听力文摘：再见了，太阳

So Long, Sun

再见了，太阳

Wow! What a beautiful sunset.

哇！多么美丽的夕阳啊！

Enjoy it while it lasts, the sun won't be around forever, you know.

尽情欣赏吧，太阳不会永远存在的。

You mean, one day the sun will disappear?

你的意思是，有朝一日太阳会消失？

Not exactly disappear, but the sun will eventually burn out and die.

不是完全消失，太阳的能量最后会耗尽并枯竭。

Won't that make things really cold down here?

那样的话，地球就会变得很冷了。

Actually, there won't be any here, here. When the sun dies,the earth will be destroy too.

实际上，那时地球就不存在了。没有了太阳，地球也将毁灭。

Wow, hold on, start from the beginning.

等一下，你从头开始说。

Okay. Like all stars, the sun is basically a giant nuclear reactor¹ that burns hydrogen to create energy. But like any reactor, the sun needs fuel to keep going. It's been going strong for around four-point-five billion years, and will probably keep burning for about five billion more.

好的。像所有的行星一样，太阳从根本上说，是一个巨型核反应堆，通过燃烧氢气产生能量。但是，就像任一反应堆，太阳需要燃料来保持运作。它已经良好运作大约45亿年了，并且将会持续燃烧50亿年左右。

But then, the fuel will run out?

到那时，燃料就会耗尽。

Exactly. When it does, gravity will cause the sun's core to contract. When it contracts the core will get hotter, which will heat up the sun's upper layers and make them expand. The sun will then become what’s called a red giant, and its radius² will reach just past the orbit of Venus.

是的。当太阳能量耗尽，地心引力会使得太阳核心缩小。缩小地同时温度变得更得高，这样就加剧了太阳外层的燃烧并使其膨胀。太阳就变成了所谓哦红巨星，它的半径将会达到以前金星的运行轨道。

Which is bad for us.

那样会对我们有害。

We’ll be burned to a crisp.

我们会被烧成土豆片的。

That's sounds painful.

听起来很痛苦。

After a few billion years the core will begin to cool and expand. The sun's upper layers will expand and lose material, and eventually the core will cool enough to become a white dwarf³ star, and finally a black dwarf.

数十亿年后太阳中心开始冷却并扩大。太阳的上层也将扩大，失去物质重量，最后中心冷却到一定程度就成了白矮星，最终成黑矮星。

So, we’re pretty much doomed⁴.

那时，我们就注定要完蛋了。

Yes, but not for billions of years. Who knows? By then, human's might been living on another planet.

是的。但那是几十亿年以后的事了。谁知道呢？到那时，人类也许已经生活在另一个星球上了。

1 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• 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。

2 radius   

n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限

参考例句：

• He has visited every shop within a radius of two miles.周围两英里以内的店铺他都去过。
• We are measuring the radius of the circle.我们正在测量圆的半径。

3 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
• The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。

4 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。