大学英语自学教程 上册 un08

[07:53.70]大气压力乃是压在地球表面
[07:56.34]against the surface of the earth.
[07:58.26]的全部空气的重量.
[08:00.18]If we did not have atmospheric pressure,
[08:02.26]假如我们没有大气压力,
[08:04.34]we could not have automobile tires.
[08:06.26]我们便不可能有汽车轮胎.
[08:08.18]The tires would burst if they did not have the pressure of the atmosphere
[08:11.40]因为如果轮胎表面不受到大气压力，
[08:14.63]against their surfaces.
[08:16.21]轮胎就会爆裂。
[08:17.79]Large and powerful,
[08:19.37]大气广大而有力，
[08:20.95]the atmosphere consists of an ocean of gases hundreds of miles high.
[08:24.07]它是由几百英里厚的气体的海洋构成 的。
[08:27.19]It presses down on our bodies
[08:29.02]压在我们身上。
[08:30.85] with a force of more than fourteen pounds per square inch.
[08:33.53]它以每平方英寸14磅以上的力量
[08:36.21]The narrow column of air
[08:37.93]落在我们肩膀 的细空气
[08:39.65]which rests upon our shoulders weighs almost 2,000 pounds.
[08:42.63]柱子几乎重达2000磅。
[08:45.61]But our bodies are built in such a way that this weight does not crush us.
[08:48.80]但是我们的身体构成 使得这个重量不会把我们压坏。
[08:51.98]In this huge ocean of air
[08:53.81]这个巨大的空气海洋中
[08:55.64]there is more energy than in all the coal,oil,and gas we have on earth.
[08:58.81]蕴藏的能量比我们地球上全部的煤、石油和煤气中的能量都多。
[09:01.99]Electrical energy is collected in the atmosphere
[09:04.67]大气中可以收集电能，
[09:07.34]as water is collected and stored in a dam.
[09:09.63]正如同用堤坝惧和存储水一样。
[09:11.92]The existence of electricity in the air has been known for centuries.
[09:14.95]人们知道空气中有电能已经好几百年了。
[09:17.98]Men have gazed in wonder at the bright patterns of lightning in storm clouds.
[09:21.20]他们曾经惊异地注视着闪电在雨云密布的天空上展现耀亮的图案。
[09:24.43]But a thorough study of electricity in the atmosphere
[09:26.96]但在无线电和协达研制出之前，
[09:29.50] was not possible until the development of radio and radar.
[09:32.32]人们不可能对大气中的电进行彻底的研究。
[09:35.14]One scientist,Dr.Sydney Chapman,
[09:37.52]西德尼。查普曼博士是一位科学家
[09:39.89]has tried to explain the electric fieldwhich surrounds the earth.
[09:42.57]他曾试解释地球周围的电场。
[09:45.25]He believes that the great storms on the sun
[09:47.68]他相信强大的太阳风暴
[09:50.11]create large amounts of electric energy.
[09:52.68]能够产生大量的电能。
[09:55.25]This energy is contained in a very light gas called hydrogen.
[09:58.39]它含在一种叫氢气的很轻的气体中。
[10:01.52]The earth pulls the gas toward it,
[10:03.35]地球把氢气吸向它，
[10:05.18]and a ring is formed around the earth
[10:07.15]氢气围绕地球在它表面
[10:09.12]several thousand feet above its surface.
[10:11.30]形成一个几千英尺厚的环。
[10:13.49]The great space ring is a powerful current of electrical energy.
[10:16.57]这个庞大的太空环是一股强大的电流。
[10:19.65]Sometimes the ring comes down and curves into the lower atmosphere,
[10:22.77]有时这个环会下降，弯入在气层的下层，
[10:25.89]musing strange electrical effects.
[10:27.97]从而产生很奇怪的电效应。
[10:30.05]Dr. Chapman's ideas explain many things.
[10:32.41]查普曼博士 的看法对很多现象作出 了解释。
[10:34.78]It has long been known that there is an electric field inside the earth.
[10:37.86]人们早就知道地球内部存在电场。
[10:40.94]It moves in much the same manner
[10:42.77]它的运动方式和大气中
[10:44.60] as the electric energy contained in the atmosphere.
[10:46.92]所含电能的运动方式一样。
[10:49.25]Scientists now believe that the electric energy in the atmosphere
[10:51.98]科学家们现在相信，
[10:54.71]muses the electric energy inside the earth to flow.
[10:57.38]大气的电能引起了地球内部电能的流动。
[11:00.06]If we can learn to control the energy in the atmosphere,
[11:02.40]如果我们能够学会控制大气中的能量，
[11:04.74]we will have an unending supply of energy.
[11:07.17]我们的能源将是取之不尽，用之不竭的。
[11:09.60]Many scientists are trying to learn how to control it.
[11:11.93]很多科学家正在努力了解怎样控制它。
[11:14.27]In the meantime, even those of us who are not scientists
[11:16.90]现在即使我们 这些浊科学家的人