【轻松英文阅读】宇宙中的灾难

 While you were going about your day on February 24th of this year, the sun was ejecting a massive jet of particles into space. This phenomenon is known as a CME, a coronal mass ejection and they often come after a solar flare¹.

 

Luckily for us on earth, this one was not pointing our way. According to scientists, this CME was one of the most massive ever observed. If it had hit the earth, it would have severely² damaged communication networks and power grids³ all over the globe. They estimate the damages would have been over 2.6 trillion dollars. To put it in perspective, that is ten times more costly⁴ than the Fukushima disaster, the most expensive disaster in history.

 

The last time the earth was hit by a similar CME was in the mid-19th century. People said that the night skies were so lit up by solar radiation it was as bright as daylight.

1 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

2 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

3 grids   

n.格子( grid的名词复数 )；地图上的坐标方格；（输电线路、天然气管道等的）系统网络；（汽车比赛）赛车起跑线

参考例句：

• Typical framed structures are beams, grids, plane and space frames or trusses. 典型构架结构为梁、格栅、平面的和空间的框架或桁架。 来自辞典例句
• The machines deliver trimmed grids for use or stock. 这种机器铸出修整过的板栅，以供使用或储存。 来自辞典例句

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。