?自考英語二（下）課文翻譯之unit2

自考英語二（下）課文翻譯之unit2

Unit Two Black Holes

黑洞

What is a black hole ? well, it's difficult to answer this question , since the terms we would normally use to describe a scientific phenomenon are inadequate here. Astronomers and scientists think that a black hole is a region of space (not a thing ) into which matter has fallen and from which nothing can escape – not even light. So we can't see a black hole. A black hole exerts a strong gravitational pull and yet it has no matter . It is only space — or so we think. How can this happen?

黑洞是什么?這個問題很難回答， 因為我們通常用來描述某一科學現(xiàn)象的術語不足以回答這個問題。 天文學家和科學家都認為黑洞是一個太空區(qū)域(不是一種事物)，落人其中的任何物質都無法逃逸——甚至包括光。所以我們看不見黑洞。一個黑洞能產生強大的吸力， 但它卻沒有物質。 它只是空間——或許是我們這么想的。這種現(xiàn)象是怎樣發(fā)生的呢?

The theory is that some stars explode when their density increases to a particular point; they collapse and sometimes a supernova occurs. From earth, a supernova looks like a very bright light in the sky which shines even in the daytime. Supernova were reported by astronomers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Some people think that the Star of Bethlehem could have been a supernova. The collapse of a star may produce a White Dwarf or a neutron star — a star, whose matter is so dense that it continually shrinks by the force of its own gravity. But if the star is very large (much bigger than our sun) this process of shrinking may be so intense that a black hole results. Imagine the earth reduced to the size of a marble, but still having the same mass and a stronger gravitational pull, and you have some idea of the force of a black hole . Any matter near the black hole is sucked in. It is impossible to say what happens inside a black hole. Scientists have called the boundary area around the hole the "event horizon." We know nothing about events which happen once object s pass this boundary. But in theory, matter must behave very differently inside the hole.

從理論論來說， 當某些恒星的密度增大到某種程度時就會發(fā)生爆炸，爆炸使它們崩潰，有時會產生超新星。 從地球上看， 一顆超新星看上去像是天空中的一盞明燈，甚至在白天也閃閃發(fā)光。超新星是由十七、十八世紀的天文學家發(fā)現(xiàn)的。有人認為圣誕星可能是一顆超新星。 一顆超新星的崩潰可能會產生白矮星或中子星，其物資的密度非常大以至于在其自身重力的作用下持續(xù)收縮。但是，假如這顆恒星非常大 (比我們的太陽大得多) ，那么，這種收縮的過程可能會非常強烈，其結果導致了黑洞的產生。 想像一下地球收縮小到有彈球那么大， 但仍具有同樣的質量和更強的吸力， 你就會對黑洞的力量有某種概念。 靠近黑洞的任何物質都會被吸入，根本說不出黑洞里究竟發(fā)生了什么、 科學家把黑洞的邊緣區(qū)域稱為 “事界”。對物質通過這個界線時發(fā)生的情況我們一無所知。從理論上來說，黑洞里面物質的表現(xiàn)一定是不大相同的。

For example, if a man fell into a black hole, he would think that he reached the center of it very quickly. However an observer at the event horizon would think that the man never reached the center at all. Our space and time law s don't seem to apply to objects in the area of a black hole. Einstein's relativity theory is the only one which can explain such phenomena. Einstein claimed that matter and energy are interchangeable, so that there is no " absolute " time and space. There are no constants at all, and measurements of time and space depend on the position of the observer. They are relative. We do not yet fully understand the implications of the relativity theory; but it is interesting that Einstein's theory provided a basis for the idea of black holes before astronomers started to find some evidence for their existence. It is only recently that astronomers have begun specific research into black holes. In August 1977, a satellite was launched to gather data about the 10 million black holes which are thought to be in the Milky Way. And astronomers are planning a new observatory to study the individual exploding stars believed to be black holes.

例如，假如一個人落人黑洞， 他可能會認為自己很快就會到達黑洞的中心。然而，位于“事界”上的觀察者則認為這個人永遠不會到達黑洞的中心。我們的時空法則似乎不適用于黑洞區(qū)內的物體。 愛因斯坦的相對論是惟-解釋這種現(xiàn)象的理論。愛因斯坦宣稱物質和能量是互換的，因此不存在“絕對的”時間和空間。根本沒有不變的事物， 時間和空間的衡量取決于觀察者的位置，是相對的。 我們還沒有能完全理解相對論的蘊涵。 但有趣的是愛因斯坦的相對論為黑洞的假說提供了理論基礎， 早于天文學家找到黑洞存在的證據(jù)。 天文學家只是在最近才開始對黑洞作具體的研究。 1977 年 8 月，人類發(fā)射了一顆衛(wèi)星收集有關被認為處于銀河系中的 1000 萬個黑洞的信息。而且天文學家正在設計一座新天文臺，用來研究被認為是黑洞的爆炸恒星。

The most convincing evidence of black holes comes from research into binary star systems. Binary stars, as their name suggests, are twin stars whose position in space affects each other. In some binary systems, astronomers have shown that there is an invisible companion star, a "partner" to the one which we can see in the sky. Matter from the one which we can see is being pulled towards the companion star. Could this invisible star, which exerts such a great force, be a black hole? Astronomers have evidence of a few other stars too, which might have black holes as companions.

有關黑洞的最有說服力的證據(jù)來自對雙星系的研究。雙星，顧名思義， 就是彼此之間的空間位置相互影響的成雙恒星。 天文學家已證實在某些雙子星座里有一顆隱匿的伴星，即我們從天空上能看到的某顆星的“伙伴”。我們能看見的那顆星被其伴星所吸引，難道產生這么大吸引力的隱匿的恒星就是黑洞?天文學家也還有另外幾顆恒星的證據(jù)，這幾顆恒星也可能有黑洞作伴。

The story of black holes is just beginning. Speculations about them are endless. There might be a massive black hole at the center of our galaxy swallowing up stars at a very rapid rate. Mankind may one day meet this fate. On the other hand, scientists have suggested that very advanced technology could one day make use of the energy of black holes for mankind. These speculations sound like science fiction . But the theory of black holes in space is accepted by many serious scientists and astronomers. They show us a world which operates in a totally different way from our own and they question our most basic experience of space and time.

有關黑洞的故事剛剛開頭， 各種各樣的假說層出不窮。 在我們的星系中心可能存在一個以極快速度吞噬恒星的巨大黑洞。人類總有一天要遭此命運。另一方面，科學家已表明， 總有一天， 人類會使用非常先進的技術來利用黑洞的能量。這些假說聽起來像科幻小說， 但宇宙黑洞理論卻被許多嚴肅的科學家及天文學家所接受。他們給我們展示了一個跟我們截然不同的世界，他們對時空的基本認識提出了疑問。

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