英语听力：自然百科:行星旅行指南 火星(5)（在线收听）

In the four decades since our robot first arrived,

这是40多年以来我们的机器人第一次着陆,

the once fussy ball at the end of our telescopes has steadily focused into a red planet we can understand.

一旦我们的望远镜的挑剔镜头最终将焦点集中在这颗我们理解的红色行星上,

And it's not a welcoming place.

这显然并不是一个受欢迎的地方。

The problem is the atmosphere is so thin and cold that water exists only in solid ice in the ground or vapour in the air,

问题是大气又厚又冷,水仅仅存在于固体形式，例如地上的冰或空中的蒸气中,

not as liquid on the surface.

而不是以地表的液体流动。

You might see some fine wispy clouds high in the sky,

你可能会看到一些天空中好的很细小的云,

but don't bother bringing an umbrella.

但是别期望被打扰到而带一把伞。

The whole planet is drier than the dustiest desert on earth.

整个星球比地球上最干燥的沙漠还要干。

And there hasn't been a drop of rain here for millions,perhaps billions, of years.

这里已经有数百万年,数亿万年没有下雨了。

"The thing that fascinated me was that we could see valleys ,

“我着迷的东西是我们可以看到山谷,

sneaking across the surface,had clearly been curved by flows of water.

在表面上,流动过的水留下了很明显的弯曲。

So this is telling us that in the past, it was different.

所以这是告诉我们它的过去,它是与众不同的。

Not only that, it was different in a way that would make it more suitable for life than it is today.

不仅如此,它比现今更适合生命存在,这点也是与众不同的。

And that i found truely compelling. "

我发现这真的令人信服。“