2020考研英语：《经济学人》中英读译Day104

英语阅读能力依靠什么？必然是词汇的积累，但，仅仅是词汇的积累是不够了，更应该了解英语句式，不同句型所表达意义。如何培养自己的阅读语感呢？那么就跟着聚创考研信息网小编每天学一点英语，一起为考研筑起坚实的地基。阅读是需要积累的，就像我们需要经常和人沟通才会促进我们的表达能力一样~小伙伴跟着小编一起，每天坚持打卡，培养英语阅读能力及语感，了解文章一些经典词汇的用法。

经济学人: 搜寻火星生命 (1)

On earth, most of the methane in the atmosphere has been belched by living organisms,so finding the gas on Mars would be happy news for seekers after extraterrestrial life.Sadly, news announced on December 12th, at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), in Washington, DC, was anything but happy.

译文

在地球上，大气中的大部分甲烷都是由活着的生物体喷出的，所以对探求者们来说，在火星上发现气体是仅次于发现地外生命的好消息。不幸的是，12月12日在华盛顿特区举行的美国地球物理学会（AGU）年度会议上宣布的消息却让人开心不起来。

 

Preliminary results from ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, a European craft that has been circling Mars for the past two years,give a thumbs-down to the idea that there is methane in its atmosphere.Previous observations, from orbit and by telescopes on Earth, suggested Mars might sport traces of the gas.

译文

欧洲的ExoMars微量气体探测轨道飞行器在过去两年中一直围绕火星盘旋，该飞船发回的初步结果与火星大气中有甲烷的说法相悖。从轨道发回的以及从地球望远镜中观察到的早期观察结果表明火星上或许有气体存在的痕迹。

 

These were backed up by data from Curiosity, an American Mars rover.In its six years crawling around a crater called Gale Curiosity has both detected methane and recorded seasonal ups and downs of the stuff that cycle from a modest 0.25 parts per billion during the winter to 0.65ppbn in the summer, with spikes up to 7.0ppbn.

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这些都得到了美国火星探测车好奇号的数据支撑。在六年的时间里，它一直围绕着盖尔环形山爬行，好奇号既探测到了甲烷也记录下了这种物质季节性的波动，它稳定地维持在冬季的几十亿分之0.25到夏季的几十亿分之0.65之间，有时会攀升至几十亿分之7。

 

That cyclical pattern has intrigued researchers back on Earth. Broadly speaking, there are two possible sources for Martian methane.One is outer space, whence carbon-rich molecules, some of which are likely to break down into methane, arrive constantly on meteors of various sizes.The other is from under the planet's surface.Methane from both sources will mix eventually into the atmosphere.

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那种循环模式引起了地球上研究人员的兴趣。一般来说，火星甲烷有两种可能的来源。一种是太空，那里有富含碳的分子，其中一些可能分解成甲烷，抵达大小各异的流星上。另一种是来自行星表面之下。两种来源的甲烷最终将混入大气中。

 

But if the gas is coming from underground, it will be more concentrated near its source, and might well appear on a seasonal basis.The process could be a geological or geochemical one that is encouraged by the relative warmth of summer. That would be interesting.Or it could be biological, with methane-generating bugs waking up during the summer months.That would be headline-grabbing. For either to be the explanation of the seasonality observed by Curiosity,the rover would have to have had the luck to land in an area of such methane seeps. But such lucky breaks do happen.

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但是如果气体来自于地下，那么它将更加集中于起源头附近，并且有可能表现出季节性。这一过程可以是地质性或地球化学性的，并受到了夏季相对温暖气候的鼓动。这很有趣。或者它可以是生物学过程，产生甲烷的虫子在夏季的几个月中醒来。这将会成为新闻焦点。不论好奇号观测到的季节性解释是哪一种，探测车将有幸着陆在这片甲烷渗出的区域。但是这种幸运的事确实发生了。

 

注释

1.preliminary 初步的

Preliminary report suggests asphyxiation owing to overcrowding as cause

初步报告显示，窒息是由于过度拥挤造成的。来源于《BBC》

 

2.thumbs-down 反对；责备

Do they get the thumbs-up or thumbs-down from you?

他们会得到你的肯定还是否定?来源于《BBC》

 

3.observation 观察

These generally break down into two categories.

这些一般分为两类。来源于《BBC》

 

4.break down into 分解成

These generally break down into two categories.

这些一般分为两类。来源于《NWEYORKER》

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