2015考研英语阅读应对小行星撞击_大学英语阅读

2015考研英语阅读应对小行星撞击

　　他们计算出小行星的轨道，并无撞击危险。但这枚直径30米、重达190000吨的石块离得是那么近：距地表27,700千米，处于一些卫星轨道内。

　　It was the nearest ever recorded for an asteroid that size.

　　对这种大小的小行星，这是有记录以来距离最近的一次。

　　The second came quite literally out of a clear blue sky, appearing without warning and thendisintergrating about 30 seconds later over Chelyabinsk.

　　第二颗在一片晴空万里中毫无警告得出现了，约30秒后在车里雅宾斯克市上空解体了。

　　According to NASA, the 10,000-tonne meteor released about 500 kilotonnes of energy when itbroke apart, equivalent to the yield of a largish nuclear bomb.

　　来自NASA的数据显示，这颗10000吨重的陨石在肢解时释放了大约500吨质量的能量，相当于一颗大型核弹的爆炸当量。

　　Only the height of the detonation-dozens of kilometers upkept the fatality count at zero,although more than 1,000 people were injured as windows were blown out of buildings.

　　好在爆炸发生在数十公里的高空，未有人员死亡。虽然有超过1000人受伤，但只是被震碎的建筑物玻璃伤到。

　　This double whammy has focused minds on the threat from asteroids, something thatastronomers have long known is real but which tends to be treated with giggles whenever it isbrought outside the lab.