流星的15個小秘密 -英文補習
1.The most famous and spectacular meteor shower, the annual Perseids, will peak on August 12th.1.一年一度的英仙座流星雨是最著名、最壯觀的流星雨，一般在8月12日達到高峰。
2.The Perseids are also called the "Tears of Saint Lawrence" after a martyred Christian deacon whom the Romans burned to death on an outdoor iron stove in A.D. 258.2.英仙座流星雨也被稱作“圣勞倫斯之淚”。這個稱呼來源于公元前258年被羅馬人燒死在大鐵爐里的基督教殉道者圣勞倫斯。
3.Technically, a meteor is merely the streak of light we see trailing a meteoroid. A meteoroid is any interplanetary object bigger than a speck of dust and smaller than an asteroid.3.嚴格說來，“流星”僅僅指“流星體”身后的那一道光，也就是我們看著劃過天空那一道。而“流星體”則可以是太陽系內任意一個比塵埃大但比小行星小的天體。
4.Once it hits Earth, a meteoroid suffers an identity crisis and becomes a meteorite.4.流星體一旦撞上地球，就變成了“隕石”。
5.Chase that, Superman: Perseid meteoroids enter the atmosphere at approximately 130,000 miles per hour.5.英仙座流星雨的流星體進入大氣層的速度約為130,000英里/時。
6.Meteorites contain the oldest known rocks in the solar system, as well as minerals that formed around other stars perhaps billions of years before our solar system was born.6.流星體中含有太陽系中已知的最古老的巖石，以及在太陽系誕生的幾十億年前在其他恒星周圍形成的礦物。
7.Each day, up to 4 billion meteoroids fall to Earth.7.每天落到地球上的流星體約有40億個。
8.Don't worry. Most of them are minuscule in size.8.但是不用擔心，它們中的絕大多數體積都非常小。
9.Meteorite impacts have been blamed for hundreds of injuries, but only one has been verified by scientists. In 1954, Annie Hodges of Sylacauga, Alabama, was struck by an eight-pound meteorite that crashed though her roof and bounced off a radio into her hip while she was napping.9.許多人都聲稱曾被落下來的隕石砸傷，但真正被科學家證實的隕石傷人事件只有一起。1954年，美國亞拉巴馬州的Annie Hodges被一顆8磅重的隕石砸中：這顆隕石擊穿了她的屋頂，砸中了一臺收音機，并反彈起來擊中了正在打盹的Annie的屁股。
10.A study published in 1985 in the journal Nature calculated the rate of impacts to humans as .0055 per year, or one event every 180 years.10.1985年發表在《自然》雜志上的一份研究稱，隕石傷人的比例約為每年0.0055人，或者說每180年1人。
11.If you find a meteorite, the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society demands that you donate 20 percent or 20 grams, whichever is smaller, to a laboratory for future research. You can sell the rest.如果你找到了一塊隕石，國際隕石協會命名委員會將要求你捐獻它的20%或者20克給研究所以備研究。剩下的部分你就可以拿去賣錢了。
12.Unless you found it in South Africa, where all meteorites are protected under the National Heritage Law and must be surrendered to the nearest authorities.12.除非你是在南非找到它的——在南非，所有隕石都受到國家遺產法的保護，必須上交到就近的政府機構。
13.Of the more than 24,000 meteorites known to have landed on Earth, only 34 are thought to have originated on Mars. Most of these have been found in Antarctica and North Africa because they are easy to spot on sand dunes and ice.13.在已知的落到地球上的2萬4千多顆隕石中，據推測只有34顆來自火星，它們大多是在南極或北非被發現的，因為落在冰面或沙丘上的隕石比較顯眼。
14.Martian meteorites can sell for $500 a gram. Space rocks fetch just $2 a gram.14.火星隕石可以賣到500美元/克，其他隕石則只能賣2美元/克。
15.To buy one, try eBay, which often lists more than 1,000 meteorites for auction.15.想買隕石，可以上eBay，那里待售的隕石常常超過1000顆。
