英语听力：自然百科 金星和水星旅行指南 Venus and Mercury-13

 In 1989, the space shuttle Atlantis launches the Magellan Probe toward / Venus. After a journey of 15 months, Magellan uses radar¹ eyes to peer through the clouds from orbit. Watching form earth is Ellen Stofan. 

 

“When you have that ability to pick up an image and say I want the first three people, I want the first five people to ever look at this piece of ground on another planet. It’s such a sense of awe² and a sense of discovery.”

 

Magellan’s radar strips away the thick clouds. For the first time ever, we see all the Venus lay bare. Welcome to lava³ land. 

 

“There are volcanoes of all sizes / from a kilometer/ across to hundreds of kilometers across. In essence it’s not all that different from some areas on the earth. But on the other hand, it’s of course this dry world with no vegetation at all.”

 

It’s the sheer number of volcanoes that sets Venus apart. This is a world that has been tortured by fire. Over 1,600 giant volcanoes puncture⁴ the surface. It’s possible some are still active. Mark Bullock enjoys spending time on Venus at least the virgin⁵ he found.

1 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

2 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

3 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

4 puncture   

n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破

参考例句：

• Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。
• My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞，需要修补。

5 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。