💬 新概念英语第四册

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

and as the number of stars in the universe is so vast,

因为宇宙中恒星的数目极其庞大，

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

this possibility becomes virtual certainty.

所以存在着产生生命星球的这种可能性是肯定无疑的。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

There are one hundred thousand million stars in our own Milky Way alone,

仅我们的银河系就有1000亿颗恒星，

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

and then there are three thousand million other Milky Ways, or galaxies, in the universe.

况且在宇宙中还有30亿个天河，即银河系。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

So the number of stars that we know exist is now estimated at about 300 million million million.

因此，我们所知道的现有恒星数目估计约有30亿×1000亿颗。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

Although perhaps only 1 per cent of the life that has started somewhere will develop into highly complex and intelligent patterns,

虽然在已经产生生命的某个地方，可能只有1%会发展成高度复杂有智力的生命形态，

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

so vast is the number of planets,

但是行星的数目是那么庞大，

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

that intelligent life is bound to be a natural part of the universe.

有智力的生命必然是宇宙的自然组成部分。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

If then we are so certain that other intelligent life exists in the universe,

既然我们如此坚信宇宙中存在着其他有智力的生命，

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

why have we had no visitors from outer space yet?

那么我们为什么还未见到外层空间来访的客人呢？

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

First of all, they may have come to this planet of ours thousands or millions of years ago,

首先，他们可能在几千年前或几百年万年前已来过我们地球，

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

and found our then prevailing primitive state completely uninteresting to their own advanced knowledge.

并且发现我们地球当时普遍存在着的原始状态同他们先进的知识相比是索然无味的。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

Professor Ronald Bracewell, a leading American radio astronomer,argued in Nature that such a superior civilization, on a visit to our own solar system,

假如有如此高级文明生命访问了我们的太阳系，

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

may have left an automatic messenger behind to await the possible awakening of an advanced civilization.

很可能会在离开太阳系时留下自动化信息装置，等待先进文明的觉醒。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

Such a messenger, receiving our radio and television signals,

这种自动化信息装置，在接收到我们的无线电和电视信号后，

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

might well re-transmit them back to its home-planet,

完全有可能把这些信号发回到原来的行星。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

although what impression any other civilization would thus get from us is best left unsaid.

至于其他文明行星对我们地球会有什么印象，还是不说为好。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

But here we come up against the most difficult of all obstacles to contact with people on other planets ----the astronomical distances which separate us.

然而，在和外星人联系中我们遇到的最大困难是分隔我们的天文距离。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

As a reasonable guess, they might, on an average, be 100 light years away.

据合理推算，外星人离我们平均距离也有100光年之远

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

(A light year is the distance which light travels at 186,000 miles per second in one year,

一光年是光以每秒186，000英里的速度在一年内走的距离，

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

namely 6 million million miles.) Radio waves also travel at the speed of light,

即6万亿英里）。无线电波也是以光速传播的。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

and assuming such an automatic messenger picked up our first broadcasts of the 1920's,

假定外星人的这种自动化信息装置接收到了我们二十世纪二十年代的第一次广播信号，

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

the message to its home planet is barely halfway there.

那么这个信号在发回到原来的行星途中刚刚走了一半路程。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

Similarly, our own present primitive chemical rockets, though good enough to orbit men,

同样，我们目前使用的原始化学火箭，虽然可以把人送入轨道，

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

have no chance of transporting us to the nearest other star, four light years away,

但尚不可能把我们送到离我们最近、相距4光年的其他星球上去，

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

let alone distances of tens or hundreds of light years.

更不用说几十光年或几百光年远的地方了。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

Fortunately, there is a 'uniquely rational way' for us to communicate with other intelligent beings,

幸运的是，有一种我们可以和其他智力生命通迅联系的"唯一合理的方法"，

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

as Walter Sullivan has put it in his excellent book, We Are not Alone.

正如沃尔特·沙利文在其杰作《我们并不孤独》中阐述的。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

This depends on the precise radio frequency of the 21-cm wavelength, or 1420 megacycles per second.

这种通讯联系要靠21厘米波段，即每秒1420兆周的精确无线电频率。

Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space

It is the natural frequency of emission of the hydrogen atoms in space and was discovered by us in 1951;

这个频率是空间氢原子释放的自然频率，是在1951年被人类发现的。