英语听力：自然百科 神秘百慕大 bermuda triangle—9

 It's very hard to tell. We've just hit the water. It's very hard to tell what altitude we're at. We've crashed the airplane at 930 feet. It seems clear that flying into that methane¹ caused enough confusion in the instruments and with Thomas and he ended up crashing the plane. 

 

The experiment suggests that eruptions² of methane could cause a plane to crash at low altitudes, and sink a ship. But how much methane hydrate activity is there in the Bermuda Triangle? 

 

Scientists who study the Atlantic claim there is nothing special about the region when it comes to gas. 

 

There's no reason to believe that this three particular area would be any more prone³ to methane hydrate released than anywhere else.

 

And oceanographers strongly believe that the methane necessary to cause a plane or boat to disappear is firmly trapped beneath the ocean's floor. 

 

There is no evidence that would link the release of methane from methane hydrates to the disappearances⁴ of ships or airplanes. They're extremely stable. You have to raise the temperatures or drop the pressures to make the methane hydrates unstable⁵ and we see no evidence of that within, you know, the last several thousand years. 

 

The possibility of methane hydrate as an explanation for doing in a great to ship like the 'Cyclops', for example, that seems to be hypothetically possible. But how likely would that be? Very, very, very unlikely. Particularly, an accurate asteroid⁶ hitting a ship would be about the same nature, I think, asteroids⁷ exist. They could not get a ship. Why isn't everybody talking about asteroids?

 

The methane hydrate theory's bubble has been burst. But what else explains the Bermuda Triangle's disappearances? Greg and Laura Little hope to find one of the lost planes in the depths of the Atlantic. 

 

Once we started doing it, we realized why the Bermuda Triangle is such a mystery and it's because it's difficult to do any investigation⁸ at all and it's a vast, unexplored area.

 

1 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

2 eruptions   

n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year. 今年火山爆发了好几次。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Over 200 people have been killed by volcanic eruptions. 火山喷发已导致200多人丧生。 来自辞典例句

3 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

4 disappearances   

n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案

参考例句：

• Most disappearances are the result of the terrorist activity. 大多数的失踪案都是恐怖分子造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学

5 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

6 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。

7 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。