Mysterious space rock神秘的【星际旅行】来自何方

江苏泗洪县洪翔中学 陈 伟

精彩导读

太空中最新发现了一个形同黄瓜的星球。它从哪里来，又到哪里去？

It's been described as looking like a giant cucumber（黄瓜）made from rock.

So just what is so interesting about Oumuamua,and why does it often make headlines?

It was first spotted in October last year,the name “Oumuamua” was given by the Hawaiian scientists who discovered it,and means“distant messenger”.

Since its discovery,it's been said that this unusual-looking object is anything from a comet（彗星）to an alien spacecraft.

But after using powerful telescopes to observe it,scientists“found no evidence that Oumuamua is anything other than a long lump （块） of space rock”,reported the Guardian.

What makes this lump of space rock worthy of our attention,however,is that it's believed to be from outside of our solar system,and could be hundreds of millions of years old.

Scientists also believe that Oumuamua may even contain ice in its center,but it's moving too fast for a spacecraft to be sent to its surface to carry out tests.

The fact that it's the first discovered interstellar（星际的）object,however,is exciting enough for scientists.

“This history-making discovery is opening a new window to study the formation of solar system beyond our own,”NASA administrator Thomas Zurbuchen said in a news release.

阅读扫障

Ⅰ.热词积累

1.release n.发布；释放

2.be described as被描述成……

3.be made from 由……做成

4.other than 除……之外；而不是

5.be worthy of值得

Ⅱ.典句剖析

What makes this lump of space rock worthy of our attention,however,is that it__________（believe）to be from outside of our solar system...

翻译：_____________________________________________

【点石成金】句中what引导的是主语从句，that引导的是表语从句。“It is believed to be...”构成的是“主语+be+过去分词+to do...”句型，可以和“It be+过去分词+that...”句型转化，用在本句型中的动词还有think、hope、say、report，及 consider等。