英语听力：探索发现 科学新发现：我们的大气层-6

 In contrast, Jupiter and Saturn¹ are all atmosphere. Unlike Earth, Jupiter doesn’t really have a solid surface that you could stand on and then have your head up in the atmosphere looking at the clouds. It’s just a giant, giant gas ball. Only one other planet shares the Earth’s thick atmosphere and rocky surface—our nearest neighbor, Venus. But even here there are striking differences.

 

Dr. David Crisp has spent 20 years studying Venus’ acrid² air. 

 

Imagine you’re at the surface of the planet Venus. You’re at pressures that are high enough to crush a nuclear submarine. The pressures there are about ninety times the pressure of the Earth’s surface. 

 

This pressure is combined with extreme heat, nine hundred degrees Fahrenheit³, hot enough to melt lead. Clouds drift over the baked surface, but they are not water vapor⁴. Venus’ clouds are made of concentrated sulphuric acid. Venus is a stark⁵ example of how extreme an atmosphere can be. But the real mystery isn’t why Venus is so hostile, but why Earth hasn’t followed the same path.

 

As planets go, Earth and Venus are essentially⁶ twins. They’re almost exactly the same size. They’re also very close together in the solar system. In spite of that, their environments evolved in dramatically different ways. 

 

1 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

2 acrid   

adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的

参考例句：

• There is an acrid tone to your remarks.你说这些话的口气带有讥刺意味。
• The room was filled with acrid smoke.房里充满刺鼻的烟。

3 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

4 vapor   

n.蒸汽，雾气

参考例句：

• The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
• This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。

5 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。