​自考英语二（下）课文翻译之unit2

自考英语二（下）课文翻译之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?这个问题很难回答， 因为我们通常用来描述某一科学现象的术语不足以回答这个问题。 天文学家和科学家都认为黑洞是一个太空区域(不是一种事物)，落人其中的任何物质都无法逃逸——甚至包括光。所以我们看不见黑洞。一个黑洞能产生强大的吸力， 但它却没有物质。 它只是空间——或许是我们这么想的。这种现象是怎样发生的呢?

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.

从理论论来说， 当某些恒星的密度增大到某种程度时就会发生爆炸，爆炸使它们崩溃，有时会产生超新星。 从地球上看， 一颗超新星看上去像是天空中的一盏明灯，甚至在白天也闪闪发光。超新星是由十七、十八世纪的天文学家发现的。有人认为圣诞星可能是一颗超新星。 一颗超新星的崩溃可能会产生白矮星或中子星，其物资的密度非常大以至于在其自身重力的作用下持续收缩。但是，假如这颗恒星非常大 (比我们的太阳大得多) ，那么，这种收缩的过程可能会非常强烈，其结果导致了黑洞的产生。 想像一下地球收缩小到有弹球那么大， 但仍具有同样的质量和更强的吸力， 你就会对黑洞的力量有某种概念。 靠近黑洞的任何物质都会被吸入，根本说不出黑洞里究竟发生了什么、 科学家把黑洞的边缘区域称为 “事界”。对物质通过这个界线时发生的情况我们一无所知。从理论上来说，黑洞里面物质的表现一定是不大相同的。

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，假如一个人落人黑洞， 他可能会认为自己很快就会到达黑洞的中心。然而，位于“事界”上的观察者则认为这个人永远不会到达黑洞的中心。我们的时空法则似乎不适用于黑洞区内的物体。 爱因斯坦的相对论是惟-解释这种现象的理论。爱因斯坦宣称物质和能量是互换的，因此不存在“绝对的”时间和空间。根本没有不变的事物， 时间和空间的衡量取决于观察者的位置，是相对的。 我们还没有能完全理解相对论的蕴涵。 但有趣的是爱因斯坦的相对论为黑洞的假说提供了理论基础， 早于天文学家找到黑洞存在的证据。 天文学家只是在最近才开始对黑洞作具体的研究。 1977 年 8 月，人类发射了一颗卫星收集有关被认为处于银河系中的 1000 万个黑洞的信息。而且天文学家正在设计一座新天文台，用来研究被认为是黑洞的爆炸恒星。

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.

有关黑洞的最有说服力的证据来自对双星系的研究。双星，顾名思义， 就是彼此之间的空间位置相互影响的成双恒星。 天文学家已证实在某些双子星座里有一颗隐匿的伴星，即我们从天空上能看到的某颗星的“伙伴”。我们能看见的那颗星被其伴星所吸引，难道产生这么大吸引力的隐匿的恒星就是黑洞?天文学家也还有另外几颗恒星的证据，这几颗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.

有关黑洞的故事刚刚开头， 各种各样的假说层出不穷。 在我们的星系中心可能存在一个以极快速度吞噬恒星的巨大黑洞。人类总有一天要遭此命运。另一方面，科学家已表明， 总有一天， 人类会使用非常先进的技术来利用黑洞的能量。这些假说听起来像科幻小说， 但宇宙黑洞理论却被许多严肃的科学家及天文学家所接受。他们给我们展示了一个跟我们截然不同的世界，他们对时空的基本认识提出了疑问。

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