Lesson 43 Are there strangers in space?宇宙中有外星人吗？部分倒装 双重定语从句

We must conclude from the work of those who have studied the origin of life, that given a planet only approximately like our own, life is almost certain to start.

given + n.^{（过去分词短语作条件状语）如果有，假如有}

• Given the chance, I’d do it again.
• Given good health, I hope to finish the work this year.
• Given the same treatment again, he is sure to get well.

given ^{prep. taking sth. into account 考虑到/鉴于…}

• Given his age, he's a remarkably fast runner.
• Given the current economic climate, the company has decided to postpone its expansion plans. ^{考虑到目前的经济形势，公司决定推迟扩张计划。}
• Given that she is interested in children, I am sure teaching is the right career for her. 
• Given the current economic climate, finding a job quickly will be challenging.^{考虑到当前的经济环境，快速找到工作将是具有挑战性的。}

start ^{v. to come into being, activity, or operation 产生，出现，开始}

• His illness started with a slight cough.
• How did the war start?
• With the right conditions in place, the reaction is almost certain to start.^{在具备适当的条件的情况下，反应几乎肯定会开始。}

Of all the planets in our own solar system, we are now pretty certain the Earth is the only one on which life can survive.

注：现代英语中从句跟在 sure / certain / afraid / glad / confident ... 这类形容词后，作用是补足形容词的语义内容，让句子完整。
传统语法中 certain = certain of ... / certain that ... 其中 of 遇 that 可以省略，而 that 本身也可以省略。所有会有“介宾宾语从句”与“形容词补足语从句”这 2 种可能性。

of ^{prep. used when comparing related things （用于比较时）在…中}

• I'm surprised that you of all people think that.
• A flat tyre today of all days what bad luck!
• He's the best looking of the three brothers.
• But, of the vertebrates, unpredictable Nature selected only snakes (and one lizard).
• Of all the candidates interviewed, she was clearly the most qualified.^{在所有接受面试的候选人中，她显然是最合格的。}

Mars is too dry and poor in oxygen, Venus far too hot, and so is Mercury, and the outer planets have temperatures near absolute zero and hydrogen-dominated atmospheres.

poor in sth.  ^{lacking sth. that is needed 缺乏…}

• soil poor in nutrients
• The country is poor in natural resources.

rich in sth. ^{containing a lot of sth. 富于…，富含…，盛产…}

• a play rich in humor
• China is rich in minerals.
• Citrus fruits are rich in vitamin C.

Mars is too dry and poor in oxygen, Venus (is) far too hot, and so is Mercury, … ^补全课文

outer planet ^{n. any of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto whose orbits lie beyond the asteroid belt 外行星，带外行星}

• They are the first cirrus clouds seen on an outer planet. ^{它们是首次在外行星上发现的卷云。}
• The hero of this book is a little prince from an outer planet. ^{本书的主人公是来自外星球的小王子。}
• This outer planet is a gas giant, like Jupiter or Saturn or Uranus. ^{像木星、土星或是天王星一样，这颗带外行星也是一个巨大的气体团。}
• Generally, the best time to observe an outer planet like Jupiter is when the planet is retrograding. ^{一般来说，像观察木星一类外太空行星的最佳时间就是行星在逆行的时候。}

absolute zero ^{n [U] −273ºC or −460ºF, the lowest temperature that is possible in theory 绝对零度}

• Its lower fixed point is absolute zero. ^{其低端固定点温度是绝对零度。}
• Absolute zero is the lowest possible temperature. ^{绝对温度是物体的最低可能温度。}
• Until then , the term "absolute zero" will have no meaning. ^{在那以前， “绝对零度”一词无任何意义。}
• There is an absolute zero of entropy, and that's really what we learn. ^{而熵是有绝对零点的，这就是我们学到的。}

dominate ^{v. to be the most important person or thing 是最重要的人或事物}

• The earthquake once again dominated the news.
• Don't allow the computer to dominate your child's life.
• My weekend was dominated by housework.

hydrogen-dominated  = atmospheres which are dominated by hydrogen ⇒ hydrogen-dominated atmospheres

• silverware which is made by hands ⇒ hand-made silverware
• diseases which are related to stress ⇒  stress-related diseases
• enterprises which are owned by states ⇒ state-owned enterprises
• The gas giant is characterized by its thick, helium-dominated atmosphere.^{这个气态巨行星的特点是其厚厚的、以氦气为主的大气层。}

But other suns, stars as the astronomers call them, are bound to have planets like our own, and as the number of stars in the universe is so vast, this possibility becomes virtual certainty.

be bound to do ^{certain to do sth. 必然会.../一定会...}

• The weather is bound to get better tomorrow.
• On our road ahead, we are bound to meet with difficulties.
• Given the pressure, the system is bound to have a major failure soon.^{考虑到目前的压力，这个系统很快必然会有一次重大故障。}

vast ^{adj. very large in area, size, quantity or degree（面积、体积、数量或程度）巨大的}

• a vast area of forest
• a vast crowd
• Your help made a vast difference.

virtual ^{adj. [only before noun] almost or very nearly the thing described, so that any slight difference is not important 实际上的，其实，几乎，差不多}

• The company has a virtual monopoly in this area of trade.
• He married a virtual stranger.
• When her husband had a stroke, she was given virtual control of the business.
• But the chances are against it, and there is a virtual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky and robust we are.

There are 100,000 million stars in our own Milky Way alone, and then there are 3,000 million other Milky Ways, or galaxies, in the universe.

Milky Way ^{n. the galaxy containing the solar system, visible as a broad band of faint light in the night sky 银河系}

• Some stars out of Milky Way outblaze the sun. ^{银河系外的有些星体其光度超过太阳。}
• Globular clusters once ruled the Milky Way. ^{球状星团曾经统治着银河系。}
• Gigolo even not come, Milky Way still flicker. ^{牛郎即使不来，银河依旧闪烁。}

alone ^{adv. without including anything else 单单，仅}

• These alone took sixteen months to build.
• These books alone cost me 2,000 yuan.
• Time alone will tell.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. ^{― Calvin Coolidge}

or 引出同位语

• The third, or main wave, is the slowest and has travelled round the earth through the surface rocks.
• Cave exploration, or pot-holing, as it has come to be known, is a relatively new sport.

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

Embedded Attributive Clause ^{嵌入式定语从句}

这种定语从句的特征是：既修饰先行词又同时做另一个主谓结构的宾语。

• Turning back down the main street, we quickened our pace and made our way rapidly towards the stream where we hoped the boatman was waiting.
• There was no trace of fingerprints, but the inspector found a dirty red bundle that contained jewellery which the old lady said was not hers.
• In this part of the cave, they could hear an insistent booming sound which they found was caused by a small waterspout shooting down into a pool from the roof of the cave.
• I hired a car the day after landing and bought a comprehensive book of maps, which I found most helpful on the cross country journey, but which I did not think I should need on the last stage. ^{不能看着是插入语}

嵌入式定语从句与插入语的区别在于其定义，去掉插入语不会影响句子的意思与语法结构。

 estimate sth. at sth. ^{估计某物（的数量、价值、重量等）为…}

• Organizers estimated the crowd at 50,000.
• The insurance company estimated the damage to the house at $50,000. ^{保险公司估计房子的损失为5万美元。}
• The total cost of the project is now estimated at about ten million dollars.^{该项目的总成本现在估计约为一千万美元。}

Although perhaps only 1% of the life that has started somewhere will develop into highly complex and intelligent patterns, so vast is the number of planets, that intelligent life is bound to be a natural part of the universe.

develop into … ^{发展成为…；进化成…}

• Chicago developed into a big city in the late 1800s. 
• What started as a small local business has now developed into a global corporation. ^{起初这只是一家本地小企业，现在已经发展成为一家跨国公司。}
• The simple single-celled organisms took eons to develop into highly complex and intelligent patterns of life.^{简单的单细胞生物花费了数亿年才发展成高度复杂和智能的生命模式。}

So 位于句首引起部分倒装

• So far away does my mother live that we hardly ever see her.
• So great is our passion for doing things for ourselves, that we are becoming increasingly less dependent on specialized labour.
• So challenging was the task, that the team had to work overtime for weeks.^{任务如此具有挑战性，以至于团队不得不加班数周。}

If then we are so certain that other intelligent life exists in the universe, why have we had no visitors from outer space yet?

outer space ^{n. [U] the area outside the Earth’s atmosphere containing the stars and planets 外层空间}

• After you press the button, the elevator then takes you to outer space. ^{按下按钮后，电梯就会带你去外太空。}
• Visiting outer space is still a far dream for anyone who isn't an astronaut. ^{对任何不是宇航员的人来说，参观外太空仍然是一个遥远的梦想。}
• The seeds are influenced by the radiation and low gravity in outer space. ^{种子在外太空会受到辐射和低重力的影响。}

First of all, they may have come to this planet of ours thousands or millions of years ago, and found our then prevailing primitive state completely uninteresting to their own advanced knowledge.

prevailing ^{adj. existing or most common at a particular time（某时期）普遍的，盛行的，流行的}

• the attitude towards science prevailing at the time
• It takes little experience on Pacific islands to be aware that there are prevailing winds. ^{在太平洋岛屿上不需要什么经验就能知道那里有盛行风。}
• This reflects attitudes and values prevailing in society. ^{这反映出社会上普遍流行的态度和价值观。}

prevail ^{v. if a belief, custom, situation etc. prevails, it exists among a group of people at a certain time 普遍存在，盛行，流行}

• the economic conditions which prevail in England and Wales
• I admired the creativity which prevailed among the young writers.
• The documentary depicted the then prevailing medieval customs in great detail.^{这部纪录片详细描绘了当时普遍存在的中世纪习俗。}

Professor Ronald Bracewell, a leading American radio astronomer, argued in Nature that such a superior civilization, on a visit to our own solar system, may have left an automatic messenger behind to await the possible awakening of an advanced civilization.

radio astronomer ^{射电天文学家}

• One radio astronomer actually left Paris to go off and to observe an eclipse. ^{一位射电天文学家离开巴黎，去观看月食。}
• In 10,000 hours you could have learned enough to become a radio astronomer or engineer. ^{一万个小时后，你学到的知识足以让你成为一名射电天文学家或工程师。}

Nature: a British weekly journal which deals with all areas of science. It is a very respected journal, and many important new discoveries are first reported in articles in Nature. ^{英国《自然》杂志}

await ^{v. (fml.) to wait for sth. 等候}

• Several men are awaiting trial for robbery.
• They were awaiting the birth of their first child.
• The seed bank was established to await the possible need for specific genes in the future.^{建立种子库是为了等待未来对特定基因的可能需求。}

awakening ^{n. the moment when you first realize or experience sth. 觉醒；认识的提高；（某种情感或能力的）激发}

• The book explores his spiritual awakening after his long journey across Asia. ^{这本书探讨了他在漫长的亚洲之旅后的精神觉醒。}
• the awakening of public concern about the environment

Such a messenger, receiving our radio and television signals, might well re-transmit them back to its home-planet, although what impression any other civilization would thus get from us is best left unsaid.

may / might / could well … ^{（某事）可能（发生或是真的）}

• Another patient might equally well complain that her neighbours were combining to slander her and persecute her, and yet one might be cautious about believing this statement.
• Over the years, one may well become an authority on one's hobby and will very probably be asked to give informal talks to little gatherings and then, if successful, to larger audiences.
• ... giant hovercraft liners could span the Atlantic; and the railway of the future may well be the 'hovertrain', riding on its air cushion over a single rail...

thus ^{adv. in this way, like this 以此方式，如此，这样}

• calculate the area of the triangle thus formed
• Hold the wheel in both hands, thus.
• The apparatus thus described, however, records only the horizontal component of the wave movement, which is, in fact, much more complicated.

be left unsaid ^{if sth. is left unsaid, you do not say it although you might be thinking it 不说；被搁置在一边（不提）}

• Some things are better left unsaid.
• It’s better to leave some things unsaid.
• He got up slowly leaving the lunch unfinished.
• Please excuse me if I have left any of your questions unanswered.
• It is then left completely undisturbed with plenty of food and water so that it can absorb the atmosphere of its new home and see that nothing particularly alarming is happening to its companions.
• Though they were both angry, much was left unsaid to avoid a permanent rift. ^{尽管两人都很生气，但为了避免产生永久的隔阂，很多话都没有说出口。}
• The details of their private disagreement were best left unsaid during the public meeting.^{他们私人分歧的细节在公开会议期间最好不要说。}

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.

come up against ^{if you come up against a problem or difficulty, you are faced with it and have to deal with it 遇到/遭遇;面临（问题、困难）}

• We may find we come up against quite a lot of opposition from local people.
• We came up against a great deal of resistance in dealing with the case.
• The construction project suddenly came up against unexpected legal issues.^{该建设项目突然遭遇了意料之外的法律问题。}
• We must be prepared to come up against stiff competition in the international market.^{我们必须准备好在国际市场上遭遇激烈的竞争。}

the most difficult of all obstacles ^{所有障碍中最困难的}

• That is perhaps why sculpture has been described as the most difficult of all arts; certainly it is more difficult than the arts which involve appreciation of flat forms, shape in only two dimensions.
• Lack of consistent funding is the most difficult of all obstacles facing the research team.^{缺乏持续的资金是研究团队面临的所有障碍中最困难的。}
• the most difficult of all arts ↔ the most difficult art of all
• the most difficult of all obstacles ↔ the most difficult obstacle of all
• the greatest of all Western stars ↔ the greatest Western star of all
• the most valuable find of all ↔ the most valuable of all finds
• the most frightening thing of all ↔ the most frightening of all things
• the deepest holes of all ↔ the deepest of all holes 

obstacle to sth. ^{…的障碍；阻碍…的东西( 介词to而非to do不定式 )}

• obstacles to world peace
• This decision has removed the last obstacle to the hostages' release.
• The agreement removes the last serious obstacle to the signing of the arms treaty. ^{该协议为武器条约的签署去除了最后一个重大障碍。}

contact with ^{n. 联系；接触(名词需要与 with 搭配)}

• The children lost contact with their families.
• Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries. ^{vt.联系（动词及物，无需 with）}
• She has been in regular contact with her colleagues via email while working from home. ^{居家办公期间，她一直通过电子邮件与同事保持定期联系。}

As a reasonable guess, they might, on an average, be 100 light years away. (A light year is the distance which light travels at 186,000 miles per second in one year, namely 6 million million miles.)

on (an) average ^平均来说

• On average, men still earn more than women.
• On an average, women live between five and seven years longer than men. 
• On an average, our employees commute for thirty minutes each way.^{平均来说，我们的员工单程通勤三十分钟。}

namely ^{adv. that is to say 即/也就是}

• Only one boy was absent, namely Harry.
• We need to concentrate on our target audience, namely women aged between 20 and 30.
• The main objective of the mission, namely finding extraterrestrial life, is highly ambitious.^{这次任务的主要目标，即寻找地外生命，雄心勃勃。}

Radio waves also travel at the speed of light, and assuming such an automatic messenger picked up our first broadcasts of the 1920's, the message to its home planet is barely halfway there.

 assuming (that) … ^{conj. 1、假定，假如}

• Assuming (that) the house is for sale, would you buy it?
• You can stretch your legs on the spacious decks, play games, swim, meet interesting people and enjoy good food―always assuming, of course, that the sea is calm.
• Assuming all goes according to plan, the construction should be finished by next month.^{假设一切都按计划进行，施工应该在下个月完成。}

assuming (that) … ^{conj. 2、以为}

• Assuming (that) the man was making a homosexual advance, he stormed out of the  house angrily.
• Assuming that his family had been killed during an air-raid, Hans settled down in a Village fifty miles away where he had remained ever since.

pick sth. up  ^{(of a piece of electrical equipment) to receive a signal 接收信号}

• The equipment picked up the signal from the satellite.
• We were able to pick up the BBC World Service.
• We can pick up Mexican television. ^{我们可以接收到墨西哥电视。}

Similarly, our own present primitive chemical rockets, though good enough to orbit men, have no chance of transporting us to the nearest other star, four light years away, let alone distances of tens or hundreds of light years.

similarly ^{adv.  类似地，同样地}

• The cost of food and clothing has come down in recent years. Similarly, fuel prices have fallen quite considerably.
• High inflation usually leads to high interest rates. Similarly, interest rates decline when inflation is low.
• The first experiment yielded positive results; similarly, the second trial showed significant improvement. ^{第一个实验取得了积极的结果；同样地，第二次试验也显示出显著的改善。}

orbit ^{v. 1. to revolve in an orbit around 绕…的轨道运行}

• The earth takes a year to orbit the sun.
• Once the Soyuz began to orbit the Earth, the failures began. ^{当联盟号开始环绕地球的时候，失败随之降临了。}
•  The Moon's rotation rate, and the time it takes to orbit Earth are the same. ^{月球的自转速度与绕地球公转速度是一样的。}

orbit ^{v. 2. to send up and make revolve in an orbit 把…送入轨道；使绕轨道运行}

• It takes a massive amount of fuel and precision to orbit a satellite around the Earth. ^{将卫星送入地球轨道并使其运行需要大量的燃料和极高的精度。}
• The aerospace company successfully orbited several small communications satellites last month. ^{这家航空航天公司上个月成功地将几颗小型通讯卫星送入了轨道。}

chance ^{n. [C & U] possibility 可能性}

• She has a good chance of a successful recovery.
• Is there any chance of getting tickets for tonight's performance?
• Perhaps it is the desire for solitude or the chance of making an unexpected discovery that lures men down to the depths of the earth.
• There is a slight chance that it will rain this afternoon, so you might want to bring an umbrella. ^{今天下午有一点点下雨的可能，所以你可能想带把伞。}

let alone = much less / still less ^{用在否定句后，表2个都没戏，都不可能}

• The baby can’t talk, let alone run.
• He can’t run a hundred yards, let alone a mile.
• I don’t suspect him of theft, let alone of robbery.
• Tony can barely boil an egg, much less cook dinner.

Fortunately, there is a 'uniquely rational way' for us to communicate with other intelligent beings, as Walter Sullivan has put it in his excellent book, We Are not Alone.

Walter Sullivan (January 18, 1918 – March 19, 1996) was considered the "dean" of science writers. Sullivan spent most of his career as a science reporter for the New York Times. Over a 50-year career he covered all aspects of science — Antarctic expeditions, rocket launchings in the late 1950s, physics, chemistry, and geology. He wrote several well-received books, including We Are not Alone, a bestseller about the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

put ^{v. to say or write sth. using words in a particular way 措辞说}

• They caught lobster and fish every day, and, as one of them put it 'ate like kings'.
• I don’t know how to put it.
• How shall I put it?
• let me put it this way

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

depend on ^{取决于/依赖于}

• The success of the mission depends on flawless execution of the launch sequence.^{任务的成功取决于发射序列的完美执行。}
• Your ability to access the data depends on having the correct security clearance.^{您访问数据的能力取决于拥有正确的安全许可。}

It is the natural frequency of emission of the hydrogen atoms in space and was discovered by us in 1951; it must be known to any kind of radio astronomer in the universe.

 hydrogen atoms ^{氢原子(由一个质子和一个电子组成的最简单的原子)}

• Well, we've got to hydrogen atoms here. ^{现在我们这有一个氢原子。}
• Now here are these two isolated hydrogen atoms. ^{现在这是两个分别独立的氢原子。}
• Essentially it would only allow for us to bond to two hydrogen atoms. ^{本质上，它只能允许我们,和两个氢原子成键。}

Once the existence of this wave-length had been discovered, it was not long before its use as the uniquely recognizable broadcasting frequency for interstellar communication was suggested.

Once...  ^{一旦…；当…时候}

• Once the ancient map had been discovered, the treasure hunt began in earnest.^{一旦这张古老的地图被发现，寻宝活动就正式开始了。}
• Once you understand the basic principles of AI, you can start building your own tools. ^{一旦你理解了 AI 的基本原理，你就可以开始构建自己的工具了。}

Without something of this kind, searching for intelligences on other planets would be like trying to meet a friend in London without a pre-arranged rendezvous and absurdly wandering the streets in the hope of a chance encounter.

without ^{代替if引导原因状语（从句）}

• Education, … what would civilization be like without its benefits? 
• Without it we could not make a living.
• Without it, nothing could ever be brought to a conclusion; everything would be in a state of chaos.
• Without something of this kind to guide us, the research could wander aimlessly for years.^{没有这种类型的东西来指导我们，这项研究可能会漫无目的地进行数年。}

intelligence ^{n. [C] an intelligent being 智慧生物}

• Yet those forces must be natural; they cannot be attributed to the actions of mysterious creative intelligences whose existence, in scientific terms, is unproved.
• It may exceed human intelligence sooner or later. ^{它迟早会超越人类的智力。}

pre-arranged ^{adj. planned or arranged in advance 提前计划或安排好的}

• The spy operated without a pre-arranged rendezvous, relying solely on cryptic messages.^{这名间谍在没有预先安排好的会面地点的情况下行动，完全依赖于神秘的信息。}
• An interview schedule is typically pre-arranged, and can involve anywhere between 2-5 persons a day; ^{面试时间一般是预先确定的，一天面试人数为2到5人；}
• Click to place blocks in a pre-arranged formation. Current shapes include Round, Square, and Diamond. ^{通过点击来以预定义的结构放置方块。结构可以是圆形，方形和菱形。}

rendezvous ^{n. (pl unchanged 复数不变) (place chosen for a) meeting at an agreed time 约会（地点）}

• arrange / make a rendezvous with Bill at the pub at two o'clock
• He failed to keep a rendezvous after sensing a police trap. ^{他觉察到是警察的圈套后，就未去赴约。}
• She is lured to a rendezvous near Lao Cai to be drugged. ^{她被引诱到老街附近的一个约会地点，并被下了药。}

wander ^{vi./vt. 漫无目的的走，闲逛}

• The dogs have greater freedom, too, for they are allowed to wander outside their enclosure. 
• He was found wandering the streets of New York.
• I've spent two years wandering the world.
• After getting lost, we found ourselves absurdly wandering the streets in the wrong direction.^{迷路后，我们发现自己荒谬地在街上游荡，走错了方向。}

in the hope of sth. / that ... ^{because of the wish for sth. / that ... 怀着…的希望}

• Should they sell now or hang on in the hope that the shares will soon be worth serious money?
• We came to the island in the hope of finding a simpler way of life.

in + 抽象名词 ^{做原因状语（书面语的重要用法）}

• The men of our family waded down through our flooded meadows with boathooks, in the hope of being able to grapple a corner of the raft and pull it out of the current towards our bank.
• Young men who have reason to fear that they will be killed in battle may justifiably feel bitter in the thought that they have cheated of the best things that life has to offer.
• In the lift her thoughts were on lunch and a good rest; but when she got out at her own floor, both were forgotten in her sudden discovery that her front door was open.
• They leave unwanted objects in drawers, cupboards and attics for years, in the belief that they may one day need just those very things.
• The Swedes were the first to recognize that public officials like civil servants, police officers, health inspectors or tax-collectors can make mistakes or act over-zealously in the belief that they are serving the public.

chance ^{adj. [only before noun] not planned or expected = accidental 偶然的}

• The medicine was a chance discovery made by a scientist looking for something else. ^{这种药物是一位科学家在寻找其他东西时的一个偶然发现。}
• A chance meeting / encounter at a tech conference led to their successful business partnership. ^{在一次技术会议上的偶然相遇促成了他们成功的商业合作。}
•  Whether life began through a chance event or a directed process is a major scientific question. ^{生命是通过偶然事件还是通过有向过程开始的，是一个重大的科学问题。}

encounter ^{n. a meeting, esp. one that is sudden, unexpected or violent 偶遇，遭遇，邂逅}

• Three of them were killed in the subsequent encounter with the police.
• The story describes the extraordinary encounter between a man and a dolphin.
• She attended the conference every year in the hope of a chance encounter with her mentor.^{她每年都参加会议，希望能偶然遇到她的导师。}