英语听力：自然百科 穿越银河系的旅行 Through Milky Way—32

 A new galaxy¹ is formed where, instead of the discs that the original galaxies² have, where all the stars are going around more or less on a plane. Instead the stars are going every which way just like the elliptical galaxies that we see. And so we are pretty sure that this process must be a large/ part of how elliptical galaxies form. 

 

The collision of the Milky³ Way with Andromeda will leave behind a giant elliptical galaxy. Before that happens, there will be one last sight to savor 

 

The image of the Andromeda will be stretched across the sky, looming⁴ as big as the Milky Way itself. And it’s conceivable that there would be human beings like ourselves, looking at the sky and seeing this spectacular image. 

 

But would we be the only ones? Or is the galaxy home to other civilizations? It’s time for the final leg of our journey as we search for life inside the Milky Way. 

 

There are around 200 billion stars in our galaxy. But there is only one neighborhood that we know for sure, sustains life. 

 

The sun powers almost everything here on the Earth. It’s the energy source; it’s the engine of life and many other processes. And life here on earth is based heavily on water. And it’s liquid water, it’s the key to life as we know it. And it’s because / liquid water serves as the solvent⁵, the cocktail⁶ mixer for the biochemistry of life. 

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 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。

3 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。

4 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

5 solvent   

n.溶剂；adj.有偿付能力的

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid which removes grease spots.汽油是一种能去掉油污的有溶解力的液体。
• A bankrupt company is not solvent.一个破产的公司是没有偿还债务的能力的。

6 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。