冰与地球生命的起源 ⏲️ 6分钟英语：英语精读讲义

Six Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.

来自 bbclearningenglish.com 的六分钟英语。

Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

大家好，这里是 BBC 英语教学的《六分钟英语》。

I'm Sam.

我是萨姆。

And I'm Neil.

我是尼尔。

Have you ever made a snowman or enjoyed a cold drink on a hot summer's day? 語法

你曾经堆过雪人，或者在炎热的夏日里享受过冷饮吗？

Slippery in winter and cooling in summer,

在冬天很滑，在夏天很凉爽，

ice is made when water gets so cold it freezes. 語法

冰是水变得太冷结冰时形成的。

But there's much more to ice than skiing holidays and cold drinks. 表達脈絡

但冰的意义远不止于滑雪度假和冷饮。

Yes, in an exciting discovery

是的，在一项令人兴奋的发现中，

the James Webb Space Telescope recently detected the coldest ices ever in outer space, 用詞

詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜最近在外太空探测到了有史以来最冷的冰，

something NASA scientists think could explain the origins of life on Earth. 語法

美国宇航局（NASA）的科学家认为这可以解释地球生命的起源。

For years scientists have debated how life started on our planet.

多年来，科学家们一直在争论我们星球上的生命是如何开始的。

Billions of years ago,

数十亿年前，

long before the dinosaurs, animals, or even plants existed, 語法

早在恐龙、动物甚至植物存在之前，

the Earth had a watery environment of oxygen-free gases and chemicals known as the primordial soup. 講解

地球就有一个充满了无氧气体和化学物质的水环境，被称为“原始汤”。

It had the potential for life to develop, 短語搭配

它具有孕育生命的潜力，

but something was missing.

但缺少了某些东西。

So, how did we jump from the primordial soup 習語

那么，我们是如何从原始汤跨越到

to the first living plants, animals, and eventually humans?

第一批活着的植物、动物，并最终成为人类的呢？

And how does ice fit into the story? 習語

而冰在这个故事中又扮演了什么角色呢？

That's what we'll be finding out in this program. 表達脈絡

这就是我们要在本期节目中寻找的答案。

And as usual,

和往常一样，

we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

我们还会学习一些有用的新词汇。

But first, I have a question for you, Neil.

但首先，我有一个问题要问你，尼尔。

We know ice is frozen water,

我们知道冰是冻结的水，

but do you know the chemical symbol for water?

但你知道水的化学符号吗？

Is it A, H2O, B, HO2, or C, H2O2?

是 A，H2O，B，HO2，还是 C，H2O2？

Well, I really hope I get this right. 語氣意圖

嗯，我真的希望能答对。

I think the answer is H2O.

我认为答案是 H2O。

Okay.

好的。

We'll find out or check if you're right later in the program. 短語動詞

我们稍后会在节目中揭晓或检查你是否答对了。

Astronomer Professor Melissa McClure worked with the NASA scientists who found ice on Europa, 文化背景

天文学家梅丽莎·麦克卢尔教授与在木卫二上发现冰的 NASA 科学家合作，

one of Jupiter's moons.

木卫二是木星的卫星之一。

Here she explains to BBC World Service program Science in Action

在这里，她向 BBC 世界频道节目《科学行动》解释了

one theory linking ice to the beginnings of life on Earth. 短語搭配

一个将冰与地球生命起源联系起来的理论。

There are sort of these two alternatives for how you could have had life arise on Earth, 講解

关于地球上生命是如何产生的，有两种可以说是替代的理论，

and one is that the very basic building blocks like water and methane and CO2,

其中一种是，像水、甲烷和二氧化碳这些非常基本的生命基石，

like those molecules were definitely brought to Earth by ices and comets. 語法

这些分子肯定是冰和彗星带到地球上的。

And maybe once they were on Earth, 語法

也许一旦它们到达地球，

then they reacted with either geothermal heat or some kind of lightning strike 語法

它们就会与地热或某种闪电发生反应，

to form more complex molecules.

形成更复杂的分子。

Earth's primordial soup lacked the building blocks of life, 習語

地球的原始汤缺乏生命基石，

a phrase describing the most basic biological and chemical units needed to support living things,

这个短语用来描述支持生物所需的最基本的生物和化学单位，

elements like oxygen and carbon.

比如氧和碳等元素。

Professor McClure thinks these missing elements were brought to Earth in comets, 文化背景

麦克卢尔教授认为这些缺失的元素是由彗星带到地球上的，

large bright balls of dirt and ice which travel around the Sun in outer space.

彗星是在外太空围绕太阳运行的由泥土和冰组成的明亮大球体。

It's possible that when comets hit Earth billions of years ago, 語法

这可能是因为数十亿年前彗星撞击地球时，

elements in the ice were scattered and struck by lightning,

冰中的元素被散落并被闪电击中，

a bright flash of light produced by electricity moving in the atmosphere.

闪电是由大气中移动的电产生的明亮闪光。

This resulted in the complex molecules needed for life on Earth. 短語搭配

这产生了地球生命所需的复杂分子。

Exactly how this happened is not known, 語法

这究竟是如何发生的确切过程尚不清楚，

but it involves biomolecules, 用詞

但它涉及生物分子，

molecules like DNA, which are found in living things.

比如在生物体内发现的 DNA 这样的分子。

Ice is not a biomolecule,

冰不是生物分子，

but when it mixes with carbon, 表達脈絡

但当它与碳混合时，

the atoms in ice molecules change to produce complex molecules,

冰分子中的原子会发生变化，产生复杂的分子，

and that's when interesting things start to happen. 表達脈絡

而这正是奇妙的事情开始发生的时候。

Here's Professor McClure again explaining more to BBC World Service's Science in Action.

再次请麦克卢尔教授向 BBC 世界频道的《科学行动》解释更多细节。

If they have a carbon atom in them, 語法

如果它们里面含有碳原子，

then they're complex organic molecules.

那么它们就是复杂的有机分子。

So things like very simple alcohols like methanol or ethanol,

所以像甲醇或乙醇这样非常简单的醇类，

like what you would drink,

就像你会喝的那些，

are complex organic molecules.

都是复杂的有机分子。

And these molecules could react

而且这些分子可能会发生反应，

and start sort of a reaction chain that would eventually lead to something like a biomolecule.

并开始一种反应链，最终导致类似生物分子的东西产生。

Ice can react with other elements to create organic molecules, 短語搭配

冰可以与其他元素反应，创造出有机分子，

for example, the alcohol methanol.

例如，醇类中的甲醇。

Here, the adjective organic means related to living plants and animals. 用詞

在这里，形容词有机（organic）指的是与活着的动植物相关的。

That's different from how we use the word to talk about organic food,

这与我们谈论有机食品时使用这个词的方式不同，

meaning food that hasn't been grown using artificial chemicals.

后者指的是没有使用人造化学物质种植的食物。

When these organic molecules met the primordial soup,

当这些有机分子遇到原始汤时，

so the theory goes, 表達脈絡

根据这个理论，

it produced a chain reaction, 用詞

它产生了连锁反应，

a series of chemical reactions in which one change causes another.

这是一种一个变化引起另一个变化的系列化学反应。

It was this chain reaction which created the first living cells and eventually humans. 語法

正是这种连锁反应创造了第一个活细胞，并最终创造了人类。

Quite impressive for a little piece of frozen water. 表達脈絡

对于一小块冻结的水来说，这真是令人印象深刻。

Speaking of water, Sam, 表達脈絡

说到水，萨姆，

what was the answer to your question about the chemical symbol for water?

关于水的化学符号的问题，你的答案是什么？

I said it was H2O.

我说它是 H2O。

Which was the right answer, Neil.

那是正确的答案，尼尔。

Each molecule of water and ice contains

每一个水分子和冰分子包含

two atoms of H, that's hydrogen,

两个 H 原子，那是氢，

joined to one atom of oxygen.

连接到一个氧原子。

Okay, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned from the program 表達脈絡

好的，让我们回顾一下我们从节目中学到的词汇，

starting with primordial soup.

从原始汤（primordial soup）开始。

The environment on Earth before there were any plants or animals,

这是地球上没有任何动植物之前的环境，

which created the conditions for life.

它创造了生命的条件。

The phrase the building blocks of life

生命基石（the building blocks of life）这个短语

refers to the most basic biological and chemical units 短語搭配

指的是最基本的生物和化学单位

needed to support living plants and animals.

这些单位是维持活的动植物所必需的。

A comet is a large object traveling in space

彗星（comet）是在太空中旅行的大型天体，

which orbits the Sun and has a bright burning tail.

它围绕太阳运行，并带有一条明亮燃烧的尾巴。

Lightning is a flash of bright light produced by electricity moving in the atmosphere.

闪电（lightning）是由大气中移动的电产生的明亮闪光。

The adjective organic means relating to living plants and animals,

形容词有机（organic）意思是与活着的动植物相关的，

and organic food means food which has been grown without using chemicals.

而有机食品（organic food）是指不使用化学物质种植的食物。

And finally,

最后，

a chain reaction is a series of chemical reactions

连锁反应（chain reaction）是一系列的化学反应，

in which one change causes another,

其中一个变化引起另一个变化，

which in turn causes another. 短語搭配

进而又引起另一个变化。

Once again, our six minutes are up.

我们的六分钟又到了。

Goodbye.

再见。

Bye-bye.

拜拜。

Six Minute English from the BBC.

来自 BBC 的六分钟英语。