VOA慢速英语2020--波多黎各的阿雷西博射电望远镜发生坍塌

Huge Puerto Rico Telescope Collapses²

A huge, already damaged radio telescope in Puerto Rico collapsed³ on Tuesday. Its 800-metric-ton receiver stand fell onto the reflector dish more than 120 meters below.

The collapse¹ at the Arecibo Observatory⁴ shocked scientists who had long used one of the world's largest radio telescopes.

"It sounded like a rumble⁵. I knew exactly what it was," said Jonathan Friedman, who worked for 26 years as a researcher at the observatory and still lives near it. "I was screaming. Personally, I was out of control.... I don't have words to express it. It's a very deep, terrible feeling."

Friedman said he saw a cloud of dust hang in the air where the structure once stood.

Carmen Pantoja is an astronomer⁶ and professor at the University of Puerto Rico. She used the telescope for her studies. "It's a huge loss," she said.

The telescope had survived ocean storms and several earthquakes in its 57 years of operation. It was built in the 1960s with money from the U.S. Defense⁷ Department.

Scientists used it to find and follow asteroids⁸ on a path to Earth. They also used it to find an unusual kind of star system, a binary⁹ pulsar, in 1967. The discovery earned scientists a Nobel Prize in 1974.

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced on November 19 that the Arecibo Observatory would close permanently¹⁰. The 305-meter-wide dish was severely¹¹ damaged in August. NSF scientists believed the cables could deal with the added pressure and weight they were carrying. But on November 6, the main cable broke.

The NSF said at the time that it wanted to one day reopen the visitor center and repair some of the operations. The observatory served as a training area for university students and received about 90,000 visitors a year.

"I am one of those students who visited it when young and got inspired," said Abel Méndez, a professor at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo who used the telescope for research. "The world without the observatory loses, but Puerto Rico loses even more."

About 250 scientists around the world, including Mendez, were using the observatory when it closed in August. They had used the telescope to study radio waves from distant planets. They had also used it to search for neutral hydrogen, which can help show how some cosmic structures are formed.

The Arecibo telescope was the largest radio telescope in the world for most of its existence. In 2016, it was surpassed by China's 500-meter Aperture¹² Spherical¹³ Telescope.

Words in This Story

reflector - n. an object that is used to reflect light, signal

rumble - n. low, heavy series of sound

astronomer - n. a scientist who studies stars, planets and objects in outer space

cable - n. a thick, strong rope made of wires that are twisted together

inspire - v. to make someone wants to do something

cosmic - adj. of or relating to the universe or outer space

surpass - v. to be better or greater than something

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 collapses   

折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下

参考例句：

• This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。
• Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

3 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

4 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

5 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

6 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

9 binary   

adj.二，双；二进制的；n.双(体)；联星

参考例句：

• Computers operate using binary numbers.计算机运行运用二进位制。
• Let us try converting the number itself to binary.我们试一试，把这个数本身变成二进制数。

10 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

11 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

12 aperture   

n.孔，隙，窄的缺口

参考例句：

• The only light came through a narrow aperture.仅有的光亮来自一个小孔。
• We saw light through a small aperture in the wall.我们透过墙上的小孔看到了亮光。

13 spherical   

adj.球形的；球面的

参考例句：

• The Earth is a nearly spherical planet.地球是一个近似球体的行星。
• Many engineers shy away from spherical projection methods.许多工程师对球面投影法有畏难情绪。