為什麼會有月球？……還有更多精彩內容！：英語精讀講義

Hey, Vsauce.

嘿，Vsauce。

Michael here and I am in Regent's Park in London

我是 Michael，現在我人在倫敦的攝政公園，

joined by Tom from SlashTom. 文法

和 SlashTom 頻道的 Tom 在一起。

Awesome channel, check it out. 片語動詞

這個頻道超讚，快去看看。

This camera belongs to Tom and Hazel is operating it right now. 片語搭配

這台攝影機是 Tom 的，現在由 Hazel 掌鏡。

Yeah, that's her giving a thumbs up, which I'm sure just looked like a blur. 片語搭配

對，就是她在比讚，不過我敢說，畫面裡看起來只是一團模糊。

But the point is we're going to do information today. 表達脈絡

不過重點是，我們今天要來講點知識。

Right now, Tom, I am in London,

現在呢，Tom，我人在倫敦，

which is in England,

倫敦位於英格蘭，

and it's also the United Kingdom,

也屬於聯合王國，

which is in Europe.

而聯合王國位於歐洲。

Okay, and we've also got another term, Great Britain.

好，我們還有另一個名稱：大不列顛。

Well, let's unpack all these terms and today learn about geography. 慣用語

那麼，今天就讓我們把這些名稱逐一釐清，順便學學地理。

I may have failed geography. 文法

我的地理可能沒及格。

Can I find someone else?

我可以找別人嗎？

Now, if we're going to talk about geography,

那麼，如果我們要談地理，

I think we should go all the way back to a time when there was no geography. 片語動詞

我想我們應該一路追溯到連「地理」都還不存在的時代。

That's right.

沒錯。

Way before YouTube existed,

遠在 YouTube 出現之前，

our solar system was nothing but a mist of dust and gases, 片語搭配

我們的太陽系還只是一團由塵埃和氣體組成的雲霧，

what is known as a solar nebula. 片語搭配

也就是所謂的太陽星雲。

But then, about 4.6 billion years ago,

但後來，大約在 46 億年前，

something majestic happened.

一件壯麗的事情發生了。

We don't know exactly what caused it,

我們並不確切知道是什麼引發了這一切，

but some scientists believe that the shock wave of a nearby supernova

但有些科學家認為，附近一顆超新星爆發所產生的衝擊波

hit our nebula, causing it to start spinning and contracting. 文法

撞上了我們的星雲，使它開始旋轉並收縮。

Now, as things collected together,

隨著物質聚集在一起，

their overall gravity got stronger and they pulled more stuff in

它們整體的引力變得更強，又吸入了更多物質，

and then boom, we've got a sun.

然後，砰的一聲，太陽誕生了。

A half billion years later,

又過了 5 億年，

and the disc of junk circling around the sun starts coming together in its own way

環繞太陽的那一盤雜物也開始以自己的方式聚集，

into what we now call the planets.

形成了我們現在所說的行星。

One of these planets I've actually visited

這些行星中，有一顆我還真的去過，

and it's called Earth.

它就叫地球。

But before we get ahead of ourselves, 慣用語

不過，先別急著往下說，

what the heck is the moon doing there? 語氣意圖

月球到底為什麼會在那裡？

I mean, here's the problem.

我的意思是，問題就在這裡。

When you look at all the terrestrial planets,

看看所有類地行星，

all the planets near us, near the sun,

也就是我們附近、靠近太陽的所有行星，

they all have very similar structure,

它們的結構都非常相似，

and they all have the same big metal core,

都有同樣巨大的金屬核心，

and they all have very similar densities.

密度也都非常接近。

But the moon is very not dense,

但月球的密度非常低，

and it doesn't have a similar structure.

結構也不一樣。

It doesn't have a huge dense metal core.

它沒有巨大而緻密的金屬核心。

In fact, when we visited the moon and brought back dust and rocks

事實上，當我們登上月球並帶回塵土和岩石，

to analyze what the moon was made out of, 片語動詞

想分析月球是由什麼構成時，

we found that the moon was made out of the same stuff

我們發現，構成月球的物質

that you find in Earth's crust and mantle,

和地殼及地函中的物質相同，

but not Earth's core.

卻和地核中的不同。

This discovery gave rise to a pretty awesome idea 片語搭配

這項發現催生了一個相當驚人的想法：

that the moon is actually made out of what used to be on Earth.

月球其實是由曾經屬於地球的物質構成的。

About 4.52 billion years ago,

大約 45.2 億年前，

there used to be another planet called Theia. 文法

曾經還有一顆名叫忒伊亞的行星。

It was a little bit smaller than Mars, 文法

它比火星小一點，

but it had an unfortunate orbit.

但它的運行軌道很不走運。

It was fine for millions of years,

幾百萬年來，它一直相安無事，

but eventually and what did happen to it was that it collided with Earth.

但最後，它還是撞上了地球。

Now, it's believed that the collision happened quite slowly, 文法

一般認為，這次碰撞發生得相當緩慢，

and the centers, the cores of both Theia and Earth fused into one, 片語搭配

忒伊亞和地球的中心，也就是兩者的核心，融合成了一個，

and material from the mantle and crust of Earth wasn't just scattered, 文法

而地球地函和地殼中的物質不只是四散開來，

but it was forcefully ejected,

更被猛烈地拋了出去，

literally launched into outer space.

簡直就是被發射進外太空。

It circled around Earth,

這些物質繞著地球旋轉，

and scientists believe that it took only about a week 文法

科學家認為，前後只花了大約一週，

for all that Earth material out in space

所有那些進入太空的地球物質

to coalesce into what we now call the Moon.

就聚合成了我們現在所說的月球。

Oh, and by the way, 表達脈絡

喔，順帶一提，

if that's how the Moon formed,

如果月球真的是這樣形成的，

it was such a strong collision. 文法

那次碰撞的威力可真夠大的。

The actual axis that the Earth spun on was tilted 23.5 degrees,

地球實際的自轉軸被撞得傾斜了 23.5 度，

which to this day is why we have seasons. 片語搭配

這也正是我們直到今天仍有四季的原因。

Wow.

哇。

All right,

好了，

so 4 billion years ago,

那麼，40 億年前，

the continents as we know them began to emerge. 片語搭配

我們今天所熟悉的大陸開始出現。

You know, these pieces of the Earth's crust that have cooled down

你知道的，就是那些已經冷卻的地殼塊體，

and are floating around on Earth's molten liquid insides.

漂浮在地球內部熔融的液態物質之上。

Now, they move and they've been in constant motion since they began, 文法

它們會移動，而且自形成以來就一直沒有停過，

but they move very, very slowly.

只是移動得非常、非常慢。

Every 300 to 500 million years,

每隔 3 億到 5 億年，

the continents all converge into what's called one big supercontinent. 用詞

所有大陸就會匯聚成一塊所謂的超級大陸。

All the land in the entire Earth all together

整個地球上的陸地全都連在一起，

and the rest of it covered in ocean.

其餘部分則被海洋覆蓋。

The most recent supercontinent is kind of famous. 語氣意圖

距今最近的那塊超級大陸還滿有名的。

It's called Pangaea.

它叫盤古大陸。

But scientists believe that there may have been four, five, six

不過，科學家認為，在盤古大陸之前可能還出現過四塊、五塊、六塊，

or even more supercontinents that existed before Pangaea.

甚至更多塊超級大陸。

What's really mind-blowing is the fact that eventually there's going to be another Pangaea, 表達脈絡

真正令人震撼的是，未來終有一天會出現另一個盤古大陸，

another supercontinent.

也就是另一塊超級大陸。

And based on calculations, 片語搭配

根據計算，

the Earth at that time will look like this.

那時的地球會是這個樣子。

But like I said,

不過，就像我說的，

these landmasses are moving very, very slowly.

這些陸塊移動得非常、非常慢。

And so for that reason, 表達脈絡

因此，

it is worth learning their names as they are now, 文法

它們現在叫什麼，還是值得了解一下的，

which brings us back to the question of England, 表達脈絡

這就讓我們回到有關英格蘭、

United Kingdom,

聯合王國、

Great Britain,

大不列顛、

British Isles,

不列顛群島

and what all these terms mean. 文法

以及這些名稱到底有什麼含義的問題上。

Let's begin zoomed out. 表達脈絡

我們先把視角拉遠。

The British Isles and Ireland are a collection of 6,000 islands

不列顛群島和愛爾蘭由 6,000 座島嶼組成，

off the coast of Europe. 片語搭配

位於歐洲近海。

The term Great Britain refers to the largest of these islands. 用詞

「大不列顛」指的是其中最大的那座島。

Now, Great Britain contains three separate countries, 文化背景

大不列顛島上有三個不同的構成國：

England, Wales, and Scotland.

英格蘭、威爾斯和蘇格蘭。

If we add Northern Ireland into the mix, 慣用語

如果再把北愛爾蘭加進來，

we're now looking at what is known as the United Kingdom or the UK. 文化背景

得到的就是所謂的聯合王國，簡稱 UK。

The Republic of Ireland is a separate country 文化背景

愛爾蘭共和國是一個獨立的國家，

that is not part of the United Kingdom.

並不屬於聯合王國。

And by the way,

順帶一提，

England is where London is,

倫敦位於英格蘭，

which is where Summer in the City was.

Summer in the City 活動就是在那裡舉辦的。

Which brings us back to Regent's Park

這又把我們帶回了攝政公園，

and as always,

一如往常，

thanks for watching!

謝謝收看！

Could you guys stand still for a second? 片語搭配

你們可以站著別動一下嗎？

Is that good enough for you, Hazel?

這樣可以了嗎，Hazel？

To learn more about Great Britain,

如果想進一步了解大不列顛、

Ireland, overseas territories,

愛爾蘭、海外領地，

and even Canada,

甚至加拿大，

you really must check out CGP Grey's explanation video,

你一定得看看 CGP Grey 的解說影片，

if you haven't seen it already.

如果你還沒看過的話。

This guy is incredible.

這傢伙太厲害了。

You can also check out the channels belonging to the people

你也可以去看看這些人的頻道，

who helped me with the intro and outro for this video. 用詞

他們幫我製作了這支影片的片頭和片尾。

We've got Tom

有 Tom，

and Dude, where's my challenge?

還有 Dude, Where's My Challenge?