GRE阅读练习：地球如何应对小行星撞击.docxVIP

Word文档下载后（可任意编辑） 第 第 PAGE 1 页 共 NUMPAGES 1 页 GRE阅读练习：地球如何应对小行星撞击 GRE阅读训练：GRE阅读练习：地球如何应对小行星撞击 GRE考试精品课程指导  One close shave with an asteroid is cause for excitement.  一次小行星近地掠过是一种刺激，  Two on the same day is scary.  同一天发生两次就是惊险了。  On February 15th planet Earth experienced exactly that, as a hunk of itinerant space rock passed by extremely close.  在2月15日，行星地球正经历了这样的惊险：一块流动的大块头太空岩石在咫尺的距离掠过地球，  While another exploded spectacularly in the skies above Russia.  而另一块则十分壮观得在俄国上空爆炸。  The first asteroid, called 2012 DA14, had been known to astronomers for around a year.  第 一颗小行星名为2012 DA14，天文学家在大约一年前发现。  They had calculated that there was no risk of collision. But the 30-metre, 190,000-tonne rock came close: 27,700Km above the surface, inside the orbit of some satellites.  他们计算出小行星的轨道，并无撞击危险。但这枚直径30米、重达190000吨的石块离得是那么近：距地表27,700千米，处于一些卫星轨道内。  It was the nearest ever recorded for an asteroid that size.  对这种大小的小行星，这是有记录以来距离最近的一次。  The second came quite literally out of a clear blue sky, appearing without warning and then disintergrating about 30 seconds later over Chelyabinsk.  第二颗在一片晴空万里中毫无警告得出现了，约30秒后在车里雅宾斯克市上空解体了。  According to NASA, the 10,000-tonne meteor released about 500 kilotonnes of energy when it broke apart, equivalent to the yield of a largish nuclear bomb.  来自NASA的数据显示，这颗10000吨重的陨石在肢解时释放了大约500吨质量的能量，相当于一颗大型核弹的爆炸当量。  Only the height of the detonation-dozens of kilometers up–kept the fatality count at zero, although more than 1,000 people were injured as windows were blown out of buildings.  好在爆炸发生在数十公里的高空，未有人员死亡。虽然有超过1000人受伤，但只是被震碎的建筑物玻璃伤到。  This double whammy has focused minds on the threat from asteroids, something that astronomers have long known is real but which tends to be treated with giggles whenever it is brought outside the lab.  这次双重晦气已引起人们对小行星威胁的关注。长久以来天文学家们就清楚这种实实在在的威胁，但一旦在实验室外提起就会引来哄堂大笑。  Some politicians have nevertheless taken action.  不过还是有些政