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Black Holes: Into the Void 幽冥的黑洞

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Imagine a place where the gravitational force is so great that not even light itself can escape its awesome force. According to popular scientific belief, such places do exist in our universe. They’re black holes: the eternal mysteries of the galaxy.

想象有这样一个地方，重力大到连光线都无法挣脱其巨大力场。科学界普遍相信，宇宙间确有这样的地方存在。它们是黑洞：银河中的永恒谜团。

Black holes most likely began as massive starts that collapsed into themselves after running out of fuel. They had so much mass that there was no way to escape its gravitational force. Imagine throwing a rock into the air here on earth. As the old saying goes, “What goes up must come down.” The more massive the object (such as a planet), the stronger its gravity, and the further you have to throw the rock for it to escape. The gravity of black holes, however, is so strong that nothing can escape.

黑洞极可能为超巨星燃料用尽后崩塌所形成，质量大到任何东西都无法挣脱其重力。试想在地球表面朝空中抛掷一颗石块，俗话说：「有起必有落。」愈巨大的物体（如行星）重力愈强，石块便得丢得更远才能挣脱。然而，黑洞的引力却强得一切都无法逃脱。

A black hole can literally swallow stars and spit out the leftovers. It can rip the hydrogen from any passing star – the hydrogen moves so quickly that it emits a stream of X-rays. We see the star at one end of the stream, and we know that the other end is disappearing into a void. That void is a black hole.

黑洞确实能吞下星体，再吐出其残余物质。它可剥去任何经过的星体上的氢气－氢气在快速移动下会放射出一道X光。我们在光束的一端看见此星体，便可得知星体的另一端正消失于真空中。此真空便是黑洞。

Astronomers have also found examples of light from a star bending as it passes by a dark part of the universe. They believe that this type of extreme curvature indicates a black hole. They are convinced that there are millions of black holes, and that some are as big as galaxies. Hopefully we will someday be able to tell what actually happens inside this mysterious darkness.

天文学家也已发现这类事例，一颗恒星的光线在行经宇宙一黑暗区域时产生弯折。他们认为此类极度弯折的现象指向了黑洞的存在，并深信黑洞有数百万个，有些甚至如银河般巨大。希望有朝一日我们能一窥这些神秘幽暗处的实际真貌。

−by Howard Weston

Vocabulary

单词发音

void [vɔɪd] n. 真空；空白

awesome [ˋɔsəm] adj. 感到敬畏（或畏惧）的

eternal [ɪˋtɝn!] adj. 永恒的

galaxy [ˋgæləksɪ] n.【天】银河

massive [ˋmæsɪv] adj. 巨大的，大量的

collapse [kəˋlæps] v. 倒塌; 垮掉

run out of  用完; 耗尽

literally [ˋlɪtərəlɪ] adv. 确实地，真正地

rip [rɪp] v. 撕，剥

emit [ɪˋmɪt] v. 放射；发出

More Information

单词发音

gravitational [ˋgrævəˋteʃən!] adj.（万有）引力的；重力的

spit out  吐出

leftover [ˋleft͵ovɚ] n. 残余物，残存物

stream [strim] n.（光的）束

curvature [ˋkɝvətʃɚ] n. 弯曲

Reading Questions

1.  What does the “eternal mystery” mean in this article?

A.  A question that seemingly has no answer.

B.  An unsolved crime.

C.  An unresolved legal issue.

D.  A frightening end to a story.

2.  According to astronomers, what proof do we have that black holes exist?

A.  An excess of hydrogen in some places.

B.  The movement of planets.

C.  The bending rays of light from a star.

D.  The total lack of color in space.

3.  What would scientists most likely gain from observing black holes?

A.  A more complete knowledge of the color black.

B.  A true understanding of where humans came from.

C.  A better understanding of an unexplainable area of our universe.

D.  The ability to escape its gravitational force and disappear into a void.

Answer