2015-03-27 BBC:星光七纪元-20

 Actually, Arcturus is an omen¹ of something far worse than the bad weather, a portended² drama more intense than any of what you could imagine. When our own sun eventually becomes a red giant in 5 billion years time, it will turn into a destroyer rather than a protector of worlds. Doctor Robin³ Catchpole, has devoted⁴ his middle years to studying these devouring⁵ beast of the light. Their story starts the day the hydrogen in their core runs out. Most of the stars’ life, it spins  fusing hydrogen into helium. And this of course provides the pressure that resists the force of gravity. When the hydrogen runs out in the core we just got the helium. Then there is no source of energy, so the core starts to collapse⁶. And as it collapses⁷ under the force of gravity, it heats up. And the temperature becomes high enough to start nuclear fusion⁸ reactions in the shell around the core. So we have what we call shell hydrogen burning. Fusion has stopped in the core. It's still hot, but it's dead. The star is now fundamentally different form our twinkling sun. The light we have seen is still being generated by nuclear fusion, but it's happening in a ring of hydrogen that surrounds the core instead.

1 omen   

n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示

参考例句：

• The superstitious regard it as a bad omen.迷信的人认为那是一种恶兆。
• Could this at last be a good omen for peace?这是否终于可以视作和平的吉兆了？

2 portended   

v.预示( portend的过去式和过去分词 )；预兆；给…以警告；预告

参考例句：

• It portended that there was one stone face too many, up at the chateau. 这说明庄园里多出了一张石雕人面。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• She confusedly realised this reversal of her attitudes, but could not make out what it portended. 她糊里糊涂的意识到自己这种相反的态度，但是不知道它会带来什么。 来自辞典例句

3 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

4 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

5 devouring   

吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• The hungry boy was devouring his dinner. 那饥饿的孩子狼吞虎咽地吃饭。
• He is devouring novel after novel. 他一味贪看小说。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 collapses   

折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下

参考例句：

• This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。
• Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

8 fusion   

n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc. 黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• This alloy is formed by the fusion of two types of metal.这种合金是用两种金属熔合而成的。