U.S. Scientists Confirm Water on Mars

　　NASA1 scientists said that Mars was covered once by vast lakes, flowing rivers and a variety of other wet environments that had the potential to support life.

　　Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander2 have identified water in a soil sample; the lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.

　　"We have water," said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer3, or TEGA. "This is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted. "

　　The robotic arm is a critical part of the Phoenix Mars mission. It is needed to trench" into the icy layers of northern polar Mars and deliver samples to instruments that will analyze what Mars is made of, what its water is like, and whether it is or has ever been a possible habitat for life.

　　The soil sample came from a trench approximately 2 inches deep. When the robotic arm first reached that depth, it hit a hard layer of frozen soil. Two attempts to deliver samples of icy soil on days when fresh material was exposed were foiled when the samples became stuck inside the scoop. Most of the material in Wednesday's sample had been exposed to the air for two days, letting some of the water in the sample vaporize away and making the soil easier to handle.

　　"Mars is giving us some surprises," said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona. "We're excited because surprises are where discoveries come from. One surprise is how the soil is behaving. The ice-rich layers stick to the scoop when poised in the sun above the deck, different from what we expected, from all the Mars simulation testing we've done so far. "

　　Since landing on May 25, Phoenix has been studying soil with a chemistry lab, TEGA, a microscope, a conductivity probe and cameras. The science team is trying to determine whether the water ice ever thaws enough to be available for biology and if carbon-containing chemicals and other raw materials for life are present.

　　The mission is examining the sky as well as the ground. A Canadian instrument is using a laser beam to study dust and clouds overhead.

　　"It's a 30-watt light bulb giving us a laser show on Mars," said Victoria Hipkin of the Canadian Space Agency.

　　A full-circle, color panorama of Phoenix's surroundings also has been completed by the spacecraft.

　　"The details and patterns we see in the ground show an ice-dominated terrain as far as the eye can see," said Mark Lemmon of Texas A M University, lead scientist for Phoenix's Surface Stereo Imager4 camera. "They help us plan measurements we're making within reach of the robotic arm and interpret those measurements on a wider scale. "

　　詞匯：

　　foil v. 挫敗，使成泡影

　　conductivity n. 傳導(dǎo)陡，導(dǎo)電勝

　　scoop n. 鏟斗

　　thaw v. 融化，融解

　　vaporize v. 使蒸發(fā)，使汽化

　　panorama n. 全貌，全景圖

　　注釋：

　　1.NASA：National Aeronautics and Space Administration(美國國家航空航天局)的縮寫。NASA總部設(shè)在華盛頓哥倫比亞特區(qū)，是美國政府系統(tǒng)中的航空航天科研機(jī)構(gòu)，負(fù)責(zé)組織和協(xié)調(diào)美國航空航天的研究工作并提供咨詢。

　　2.Phoenix Mars Lander：鳳凰號火星登陸器。其使命是探測火星地表下的冰層，分析冰層是否曾經(jīng)融化產(chǎn)生液態(tài)水，并計劃檢測火星土壤是否含有生命存活的有機(jī)物。

　　3.Thermal and Evolved—Gas Analyzer：熱力與先進(jìn)氣體分析儀

　　4.Stereo Imager：立體圖像

　　練習(xí)：

　　1. What was discovered by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander on Mars?

　　A)Vast lakes.

　　B)Flowing rivers.

　　C)Water in a soil sample.

　　D)Living things.

　　2. Why did the first two attempts to deliver samples fail?

　　A)The sample vaporized away.

　　B)Fresh material was exposed to the air.

　　C)The samples got stuck inside the scoop.

　　D)The robotic arm hit a hard rock.

　　3. Which one of the following statements is NOT meant by the writer?

　　A)Scientists have been trying to break the ice-rich layers of soil on Mars.

　　B)Scientists have been surprised by how the soil on Mars behaves.

　　C)Scientists have been trying to fend out if there is life supporting material on Mars.

　　D)Scientists have been trying to know if water ice will melt.

　　4. Where are the scientists involved in the research from?

　　A)They are from America.

　　B)They are from Canada.

　　C)They are from both America and Canada.

　　D)They are from neither America nor Canada.

　　5. Which of the following do you think is the best description of Phoenix's Surface Stereo Imager Camera, according to your understanding of the passage?

　　A)It imitates human vision and is able to capture three-dimensional images.

　　B)It imitates human voice and is able to record slight sounds while taking photos.

　　C)It takes clear photos that show every detail of the object.

　　D)It is this particular type of camera that can take wide angle pictures.

　　答案與題解：

　　1.C 短文的第一段告訴我們，NASA科學(xué)家曾經(jīng)說過，火星上有廣闊的湖泊，流動的河流，以及可能有支撐生命的潮濕環(huán)境。但這些只是科學(xué)家的假設(shè)，不是NASA’S Phoenix Mars Lander的發(fā)現(xiàn)，所以只有C是正確選擇。

　　2.C 短文第五段的第三句提供了答案。

　　3. A 第六段的第三句所述內(nèi)容說明B是作者想要表達(dá)的意思，第七段的最后一句所述內(nèi)容說明C和D也是作者想要表達(dá)的意思。文章里沒有A所表述的內(nèi)容。

　　4.C 短文的第八和第九段提到了加拿大宇航局的科學(xué)家為鳳凰號的火星探索提供了激光設(shè)備。

　　5. A短文最后一段的第一句：A full—circle，color panorama of Phoenix’S surroundings also has been completed…告訴我們，使用這種照相機(jī)可以拍攝全景照片。panorama：全景，全景攝影。

　　譯文：

美國科學(xué)家確認(rèn)火星上有水

　　美國國家航空航天局的科學(xué)家們稱火星曾被巨大的湖泊、流動的河流以及其他潮濕的自然環(huán)境所覆蓋，而這些都使其有了維持生命的可能。

　　在美國國家航空航天局的“鳳凰”號火星登陸器的實驗室所做的試驗中，已經(jīng)在一份土壤樣本中鑒別出了水。登錄器的機(jī)器臂在星期三的時候把樣本傳送給了一個儀器，此儀器可以鑒別出通過樣本加熱而產(chǎn)生的水蒸氣。

　　“我們找到了水”，熱力與先進(jìn)氣體分析儀(也稱TEGA)的主要科學(xué)家、亞利桑那大學(xué)的威廉?博爾頓說道，“這是我們第一次接觸和品嘗到火星上的水。”

　　登錄器的機(jī)器手臂是“鳳凰”火星計劃重要的組成部分。它需要破開火星北極的冰凍地表，深入到土壤伸出鏟取樣本，并將樣本傳送給儀器，使其可以分析火星的構(gòu)成，火星上的水的形態(tài)和火星是否適合或曾經(jīng)適合人類居住。

　　土壤標(biāo)本來自于一個大概2寸深的溝渠。當(dāng)機(jī)器臂第一次達(dá)到這個溝的時候，它觸到了一層硬的凍土。當(dāng)新鮮的凍土暴露在空氣中的時候，機(jī)器臂曾經(jīng)兩次嘗試對凍土樣本進(jìn)行傳送，但樣本同鏟斗粘在了一起，使這兩次嘗試都以失敗告終。星期三所采集的大部分樣本已經(jīng)暴露在空氣兩天，這使樣本中的一些水分得以蒸發(fā)，從而使土壤更易處理。

　　“火星正在給我們一些驚喜，”“鳳凰”計劃的主要調(diào)查員、亞利桑那大學(xué)的彼得?史密斯說道，“我們很激動是因為發(fā)現(xiàn)源于驚喜。其中一個驚喜就是土壤的表現(xiàn)。當(dāng)富冰層被懸掛于甲板上方的太陽底下的時候，它會和鏟斗粘在一起，這是我們從未預(yù)期到的，也不同于我們迄今為止所做過的任何火星模擬實驗。”

　　自5月25日登陸以來，鳳凰號就利用一個化學(xué)實驗室、熱力與先進(jìn)氣體分析儀、一個顯微鏡，一根傳導(dǎo)性探針和相機(jī)來研究火星土壤。這只科學(xué)團(tuán)隊嘗試確定火星上的水冰是否曾經(jīng)大量融化，從而能支持生物存在。同時，它還將尋找火星土中是否有以碳為基礎(chǔ)的有機(jī)化合物，這些化合物是形成生命的“原材料”。

　　這次任務(wù)同時對天空和地表進(jìn)行研究，加拿大所制造的儀器所發(fā)射的激光可以幫助研究頭上方的塵埃和云層。

　　“這是一個30瓦的燈泡，它在火星上給了我們一場激光秀。”加拿大航天局的維多利亞?西普金說道。

　　航天器還成功采集了“鳳凰”號著陸的周圍地區(qū)的彩色全景圖。

　　“我們獲得的地表圖案顯示，火星基本上是一片以冰為主的地區(qū)。”“鳳凰”號負(fù)責(zé)地表立體成像首席科學(xué)家、 德州A&M大學(xué)的馬克•萊蒙說，“立體成像技術(shù)可以幫助我們在機(jī)器臂所及范圍之內(nèi)的進(jìn)行測量，同時幫助我們在更廣的規(guī)模上解釋這些測量結(jié)果。”

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