英语听力：探索发现 2014-07-23 BBC 地平线：陨石的真相-31

 When you consider the Earth’s history stretching over billions of years, it’s clear that meteorite¹ impacts, far from being unexpected, are just a normal part of the life cycle of our planet. But that is not how they seem to us. The Chebarkul meteorite is a reminder² of something we could probably rather not think about too often how a sudden, apparently³ random⁴ event could have devastating⁵ consequences. But this time we have been lucky. Although it was terrifying for those who witnessed it, this meteor struck without causing any fatalities⁶, and close enough to be captured on multiple cameras. So it’s given us a huge amount of information to help us prepare for the next one. 

 

I think perhaps the real lasting⁷ legacy⁸ of the Russian meteor will be the effect it has had on the popular consciousness and perhaps on politicians. Scientists have been saying for decades now that these things do happen from time to time, that they could be dangerous if they happened over populated area. But now we have actual proof, we have an event we can point to. We know it could’ve been worse than this. So I think if this leads to more vigilance and perhaps the detection of future impacting events, that’ll be a good outcome. 

 

When a bit of an asteroid⁹ comes through the atmosphere and lands on the Earth as a meteorite, it reminds us that the solar system is a dynamic place. It’s not finished. It’s still working. It’s still evolving. It’s still changing. 

 

So next time you look up at the night sky, spare a thought for those thousands of rocky lumps whizzing across our path. A few of them have got our name on them, but the thing is by analyzing¹⁰ in detail the data from the meteor. It means that next time, and there will be a next time., we will be much more prepared.

 

1 meteorite   

n.陨石；流星

参考例句：

• The meteorite in Jilin Exhibition Hall is believed to be the largest in the world.吉林展览馆的陨石被认为是世界上最大的。
• The famous Murchison meteorite smashed into the Australian ground in 1969.1969年著名的默奇森陨石轰然坠落在澳大利亚。

2 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

5 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

6 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

8 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

9 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

10 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句