在线英语听力室

VOA慢速英语 2007 0102b

时间:2007-07-05 00:52:47

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Mario Ritter.


Concerns about climate change grew in 2006 as scientists reported that ice was melting at the North and South Pole

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty1. This week, we talk about last year.

VOICE ONE:

We tell about some important science stories of two thousand six -- discoveries in medicine, space and the environment.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Some of the biggest science stories last year were in health and medicine. And two of them came late in two thousand six. First is a major finding about the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

In December, AIDS researchers announced findings about adult male circumcision. Two studies in Africa found that circumcised men had about half the risk of getting HIV from sex with women as uncircumcised men had. The studies took place in Kenya and Uganda.

HIV rates are generally lower in areas of the world where the removal of the foreskin from the penis is common in babies or young boys.

The findings of the African studies were so clear that the United States National Institutes of Health decided2 to end both studies early. All the men involved now are being offered circumcision.

The researchers said male circumcision could also lead to fewer infections in women where HIV is spread through heterosexual sex. Health experts say they hope circumcision will become one of the basic tools to fight HIV and AIDS. But they expect some cultural and economic barriers. Some people have also expressed another concern about circumcision. They say it might make men think they do not need to do anything else to prevent HIV infection.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Another major health story last month concerned breast cancer. The news came from cancer researchers at the University of Texas in Houston. They had found a sharp decrease in newly found breast cancer rates between two thousand two and two thousand three. It was the first such drop in seventy years. And it followed a huge decrease in the number of older women treated with female hormones4 to ease conditions caused by a natural decrease in such hormones.

For years doctors treated these conditions of menopause with the hormones estrogen and progesterone. But in two thousand two a large study showed hormone3 replacement5 therapy seemed to increase the risk of breast cancer. The use of hormone replacement therapy then dropped by fifty percent.

The researchers at the University of Texas say overall rates of new breast cancers dropped seven percent the next year. And they said breast cancer that is linked to estrogen decreased by at least twelve percent. However, health experts say the findings do not prove that hormone replacement therapy causes breast cancer.

VOICE TWO:

There was also news about a new vaccine6 to prevent another cancer in women -- cervical cancer. United Nations health officials called for the wide use of the vaccine against the human papilloma virus, or H.P.V. H.P.V. causes seventy percent of all cervical cancers. It is a leading cause of cancer deaths in women in developing countries.

The vaccine could prevent more than two-thirds of deaths from cervical cancer around the world. Officials say the vaccine is safe and effective for females between the ages of nine and twenty-six.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Not all the science news last year was medical. In August, more than two thousand members of the International Astronomical7 Union met in the Czech capital, Prague. They agreed to a new definition of planet. They also agreed that Pluto8 did not meet the terms of the new definition. So, now the solar system has eight planets instead of nine.

But do not cry for the former ninth planet. The astronomical union says we should not think we have lost a planet but that we have gained a new kind of space object: the dwarf9 planet, Pluto.

VOICE TWO:

Astronomers10 and physicists11 were also interested in some information provided by the Hubble Space Telescope last year. It provided some light on the mysterious force known as dark energy. The Hubble examined stars that exploded billions of years ago. The findings: dark energy has been present for most of the history of the universe.

Dark energy is a mysterious force that causes the universe to expand at an increasing rate. Scientists do not know much about dark energy. But they say it makes up about seventy percent of the energy in the universe. It appears to balance the force of gravity.

Most physicists consider dark energy to be the force that Albert Einstein called the cosmological constant. It prevents gravity from pulling all matter together in a cosmic crush. This latest study shows dark energy was present in the universe as long as nine billion years ago. Over the next four billion years the power of dark energy grew.

The expansion rate of the universe began speeding up about five billion years ago. That is when scientists believe that dark energy's force overtook gravity. Adam Reiss of the Space Telescope Science Institute and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore Maryland led this research.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Hubble also got some good news of its own last year. NASA announced it would fly a shuttle crew to the space telescope to make repairs and add new equipment. The telescope orbits six hundred kilometers above the Earth. The shuttle crew is expected to make the trip in May of next year. They hope to fix Hubble so it can continue operating until two thousand thirteen.

In other news from last year, the American space agency, NASA, returned to space. Three successful launches of the space shuttle visited the International Space Station. NASA's two Mars vehicles, Spirit and Opportunity, continued their exploration of the red planet. They found signs of recently flowing water on the planet.

An orbiting spacecraft gave the world extraordinary images of the planet Saturn12 and its rings. NASA also announced important plans for the future. It will update the design of the space shuttles. And it is planning an international permanent base on the moon by the year twenty twenty.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Global warming remained a hot subject of earth science last year. Scientists declared that the ice at both the North and South Poles was melting. A long-term study showed that Greenland lost one hundred billion metric tons of ice between two thousand three and two thousand five.

Antarctica at the South Pole contains almost seventy percent of the world's fresh water. The continent is almost all ice. In some areas that ice is close to two thousand meters thick. Scientists said the Antarctic ice sheet is losing as much as one hundred fifty-two cubic kilometers of ice every year.

One study suggests that melting ice from both poles could cause sea levels in the world to rise by several meters by the end of this century. As a result, low-lying areas of land could be under water.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Some international ecology scientists and economists13 gave a serious warning about the future for fish. They reported that seafood14 supplies from the world's oceans could be almost gone within fifty years because of overfishing.

The researchers reported their findings in Science magazine in November. They said there had already been a collapse15 in wild populations of almost one-third of currently fished seafoods16. The study says that means the catch has fallen by ninety percent from the highest levels. The scientists said that species have recently been disappearing from oceans at increasing speed.

The scientists said it is not too late to repair the damage done to the oceans from overfishing, climate change and other forces. They said governments and industries must work together to establish shared fishing, pollution and species protection controls.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver17 and produced by Brianna Blake. I'm ­­­­­­­­­­­Bob Doughty.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Mario Ritter. For more science news, MP3 files and transcripts18 of our programs, go to www.unsv.com. And join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.
分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 doughty Jk5zg     
adj.勇猛的,坚强的
参考例句:
  • Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质:脾气倔强,性格刚强。
  • The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。
2 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
3 hormone uyky3     
n.荷尔蒙,激素,内分泌
参考例句:
  • Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
  • This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
4 hormones hormones     
n. 荷尔蒙,激素 名词hormone的复数形式
参考例句:
  • This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
  • The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。
5 replacement UVxxM     
n.取代,替换,交换;替代品,代用品
参考例句:
  • We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
  • They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。
6 vaccine Ki1wv     
n.牛痘苗,疫苗;adj.牛痘的,疫苗的
参考例句:
  • The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
  • She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。
7 astronomical keTyO     
adj.天文学的,(数字)极大的
参考例句:
  • He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
  • Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。
8 Pluto wu0yF     
n.冥王星
参考例句:
  • Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
  • Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。
9 dwarf EkjzH     
n.矮子,侏儒,矮小的动植物;vt.使…矮小
参考例句:
  • The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
  • The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀,摇摇头。
10 astronomers 569155f16962e086bd7de77deceefcbd     
n.天文学者,天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪,为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 physicists 18316b43c980524885c1a898ed1528b1     
物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说,这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
  • Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。
12 Saturn tsZy1     
n.农神,土星
参考例句:
  • Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪,为什么只有土星有光环。
  • These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们,土星由较轻的物质构成。
13 economists 2ba0a36f92d9c37ef31cc751bca1a748     
n.经济学家,经济专家( economist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
  • Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 seafood 7j6zUl     
n.海产食品,海味,海鲜
参考例句:
  • There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
  • Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。
15 collapse aWvyE     
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。
16 seafoods c18ff59155293cc878e6f67d695e3c73     
n.海产食品,海鲜( seafood的名词复数 )
参考例句:
17 weaver LgWwd     
n.织布工;编织者
参考例句:
  • She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快,而且布的质量很好。
  • The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。
18 transcripts 525c0b10bb61e5ddfdd47d7faa92db26     
n.抄本( transcript的名词复数 );转写本;文字本;副本
参考例句:
  • Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样,都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
  • You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书,你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。