英语听力：自然百科 The Moon 月亮的故事
时间：2014-04-17 08:06:26
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（单词翻译）
Whether it was believed to have been a big ball of cheese home to the men in the Moon, or possess the power to turn people into werewolves, the Moon has been a perpetual source of wonder from ancient times to today.
Just one quarter the size of Earth, the Moon is small compared to other more spectacular bodies in the Universe. But since it's only 240,000 miles away, a
relatively1 short distance when compared with the vastness of space, nothing
looms2 larger in the night sky.
Many scientists believe the Moon formed about 4.6 billion years ago. One theory is that a huge
asteroid3 struck Earth with such force that rock and
debris4 were shot into orbit around the planet, like the rings of
Saturn5. Over time , this cloud of fragments came together to form the Moon. Since it has little, if any atmosphere to protect it, the Moon has been and continues to be bombarded by space debris. The evidence appears all over its dusty surface. Its entire surface is pocked with tens of thousands of
craters6. It wasn't until Galileo
pointed7 a telescope at the Moon in 1609 that we got the first close look at its features.
The Moon orbits the Earth like the Earth orbits the Sun. Since the Moon doesn't shine on its own but only reflects light from the Sun, we see more or less of it during its monthly
revolution, depending on its position. We call these varying views "phases". When the Moon is on the far side of the Earth, away from the Sun, the Moon is
fully8 illuminated9 or full. As the Moon travels around the Earth, we can only see the sunlight falling on part of it, resulting in crescent moons and half moons. When the Moon is directly between the Earth and the Sun, light falls on the far side of the Moon, blocked from Earth's view, the Moon is dark or new. It takes about 29 days for the Moon to complete its cycle. On rare occasions, a full moon passes through Earth's shadow, and the Sun's light is blocked, this is called "the total lunar eclipse."
The Moon has quite an effect on our planet. As Earth turns, the Moon's gravity
tugs10 on our oceans, creating the tides. Tidal forces have carved our planet's coastlines,
buoyed11 its polar ice caps and influenced the rhythms of life.
Our nearest
celestial12 neighbour is a lot more than a beautiful view.
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