自考英语综合二下册课文 lesson 8

　　[00:00.00]Lesson Eight
[00:02.80]Text
[00:05.43]How I Designed an A Bomb
[00:09.59]in My Junior Year at Princeton John A . Phillips and David Michaelis
[00:19.15]The first semester of my junior year at Princeton University is a disaster,
[00:27.30]and my grades show it.
[00:30.54]D's and F's predominate,and a note from the dean puts me on academic probation¹.
[00:40.39]Flunk one more course,and I'm out.
[00:44.83]Fortunately, as the new semester gets under way,
[00:50.47]my courses begin to interest me.
[00:55.01]Three hours a week,
[00:58.17]I attend one called Nuclear Weapons Strategy and Arms Control.
[01:04.63]One morning,Freeman Dyson,
[01:09.20]an eminent² physicist³ assisting Hal Feiveson in the course,
[01:16.04]opens a discussion on the atomic bomb:
[01:20.72]"Let me describe what occurs when a 20-kiloton bomb is exploded,
[01:28.27]similar to the two dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
[01:34.64]First, the sky becomes illuminated⁴ by a brilliant white light.
[01:41.59]Temperatures are so high around the point of explosion
[01:47.26]that the atmosphere is actually made incandescent⁵.
[01:52.72]To an observer standing⁶ six miles away
[01:57.68]the ball of fire appears brighter than a hundred suns.
[02:03.53]"As the fireball begins to spread up and out into a mushroom shaped cloud,
[02:10.66]temperatures spontaneously ignite all flammable materials for miles around.
[02:19.02]Wood frame houses catch fire.
[02:23.28]Clothing bursts into flame,
[02:27.44]and people suffer intense third degree lash⁷ burns over their exposed flesh.
[02:35.01]The very high temperatures also produce a shock wave
[02:40.94]and a variety of nuclear radiation capable of penetrating⁸ 20 inches of concrete.
[02:49.59]Silence falls over the roomas the titanic⁹ proportions of the destruction begin to sink in
[02:57.53]"It takes only 15 pounds of plutonium to fabricate a crude atomic bomb,
[03:05.68]"adds Hal Feiveson. "
[03:09.20]If breeder reactors¹¹ come into widespread use,
[03:14.48]there will be sufficient plutonium shipped around the country each year
[03:19.60]to fashion thousands of bombs.
[03:24.15]Much of it could be vulnerable to theft or hijacking¹².
[03:30.81]"The class discusses the possibility of terrorists
[03:36.08] using a homemade atomic bomb to push their extravagant¹³ political demands.
[03:43.22]"That's impossible," a student objects.
[03:48.26]"Terrorists don't have the know how to build a bomb.
[03:53.61]Besides, they don't have access to the knowledge.
[03:58.58]"Impossible? Or is it?The question begins to haunt me.
[04:06.52]I turn to reference books and find,according to a famous nuclear physicist,
[04:13.78]that a terrorist group could easily steal plutonium
[04:19.42]or uranium from a nuclear reactor¹⁰
[04:24.41]and then design a workable atomic bomb
[04:29.27]with information available to the general public
[04:34.23]are legally available at hardware stores and chemical supply houses.
[04:41.68]Suddenly,an idea comes to mind.
[04:45.94]Suppose an average or below average in my case physics student
[04:53.20]could design a workable atomic bomb on paper?
[04:58.76]If I could design a bomb, almost any intelligent person could.
[05:05.53]But I would have to do it in less than three months
[05:10.36]to turn it inas my junior independent project.
[05:15.19]I decide to ask Freeman Dyson to be my adviser¹⁴.
[05:20.84]"You understand," said Dyson, "
[05:25.20]my government security clearance¹⁵ will prevent me from giving you any more information
[05:31.76]than that which can be found in physics libraries.
[05:37.03]And that the law of'no comment' governing scientists
[05:42.78] who have clearance to atomic research requires that,
[05:48.13]if asked a question about the design of a bomb,
[05:52.89]I can answer neither yes nor no?"
[05:58.64]"Yes, sir," I reply."I understand.""Okay, then.
[06:05.40]I'll give you a list of textbooks outlining the general principles
[06:11.57]and I wish you luck."
[06:14.80]A few days later,Dyson hands me a short list of books on nuclear reactor technology
[06:23.45]general nuclear physics and current atomic theory.

　　[06:29.51]"That's all?" I ask incredulously, having expected a bit more direction.
[06:38.29]At subsequent meetings Dyson explains only the basic principles of nuclear physics
[06:46.15]If I ask about a particular design or figure,
[06:51.19]he will glance over what I've done and change the subject.
[06:56.37]At first, I think this is his way of telling me I am correct.
[07:02.11]To make sure, I hand him an incorrect figure.
[07:07.39]He reads it and changes the subject.
[07:11.83]Over spring vacation,I go to Washington,D.C
[07:17.71]to search for records of the Los Alamos Project
[07:23.35]that were declassified¹⁶ between 1954 and 1964.
[07:30.22]I discover a copy of the literature given to scientists
[07:36.07]who joined the project in the spring of 1943.
[07:41.95]This text carefully outlines all the details of atomic fissioning
[07:49.11]known to the world's most advanced scientists in the early '40s.
[07:55.77]A whole batch¹⁷ of copies costs me about $ 25.
[08:01.83]I gather them together and go over to the bureaucrat¹⁸ at the front desk.
[08:08.49]She looks at the titles and then looks up at me.
[08:13.17]"Oh, you want to build a bomb, too?" she asks matter-of-factly.
[08:20.90]I can't believe it.
[08:24.06]Do people go in there for bomb-building information every day?
[08:30.41]When I show the documents to Dyson, he is visibly shaken.
[08:36.05]His reaction indicates to me that I actually stand a chance of coming up with a workable design
[08:44.88]The material necessary to explode my bomb is plutonium-239.
[08:52.35]Visualize an atomic bomb as a marble inside a grape fruit
[08:58.88]inside a basketball inside a beach ball.
[09:04.52]At the center of the bomb is the initiator,
[09:09.38]a marble-size piece of metal.
[09:13.43]Around the initiator is a grapefruit-size ball of plutonium-239.
[09:21.08]Wrapped around the plutonium
[09:24.64]is a threeinch reflector shield made of beryllium.
[09:30.70]High explosives are placed symmetrically around the beryllium shield.
[09:36.94]When these detonate,an imploding¹⁹ shock wave is set off,
[09:44.41]compressing the grapefruit-size ball of plutonium to the size of a plum.
[09:51.67]At this moment, the process of atoms fissioning or splitting apart begins.
[09:59.72]There are many subtleties²⁰ involved in the explosion of an atomic bomb
[10:06.09]Most of them center on the actual detonation²¹
[10:10.95]of the explosives surrounding the beryllium shield.
[10:15.92]The grouping of these explosives
[10:19.76]is one of the most highly classified aspects of the atomic bomb,
[10:25.21]As the next three weeks go by,
[10:29.29]I stop going to classes altogether and work day and night.
[10:35.74]I develop a terrible case of bloodshot eyes.
[10:40.89]Sleep comes rarely.
[10:44.44]I approach every problem from a terrorist's point of view.
[10:50.50]The bomb must be inexpensive to construct,
[10:55.26]simple in design and small enough to sit unnoticed in the trunk of a car.
[11:03.01]As the days and nights flow by,
[11:07.06]I scan government documents for gaps
[11:11.63] indicating an area of knowledge that is still classified.
[11:17.20]Essentially, I am putting together a huge jigsaw²² puzzle.
[11:23.08]The edge pieces are in place and various areas are getting filled in,
[11:29.42]but pieces are missing.
[11:32.79]Whenever the outline of one shows up,
[11:36.92]I sit down to devise the solution that will fill the gap.
[11:42.67]With only two weeks left, the puzzle is nearly complete,
[11:48.73]but two pieces are still missing:
[11:52.80]which explosives to use,and how to arrange them around the plutonium.
[11:59.65]Seven days before the design is due,
[12:04.09]I'm still deadlocked²³ I realize something drastic must be done,
[12:11.45]and I start all over at the beginning.
[12:15.82]Occasionally I find errors in my old calculations,and I correct them.
[12:23.47]I lose sense of time.
[12:26.81]With less than 24 hours to go,
[12:30.97]I run through a series of new calculations,
[12:36.22]mathematically figuring the arrangement of the explosives around the plutonium
[12:42.75]If my equations are correct,

　　[12:46.82]my bomb might be just as effective as the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs.
[12:54.27]But I can't be sure until I know the exact nature of the explosives I will use
[13:01.64]Next morning, with my paper due at 5 p.m.,
[13:07.20]I call the Du Pont Company from a pay phone
[13:12.55]and ask for the head of the chemical explosives division,
[13:18.30]a man I'll call Mr.Graves."Hello, Mr. Graves.
[13:25.56]My name is John Phillips,a student doing work on a physics project.
[13:32.83]I'd like to get some advice, if that's possible."
[13:37.79]"What can I do for you?"
[13:40.95]"Well," I stammer,"
[13:44.48]I'm doing research on the shaping of explosive products
[13:49.94]that create a very high density²⁴ in a spherically²⁵ shaped metal.
[13:57.20]Can you suggest a Du Pont product that would fit in this category?"
[14:03.68]"Of course." he says,in a helpful manner.
[14:08.85]"We sell the names of the product
[14:13.39]to do the job in similar density problem situations
[14:20.06]to the one you're talking about.
[14:23.82]"Mr. Graves has given me just the information I need.
[14:29.49]Now,if my calculations are correct with respect to the new information,
[14:36.85]all I have to do is complete my paper by five.
[14:42.31]Five minutes to five,I race over to the physics building and bound up the stairs
[14:50.36]Inside the office,everybody stops talking and stares at me.
[14:57.12]"I came to hand in my project," I explain.
[15:02.19]A week later, I return to the office to pick up my project.
[15:08.43]My paper is not there.
[15:12.27]"Aren't you the boy who designed the atomic bomb?"
[15:16.95]The secretary looks up, then freezes.
[15:21.21]"Yes," I reply.She takes a deep breath.
[15:27.16]"The question has been raised
[15:31.00]by the department whether your paper should be classified by the U. S. government
[15:37.98]"What! Classified?"She takes my limp hand shaking it vigorously.
[15:46.94]"Congratulations," she says, all smiles.
[15:52.19]"You've got one of the only A's in the department.
[15:57.15]"For a second I don't say anything.
[16:01.38]Here I have put on paper the plan for a device
[16:06.71]capable of killing²⁶ thousands of people,
[16:11.57]and all I was worrying about was flunking²⁷ out.

 

1 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

2 eminent   

adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的

参考例句：

• We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
• He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

3 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

4 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

5 incandescent   

adj.遇热发光的， 白炽的，感情强烈的

参考例句：

• The incandescent lamp we use in daily life was invented by Edison.我们日常生活中用的白炽灯，是爱迪生发明的。
• The incandescent quality of his words illuminated the courage of his countrymen.他炽热的语言点燃了他本国同胞的勇气。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 lash   

v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛

参考例句：

• He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
• With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。

8 penetrating   

adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的

参考例句：

• He had an extraordinarily penetrating gaze. 他的目光有股异乎寻常的洞察力。
• He examined the man with a penetrating gaze. 他以锐利的目光仔细观察了那个人。

9 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

10 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

11 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

12 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

13 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

14 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

15 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

16 declassified   

adj.解密的v.对（机密文件等）销密( declassify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Thousands of classified documents have now been declassified. 数以千计的保密文件现在被解密了。
• The software used for Siemens S7-300 encryption logic block declassified. 此软件用于对西门子S7-300加密逻辑块解密。

17 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

18 bureaucrat   

n. 官僚作风的人，官僚，官僚政治论者

参考例句：

• He was just another faceless bureaucrat.他只不过是一个典型呆板的官员。
• The economy is still controlled by bureaucrats.经济依然被官僚们所掌控。

19 imploding   

v.（使）向心聚爆( implode的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He has nightmares about the tanks imploding. 他老是做油箱爆炸的噩梦。 来自辞典例句
• Just like silver stars imploding we absorb the light of day. 身披白昼之圣光光没银星俱裂亡。 来自互联网

20 subtleties   

细微( subtlety的名词复数 )； 精细； 巧妙； 细微的差别等

参考例句：

• I think the translator missed some of the subtleties of the original. 我认为译者漏掉了原著中一些微妙之处。
• They are uneducated in the financial subtleties of credit transfer. 他们缺乏有关信用转让在金融方面微妙作用的知识。

21 detonation   

n.爆炸；巨响

参考例句：

• A fearful detonation burst forth on the barricade.街垒传来一阵骇人的爆炸声。
• Within a few hundreds of microseconds,detonation is complete.在几百微秒之内，爆炸便完成了。

22 jigsaw   

n.缕花锯，竖锯，拼图游戏；vt.用竖锯锯，使互相交错搭接

参考例句：

• A jigsaw puzzle can keep me absorbed for hours.一副拼图就能让我沉醉几个小时。
• Tom likes to work on jigsaw puzzles,too.汤姆也喜欢玩拼图游戏。

23 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。

24 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

25 spherically   

球状地，球地

参考例句：

• He also obtained similarity solutions for longitudinal and spherically symmetric motions. 他也得出了关于纵向对称运动和球面对称运动的类似解。
• A spherically symmetric structure of the earth has been assumed. 人们把地球的构造假设为球状对称。

26 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

27 flunking   

v.( flunk的现在分词 )；（使）（考试、某学科的成绩等）不及格；评定（某人）不及格；（因不及格而） 退学

参考例句：

• Is there some school of the ear I'm flunking out off right now? 我是不是被什么听力学校淘汰了？ 来自电影对白
• Twelve freshman footballers were flunking classes and had to leave. 当时有12名高中一年级的美式足球（即橄榄球）队员没有通过考试而不得不离开。 来自互联网