Lesson 61
        Trouble with the Hubble
           哈勃望远镜的困境

    First listen and then answer the question.
    听录音，然后回答以下问题。
    What is the special importance of a telescope in space?

    The Hubble telescope was launched into space by NASA on April 20,1990 at a cost of over a billion dollars. Right from the start there was trouble with the Hubble. The pictures it sent us were very disappointing because its main mirror was faulty! NASA is now going to put the telescope right, so it will soon be sending up four astronauts to repair it. The shuttle Endeavour will be taking the astronauts to the Hubble. A robot-arm from the Endeavour will grab the telescope and hold it while the astronauts make the necessary repairs. Of course, the Hubble is above the earth's atmosphere, so it will soon be sending us the clearest pictures of the stars and distant galaxies that we have ever seen. The Hubble will tell us a great deal about the age and size of the universe. By the time you read this, the Hubble's eagle eye will have sent us thousands and thousands of wonderful pictures.

New words and expressions 生词和短语

Hubble  n. 哈勃
telescope  n. 望远镜
launch  v. 发射
space  n. 空间
NASA  n.(National Aeronautics and Space Administration) 国家航空和航天局

               Lesson 62
             After the fire
                大火之后

    First listen and then answer the question.
    听录音，然后回答以下问题。
    What was the danger to the villages after the fire?

    Firemen had been fighting the forest for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles around. Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well. When the fire had at last been put out, the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the grass had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.

New words and expressions 生词和短语

control  n. 控制
smoke  n. 烟
desolate  adj. 荒凉的
threaten  v. 威胁
surrounding  adj. 周围的
destruction  n. 破坏，毁灭
flood  n. 洪水，水灾
authority  n. （常用复数）当局
grass-seed  n. 草籽
spray  v. 喷撒
quantity  n. 量
root  n. 根
century  n. 世纪
patch  n. 小片
blacken  v. 变黑，发暗

参考译文

    消防队员们同那场森林大火搏斗了将近3个星期才最后把火势控制住。就在不久之前，参天大树还覆盖着方圆数英里的土地。而现在，发热的地面上仍然升腾着烟雾，弥漫在荒凉的山丘上。冬季即将来临，这些山丘对周围的村庄具有毁灭性的威胁，因为大雨不仅会冲走土壤，而且还会引起严重的水灾。在大火最后被扑灭后，森林管理当局订购了好几吨一种生长迅速的特殊类型的草籽。飞机把这种草籽大量地撒播在地上。飞机撒播近一个月后，开始下起雨来。然而到那时，很多地方的草已经生了根。一片片的绿草开始出现在这片烧焦的土地上，代替了多少世纪以来一直生长在那里的参天大树。

               Lesson 63
           She was not amused
            她并不觉得好笑
         
    First listen and then answer the question.
    听录音，然后回答以下问题。
    Why did Jenny want to leave the wedding reception?

    Jeremy Hampden has a large circle of friends and if very popular at parties. Everybody admires him for his great sense of humour -- everybody, that is, except his six-year-old daughter, Jenny. Recently, one of Jeremy's closest friends asked him to make a speech at a wedding reception. This is the sort of thing that Jeremy loves. He prepared the speech carefully and went to the wedding with Jenny. he had included a large number of funny stories in the speech and, of course, it was a great success. As soon as he had finished, Jenny told him she wanted to go home. Jeremy was a little disappointed by this but he did as his daughter asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny if she had enjoyed the speech. To his surprise, she said she hadn't. Jeremy asked her why this was so and she told him that she did not like to see so many people laughing at him!