英语听力精选进阶版 7245（在线收听）

智利的科学家说一项新科研显示银河系中有无数恒星有可能成为适宜人类居住的地方。天文学家们是通过高精度徑向速度行星搜索器技术来进行这项研究的。

Thousands of years of astronomy spent wondering about potentiallyhabitableplanets in the universe and then 64 billion come along at once.

The discovery of new planets has in recent years become commonplace but most have been spotted by looking at changes in the light of their bright stars. Now we have a view into the smaller, darker red dwarfs that make up 80 percent of stars in our galaxy.

The HARPS team peered at a representative sample of stars estimating that 40% of the 160 billion red dwarfs in our galaxy has a super-Earth circling in the Goldilocks or habitable zone; that's where the temperature is just right for liquid water.

Astronomers are getting better at spotting smaller planets close to Earth's size and it seems that everywhere they look and in every way they look, planets abound. There's still a long way to go to determine whether any of them has conditions suitable for life and a long way again to search for life itself.

But with billions of kitchens in which the ingredients of life might come together, it's ever more difficult to doubt that the recipe has been tried elsewhere.

Quiz 听力测试

How many planets could be inhabitable in the future?

64 billion.

Is the discovery of new planets a rare thing nowadays?

No it's very commonplace.

True or false: More than half of the 160 billion red dwarfs in our galaxy have a super-Earth in the habitable zone.

False. The right answer is 40%.

True or false: Scientists are getting better at spotting smaller planets similar to the size of the Earth's.

True. Astronomers are getting better at spotting smaller planets close to Earth's size.

Glossary 词汇表

potentially habitable planets 潜在可居住的星球

commonplace 平常事

spotted 被人看到

red dwarfs 红矮星

peered at 观看，注视

super-Earth 超级地球

Goldilocks 温和地带

abound （拥有）大量的

determine 决定

elsewhere 其他地方