少儿英语故事:What are falling stars?中英文对照

时间：2018-06-07

带星星的男孩儿英语故事

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少儿英语故事:What are falling stars?中英文对照 2006 06 04 15:26

Contrary to popular belief， "falling stars" are not stars at all， but are meteors， solid bodies that travel through space.

与人们普遍的看法相反，"坠落的星"其实根本不是"星"，而只是"流星"，是穿越太空的固态物体。

Meteors， ranging in size from that of a pinhead， to many tons， are visible to the naked eye at night， when the friction between the surfaces of the meteors and of the air， produces heat as the meteors enter the earths atmosphere. The intense heat incinerates the meteors， which leave a blazing trail of light in their wake.

流星的大小从细若针头，大到数吨不等。当流星进入地球大气层后，其表面与空气摩擦从而产生热量，使人们在夜间用肉眼就能看到。巨大的热量将流星焚化，使之留下一条炽热的发光的尾巴。

Most meteors do burn up when they enter the earths atmosphere， with the exception of the large meteors， which are dragged through the earths atmosphere by the earths gravitational pull. After successful landings upon the earth， these huge bodies are renamed meteorites. Some scientists theorize that thousands of meteors fall to the earth during the daytime and the nighttime， but this theory is impossible to prove or to disprove， as most would necessarily land in water， which covers most of the earths surface.

大多数流星在进入地球大气层时就已经被烧化了，除了一些特别大的流星，它们穿过大气层，被地心引力拖了下来。这些巨大的天体成功着陆后便被重新命名为陨石。一些科学家推断，每天每夜都有成千上万的流星坠落到地球上，但这一理论无法得到证明，也无法加以否定，因为大多数流星必然落到江河湖海中，它们占据了地球的大部分面积。

Generally speaking， meteors and meteor particles travel together in swarms like bees， with the exception of the loners， and travel in any direction they choose. Natures spectacular fireworks show， a "meteor shower，" comes into view when the swarms encounter the upper layer of the earths atmosphere during the earths perpetual revolution around the sun. The friction produced when the meteors and the meteor particles rub against the atmospheric air incinerates the swarms， and they fall towards the earth in a brilliant display of light.

一般来说，流星及流星颗粒都是成团成群运行的，就象蜂群一样，他们按自己选择的方向随意运行，除了有极少数单独运行的例外。当地球绕着太阳作循环往复的公转时，流星团如果遭遇地球大气层上层时，就会出现"流星雨"这种"大自然烟火"的壮丽景观。流星及流星颗粒与大气层摩擦产生的炽热将流星团熔化，它们纷纷向地球坠落，呈现出光芒四射、五彩缤纷的奇观。

The source of meteors traveling through space has yet to be explained satisfactorily. For thousands of years， the common belief held， was that meteors， or "falling stars，" were literally from out of this world. In 467 BC， Roman historians recorded the extraordinary fall of a meteor to the earth.

至于穿越太空的流星的来源，还有待于得出令人满意的解答。几千年来，人们普遍认为，流星或称"坠落的星星"，实际上是天外来客。早在公元前467年，古罗马的历史学家就曾记录下流星坠落地面的不同寻常的陨落。

Today， astronomers espouse the theory that comets spawn the swarms. The comets offspring， the meteor swarms， travel in regular orbits， similar to the earths orbit around the sun. One must be quite patient to witness such a swarm， or a meteor shower， as the swarms cross the earths path only once every 33 years. This spectacle of light is， however， well worth the wait.

如今，天文学家们支持彗星产生了流星团的说法。彗星的后裔，即流星团，沿正常的轨道运行，与地球绕太阳运行的轨道相似。人们必须有足够的耐心，才能等到亲眼目睹流星团或"流星雨"发生的那一天，因为流星团穿越地球轨道每33年才有一次。可是，如果能有幸观看流星雨的壮丽景象，这样的等待也值得。