Sundown落山的太阳.PDF

新东方《考研英语历年真题详解及复习指南》同源精读 『全球变暖是人类必须面对的问题，许多国家纷纷推行节能 减排的相关措施。而好消息是，最近的研究数据显示，太 阳将要进入一段 “平静期”』 Sun down 落山的太阳 June 16th 2011 | from The Economist DURING the four centuries that it has been studied in detail, the sun has usually behaved in a regular manner. The number of spots on its surface has waxed1 and waned2 in cycles that last, on average, 11 years. Such cycles begin with spots appearing in mid-solar latitudes and end 3 with them near the equator . And the more spots there are, the more solar storms there are around. 4 5 An absence of sunspots also means an absence of solar flares and their more violent siblings , coronal6 mass ejections. Such outbursts disrupt radio and satellite communications, electricity 1 wax /wæks/ v. 月亮渐满；增大 2 wane /wein/ v. 衰落；变小 3 outburst /5autbə:st/ v. （火山、情感等的）爆发；破裂 4 sunspot /5sʌnspɔt/ n. 太阳黑子；雀斑 5 sibling /5sIblIŋ/ n. 兄弟姊妹；民族成员 6 coronal /5kɔ:rənəl/ adj. 冠状的；日冕的 1 / 3 新东方《考研英语历年真题详解及复习指南》同源精读 grids1 and a variety of electronic2 equipment, so the pattern of solar activity is of more than 3 academic interest. A new solar minimum , then, would test theories about how the climate works and also make communications more reliable. And many solar physicists think such a 4 new minimum is on the cards . Frank Hill and his team were the discoverers, 15 years ago, of an east-west jet stream5 in the sun. They also worked out