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 "Life Form Found" on Saturn's Titan

　　Scientists say they have discovered hints of alien life1 on the Saturn's moon2. The discovery of a sort of life was announced after researchers at the US space agency,NASA3,analyzed data from spacecraft Cassini4,which pointed to,the existence of methane-based form of life on Saturn's biggest moon.

　　Scientists have reportedly discovered clues showing primitive alien beings are"breathing" in Titan's dense atmosphere filled with hydrogen.

　　They argue that hydrogen gets absorbed before hitting Titan's planet-like surface covered with methane lakes and rivers. This,they say,points to the existence of some"bugs"5 consuming the hydrogen at the surface of the moon less than half the size of the Earth.

　　"We suggested hydrogen consumption because it's the obvious gas for life to consume on Titan,similar to the way we consume oxygen on Earth,"says NASA scientist Chris McKay."If these signs do turn out to be a sign of life,it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from water-based life on Earth."

　　To date,scientists have not yet detected this form of life anywhere,though there are liquid-water-based microorganisms on Earth that grow well on methane or produce it as a waste product. On Titan, where temperatures are around 90 Kelvin6(minus 290 degrees Farenheit),a methanebased organism would have to use a substance that is liquid as its medium for living processes, but not water itself. Water is frozen solid on Titan's surface and much too cold to support life as we know it.

　　Scientists had expected the Sun's interactions with chemicals in the atmosphere to produce a coating of acetylene on Titan's surface. But Cassini detected no acetylene on the surface.

　　The absence of detectable acetylene on the Titan's surface can very well have a non-biological explanation,said Mark Allen,a principal investigator7 of the NASA Titan team.

　　"Scientific conservatism suggests that a biological explanation should be the last choice after all non-biological explanations are addressed,"Allen said. "We have a lot of work to do to rule out8 possible non-biological explanations. It is more likely that a chemical process,without biology,can explain these results."

　　詞匯：

　　Saturn   n．土星

　　methane n．甲烷，沼氣

　　Titan  n．土衛(wèi)六

　　acetylene  n．乙炔

　　alien  n．外星人；adj．外星球的；相異的

　　conservatism  n．保守主義,守舊

　　注釋：

　　1.hints of alien life：外星生命跡象。

　　2.the Saturn's moon：指土衛(wèi)六（Titan) 。土衛(wèi)六又稱泰坦星，是土星衛(wèi)星中最大的一顆。

　　3.NASA：美國國家航空航天局的縮寫，全稱是： National Aeronautics and Space Administration。

　　4.spacecraft Cassini：卡西尼號探測器，以出生于意大利的法國天文學家卡西尼的名字命名，其任務是環(huán)繞土星飛行，對土星及其大氣、光環(huán)、衛(wèi)星和磁場進行深人考察。1997 年10 月15日，重六噸的"卡西尼"號星際探測器被發(fā)射飛往土星的軌道。這是上世紀發(fā)射的最后一艘行星際探測的大飛船。"卡西尼"號用了將近七年時間，在2004 年7月1日飛達土星軌道。

　　5.bugs：微生物。非正式口語表達，所以使用了引號。

　　6.Kelvin：可翻譯成"絕對溫度"。Kelvin Scale ，絕對溫標，開氏溫標，是由Kelvin 勛爵于19世紀中葉發(fā)明的溫度計量方法，其零度相當于攝氏一273. 15" C ，被認為是宇宙中最低溫度。這種溫度計量方法多為科學家使用。

　　7.principal investigator：研究項目負責人

　　8.rule out：排除……的可能性

　　練習：

　　1 .What have scientists found about Saturn?

　　A They have found a new moon orbiting Saturn.

　　B They have found methane-based life on Saturn.

　　C They have found methane-based life on Titan.

　　D They have found earthlike life on a Saturn's moon.

　　2. What do scientists say about Titan?

　　A There are life clues there.

　　B There is acetylene there.

　　C Water on Titan exists in the form of ice.

　　D Rivers and lakes there contain life formls.

　　3. To date,scientists have not yet detected this form of life.(paragraph 5)What does"this form of life" refer to?

　　A Water-based life.

　　B Methane-based life.

　　C Liquid-water-based microorganisms.

　　D Gas-based life.

　　4. What can be inferred from what Allen said?

　　A Scientists have different arguments over whether there is life on Titan.

　　B Scientists all agree that there is life on Titan.

　　C Scientists all suggest that a biological explanation is reasonable.

　　D Scientists all agree that a non-biological chemical reaction is a possible explanation.

　　5. Which of the following can replace the title of this passage?

　　A Earthlike Living Beings Found on Titan.

　　B Finding of One More Moon of Saturn.

　　C Titan,a New Satellite Found.

　　D A different Life Form, a Possibility.

　　答案與題解：

　　1. C 短文的第一段提供了答案。該段告訴讀者，科學家在土星的衛(wèi)星土衛(wèi)六（ Titan ）上發(fā)現(xiàn)了生命的跡象，這些生命的存在是以甲烷為基礎的。

　　2.A根據(jù)第二段"Scientists have reportedly discovered clues showing primitive alien beings are "breathing" in Titan's dense atmosphere filled with hydrogen."，說明土衛(wèi)六（Titan）有生命跡象。因此A是答案。

　　3. B this form of life 指的是土衛(wèi)六（ Titan ）上以甲烷為生命基礎呼吸氫氣的生物，即該文討論的主題。

　　4.A科學家至今對土衛(wèi)六是否存在生物有不同的觀點和解釋。Allen 說要做出土衛(wèi)六上有生

　　物的結(jié)論，首先必須對Titan 上沒有生物的觀點做出回應；要排除土衛(wèi)六上可能沒有生物的觀點，我們還須付出努力。所以只有A是正確選擇。

　　5.D該短文的主題是，科學家在土衛(wèi)六（ Titan ）上發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種與地球生物不同的生命形式的跡象，即以甲烷為生命基礎呼吸氫氣的生物，但科學家還未能最后驗證這一發(fā)現(xiàn)。第四段中的一個句子能夠揭示該短文的主題："If these signs do turn out to be a sign of life, it would bedoubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from water-based life on Earth."

　　相關(guān)鏈接：2011年職稱英語考試教材新增內(nèi)容在真題中的體現(xiàn)

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