英语听力：自然百科 穿越银河系的旅行 Through Milky Way—17

 We are traveling upwards¹ away from our solar system, out of the spiral arms of the Milky² Way. 

 

 

 

In front of us, lie vast clusters of stars, satellite groups that orbit the heart of our galaxy³. These are globular clusters, over 150 have been discovered.

 

 

 

Here astronomers⁴ have found the answer to one of the greatest questions in astronomy, how long has our galaxy existed?

 

 

 

Globular clusters are really fascinating groups of stars. They contain about a million stars each. And the thing that is really cool about them is the stars are really tightened⁵ pack. 

 

 

 

If you could visit a globular cluster, the night sky would be spectacular, many of the stars would be as bright as the full moon.  And the night time sky in all directions would be filled with bright nearby stars, a bit like fireworks all the time. Apart from their sheer number, there are something intriguing⁶ about the stars found in these clusters. 

 

 

 

One of the very interesting aspects of globular clusters is that there is no sign of young stars.

 

 

 

 

 

Stars are a bit like people. Look at them, and you can guess their age, and the life they have lived. With people that might be gray hairs, or wrinkles, with stars, it is their color and their size. 

 

 

 

So the biggest stars, the most massive stars, the ones with the most gas, live life of fascinating.They live very short amounts of time, but they burn very brightly, and they are very, very hot，and so they tend to be blue. 

 

 

 

On the other hand, you have the red stars which use their energy very conservatively, last for a long time, don’t blow too brightly, and those stars last for a very long time.

1 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

2 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

3 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

4 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 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。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

6 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》