英语听力精选进阶版 7184

Background:土卫六是土星最大的卫星，它主要是由水、冰和山脉组成。科学家近日在旧金山召开的美国地球物理学联合会上宣称他们可能在土卫六上发现了冰火山。

Titan shroudedis a mysterious world. Because it's shrouded¹ in a thick, oily haze², it's extremely hard to identify anything at the moon with confidence. But with temperatures that plunge³ to minus 180 Celsius⁴ at the surface, researchers had suspected it might have ice volcanoes.

And now the Cassini probe has spotted⁵ a 1,500m-high mountain with a deep pit in it, and what looks like a flow of material nearby.

Scientists can only speculate what sort of material a cryo-volcano might erupt, but the complex chemistry at Titan suggests it could be a slushy water-ice containing ammonia.

If there are a lot of carbon molecules⁷ present, the lava⁸ could even look like softened⁹ asphalt, candle wax or even polyethylene.

The team which discovered the mountain have dubbed¹¹ it "The Rose".

Glossary¹² 词汇表

shrouded 笼罩 

haze 烟雾 

to plunge 骤降 

probe 探测器 

to spot 发现 

to speculate 推测，猜测 

to erupt 喷出 

slushy 泥泞的 

molecule⁶ 分子 

to dub¹⁰ 把…称为

Questions and Answers

1. Why is it difficult to identify anything on Titan’s surface? 

Because it is shrouded in a thick, oily haze.

2. Why do scientists think that there could be an ice volcano there? 

Because temperatures on the surface plunge to minus 180 Celsius.

3. True or false? Scientists are sure the volcano spews ice. 

False. Scientists can only collect evidence and speculate what sort of material the Titan volcano might erupt.

4. True or false? The lava could look like candle wax. 

True. Due to the amount of carbon molecules present, it could even look like candle wax.

1 shrouded   

v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密

参考例句：

• The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
• The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

3 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

4 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

5 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

6 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

7 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。

8 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

9 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

10 dub   

vt.（以某种称号）授予，给...起绰号，复制

参考例句：

• I intend to use simultaneous recording to dub this film.我打算采用同期录音的方法为这部影片配音。
• It was dubbed into Spanish for Mexican audiences.它被译制成西班牙语以方便墨西哥观众观看。

11 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。