英语听力：自然百科 穿越银河系的旅行 Through Milky Way—29

 And every faint smudge of light you are looking at is a galaxy¹. For Richard Ellis, it's a galactic treasure trove². 

 

 

 

So much like an archaeologist/, we piece together history by digging into deeper and deeper layers. So a cosmologist like myself, uses this image to look at the history of the universe how the most distant galaxies³, seen as they were a long time ago, evolve and grow to the biggest systems that we see around us today. 

 

 

 

The image reveals something very intriguing⁴ about the beginning of our Milky⁵ Way. 

 

 

 

When we look at these early galaxies, they don't resemble the star cities that we see today. They are lumpy, they are irregular, they appear to be interacting with their neighbors, they’re physically⁶ very very small. So clearly the universe was very different in those early times. 

 

 

 

Twelve billion years ago, the universe was a much smaller place. It hadn’t expanded to the size / it is today. Our Milky Way would’ve been jostling for room. 

 

 

 

So it's very difficult for these early galaxies to establish themselves. These early galaxies are struggling to survive at this very early time. 

 

 

 

It was a case of survival of the fittest, the largest galaxies growing bigger by devouring⁷ the smallest. 

 

 

 

So it's tough for these early systems to form, but clearly they do, and they eventually merge⁸ with their neighbors and form the biggest systems that we see today. 

 

 

 

It was collisions in the early universe that created the beautiful spiral galaxy we live in today. But astronomers believe there is one final collision in store for the Milky Way, one which will change it foreve

1 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。

2 trove   

n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西

参考例句：

• He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中国瓷器。
• The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.这个画廊是中世纪艺术的宝库。

3 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

4 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》

5 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。

6 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

7 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。

8 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。