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1、LECTUREONETextOne:TheAgeoftheEarthThisisaquestiontowhichwemayneverhavetheexactanswer.Manhaswonderedabouttheageoftheearthsinceancienttimes,andtherewereallkindsofmythsandlegendsthatseemedtohavetheanswer.Buthecouldn'tbegintothinkaboutthequestionscientificallyuntilabou
2、t400yearsago.Whenitwasprovenatthattimethattheearthrevolvedaroundthesun(inotherwords,thattheearthwaspartofoursolarsystem)，thenscientistsknewwheretobegin.Tofindtheageoftheearth,itwasnecessarytoexplainhowthesolarsystemwasborn.Howdidthesunandalltheplanetscomeintobeing?
3、Onetheorywascalledthenebularhypothesis.Accordingtothistheory,therewasonceagreatmassofwhite-hotgaswhirlingaboutinspaceandgettingsmallerandhotterallthetime.Asthegascloudgrewsmaller,itthrewoffringsofgas.Eachoftheseringscondensedtoformaplanet,andtherestofthemassshranki
4、ntothecentertobecomethesun.Anotherexplanationiscalledtheplanetesimaltheory.Accordingtothis,millionsandmillionsofyearsago,therewasahugemassmadeupofsmall,solidbodiescalledplanetesimals,withthesunatthecenter.Agreatstarcamealongandpulledonthesunsothatpartsofitbrokeaway
5、.Thesepartspickedupthetinyplanetesimalsthewayarollingsnowballpicksupsnow,andtheybecameplanets.Whichevertheoryisright,astronomershavefiguredoutthatitallprobablyhappenedabout5,500,000,000yearsago!Butotherscientistsbesidesastronomershavetackledthisquestion.Theytriedto
6、findtheanswerbystudyinghowlongittookfortheearthtobecomethewayweknowit.Theystudiedthelengthoftimeittakestoweardowntheoldestmountains,orthetimeneededfortheoceanstocollectthesalttheynowcontain.Afteralltheirstudies,thesescientistsagreewiththeastronomers:Theearthisabout
7、5,500,000,000yearsold!【参考译文】地球的年龄地球已经存在多长时间这一问题，也许很难有个确切的答案。自古以来，人们一直都在猜测地球的年龄，有过各种神话故事和动人传说，也似曾有过一些不同的答案。约从400年前开始，人们才从科学的角度去探索和揭示这个奥秘。当时的科学家证实了“地球围绕太阳运转”的基本事实（换言之，地球当属太阳系的一部分），此后，科学家也就真正懂得应该如何着手去探索和揭示地球的奥秘。假如真想找到有关地球年龄的答案，首先就应了解太阳系的形成过程。那么，太阳和其他行星究竟是如何形成的呢？最初曾有科学
8、家提出一种理论，称之为星云假说。根据这种理论，很久以前曾有一个巨大的白热气团，这个巨大气团总在太空中不停地回旋，气团越变越小，而且愈加炙热。随着气团逐渐缩小，若干气环脱离气团。每个脱离的气环经过冷凝之后演变成为一颗新的行星，逐渐缩小的气团被卷入核心之后最终变成了太阳。另有一种理论称为微星假
