【英语时差8,16】陨星（上）

You’re out on a clear, starry¹ night with your best friend, looking for shooting stars. Look, there’s one! your friend shouts. But by the time you look, it’s gone. There’s another! she cries. Too late; you missed it. Then one comes along that seems to just amble² across the sky, nice and slow. Why is it that some shooting stars are so fast and others are much slower? Well, there are a few reasons. Shooting stars are actually small meteors. Meteors are essentially³ icy rocks that come from space and burn up from the friction⁴ of entering our atmosphere. A very small rock will burn up quickly and be gone almost before you can see it. A larger rock will take a while, and leave a long, bright streak⁵ in the sky.

1 starry   

adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的

参考例句：

• He looked at the starry heavens.他瞧着布满星星的天空。
• I like the starry winter sky.我喜欢这满天星斗的冬夜。

2 amble   

vi.缓行，漫步

参考例句：

• The horse is walking at an amble.这匹马正在溜蹄行走。
• Every evening,they amble along the bank. 每天晚上，他们都沿着江边悠闲地散步。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

5 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？