young from within their bodies.
[03:22.03]Small clever animals,now with hands and feet,
[03:26.47]appeared and spread all over the earth.
[03:29.82]They developed new methods of growing food,hunting and moving around.
[03:35.98]As time went by they covered the earth
[03:39.74]and have become the most important animals on the planet².
[03:43.69]But they are not taking care of the earth very well.
[03:47.34]They are putting too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,
[03:52.70]which prevents heat from escaping from the earth into space.
[03:57.45]The earth may become too hot for the lives on it.
[04:02.31]Whether life will continue on the earth for millions of years to come
[04:05.55]will depend on whether this problem can be solved.
[04:12.81]Using Language  Listening
[04:22.37]1 Look at this information sheet first.
[04:26.74]Then listen to the tape and fill in the chart.
[07:29.70]Reading    A VISIT OT THE MOON
[07:39.44]Last month I was lucky enough to have a chance to make a trip into space
[07:44.77]with my friend Li Yanping,an astronomer⁵.
[07:48.43]We visited the moon in our spaceship!
[07:52.19]Before we left,Li Yanping explained to me
[07:57.34]that the force of gravity would change three times on our journey
[08:01.70]and that the first change would be the most powerful.
[08:05.46]Then we were off.As the rocket rose slowly into the air
[08:10.63]we began to feel the pull of the earth,
[08:13.58]which is what we call gravity

[08:16.22]At first it pushed us so hard back into our seats
[08:21.08]that we could not say anything to each other.
[08:24.03]Gradually the weight lessened⁶ and I was able to talk to him.
[08:29.49]"Why is the spaceship not falling back to the earth?
[08:33.33]On the earth if I fall from at tree I will fall to the ground."I asked.
[08:39.99]"We are too far from the earth now to feel its pull,"he explained.
[08:45.35]"So we feel as if there is no gravity at all.
[08:49.19]When we get closer to the moon,
[08:51.75]we shall feel its gravity pulling us
[08:55.09]but it will not be as strong a pull as the earth's."
[08:58.85]I cheered up immediately and floated weightlessly around in our spaceship cabin⁷
[09:04.81]watching the earth become smaller and the moon larger.
[09:09.49]When we got there,I wanted to explore immediately.
[09:13.53]"Come on,"I said,"If you are right,my mass will be less than on the earth
[09:19.99]because the moon is smaller and I will be able to move more freely⁸.
[09:25.03]I might even grow taller if I stay here long enough.
[09:29.08]I shall certainly weigh less!"
[09:31.74]I laughed and climbed down the steps from the spaceship.
[09:35.69]But when I tried to step forward
[09:38.56]I found I was carried twice as far as on the earth and fell over.
[09:43.71]"Oh dear,"I cried,"walking does need a bit of practice
[09:49.98]now that gravity has changed."
[09:52.72]After a while I got the hang of it and we bgean to enjoy ourselves.
[09:58.07]Leaving the mooon's gravity was not as painful as leaving the earth's.
[10:03.82]But returning to the earth was very frightening.
[10:07.35]We watched,amazed as fire broke out on the outside of the spaceship
[10:13.12]as the earth's gravity increased.
[10:16.07]Again we were pushed hard into our seats as we came back to land.
[10:21.32]"That was very exhausting⁹ but very exciting too,"I exclaimed¹⁰.
[10:26.68]"Now I know much more about gravity!
[10:30.33]Do you think we could visit some stars next time?"
[10:33.81]"Of course,"he smiled,"which star would you like to go to?"

1 vapour   

n.蒸气，水蒸气，雾气；v.蒸发，吹嘘，（=vapor）（英）

参考例句：

• A cloud is a mass of vapour in the sky.云是天空中的水汽团块。
• The heat of the sun turns the sea water into invisible vapour.太阳热使海水变成看不见的水汽。

2 planet   

n.行星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun. 海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Rubbish, however, is only part of the problem of polluting our planet. 然而, 垃圾只是我们这个星球的污染问题的一个方面。

3 planets   

行星( planet的名词复数 )； 地球（尤指环境）

参考例句：

• Does life exist on other planets? 其他行星上有生命吗？
• the planets of our solar system 太阳系的行星

4 Mars   

n.火星，战争

参考例句：

• As of now we don't know much about Mars.目前我们对火星还知之甚少。
• He contended that there must be life on Mars.他坚信火星上面一定有生物。

5 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。

6 lessened   

减少的，减弱的

参考例句：

• Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
• The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。

7 cabin   

n.(结构简单的)小木屋；船舱，机舱

参考例句：

• They threw up a new cabin in a couple of hours.在几小时之内他们就建起了一座新的小屋。
• It's very hot in the cabin;let's go on deck.舱室内很热，我们到甲板上去吧。

8 freely   

adv.自由地，随便地，无拘无束地

参考例句：

• She was unable to keep back her tears,and wept freely.她抑制不住泪水，痛痛快快地哭了起来。
• A liquid flows freely and has no fixed shape.液体能自由流动，无固定形态。

9 exhausting   

a.疲倦的

参考例句：

• an exhausting day at work 工作得筋疲力尽的一天
• This exhausting work is enough to run everyone down. 这项费力的工作足以使人精疲力竭。

10 exclaimed   

vt.exclaim的过去式v.呼喊，惊叫，大声说( exclaim的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "We have a good chance of winning," he exclaimed optimistically. “我们很可能获胜。”他乐观地喊道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She exclaimed in delight when she saw the presents. 她见到礼品高兴得叫了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》