2017年12月英语四级听力VOA慢速英语原文（十九）思维导图

InvestorYuriMilnerholdsaStarchip,amicroelectroniccomponentspacecraft,duringanannouncementoftheBreakthroughStarshotinitiativewithphysicistStephenHawkinginNewYork,April12,2016.

Itisoneoftheoldestquestionseverasked:ArewealoneoristhereotherlifeoutintheUniverse?

Lastweek,aninternationalteamofscientistsandbusinessmenlaunchedaprojecttheyhopecananswerthatquestion.Theyannouncedplansforahugespaceexplorationprogram.Itsgoalistofindalienlifeinspace.

TheteamincludesBritishphysicistStephenHawking,Russian-bornbillionaireYuriMilnerandAmericanMarkZuckerberg,whofoundedFacbook.

TheirprojectiscalledBreakthroughSpaceshot.Itwilldevelopandbuildthousandsofroboticvehiclesthatcanspeedthroughspace.

Theirfirstgoalistoexploretheneareststarsystem,AlphaCentauri.Itisabout40trillionkilometers—or4.37lightyears–awayfromEarth.Oncelaunchedaspacecraftwouldhavetotravel20yearstogetthere.

Thewaytheywillmakeithappenislikesomethingfromasciencefictionstory.CrewsonEarthwouldusepowerfullaserbeamstopowerextremelysmallvehiclesthroughspace.Thesespacecraftwouldtravelmuchfartherthananyotherspacecraftbuilttodate.

Estimatessaytheprojectwillcostfrom$5-to10-billion.

YuriMilnerisgivingtheproject$100milliontogetstarted.

Lastweek,MilnershowedamodelofthespacecrafttoreportersinNewYork.

“Thisisastarchip,agram-scalewafercontainingcameras,photonthrusters,powersupplyandnavigationandcommunicationequipment.”

Thestarchipisacomputerchipaboutthesizeofalargepostagestamp.EachonewillcostnomorethananiPhone.Thechipwillhavealightsail—verythinmaterialthatcanopeninspaceandmovethespacecraftforward.Togetherthechipandthesailarecalled“nanocraft.”

Theteamplanstolauncha“mothership,”whichthenwouldbeputinEarth’sorbit.Themothershipwouldreleasethousandsofthenanocraft.

TheirlightsailswouldopenandcrewsonEarthwouldfirelaserbeamsonthelightsails.Thatwouldpushthenanocraft.Theywilltravelatabout20percentoflightspeed.

Today’sfastestspacecraftwouldtakeabout30,000yearstoreachtheAlphaCentaurisystem.Butoncethisnewnanocrafttechnologyisready,supporterssay,itcanshortenthattime--tojust20years.

StephenHawkingsaidthedistancebetweenAlphaCentauriandEarthcanbecrossedwithinageneration.TheBritishscientistspeaksthroughacomputerizedvoice:

“Ibelievewhatmakesusuniqueistranscendingourlimits.Gravitypinsustotheground,butIjustflewtoAmerica.”

Hawkingadded,“Todaywecommittothenextgreatleapinthecosmos,becausewearehumanandournatureistofly.”

Otherscientistshavesignedonfortheproject.FreemanDysoniswiththePrincetonInstituteforAdvancedStudy.HethinksscientistsmightfindsomethinginterestingbeforethenanocraftreachAlphaCentauri.

"ThespacebetweenhereandAlphaCentauriisnotempty,thatit'snotjustahugevoidwhichyouhavetocrossinordertoreachsomethinginterestingontheotherside.Onthecontrary,therearethousandsofobjectsinbetween.”

Dysonbelievesthatlifeismorelikelytobefoundonanasteroid,orspacerock,ratherthanaplanet.

Theprojectisjustnowtakingshape.Thefirststepisabout20yearsforresearchanddevelopment.Therearestillmanydetailstoworkoutabouthowthisprojectwillwork,technically.

Nextwouldcomethelaunchofthemothership,andthereleaseofthenanocrafts.Thatwouldbeanother20yearstogettoAlphaCentauri.

Then,peopleonEarthwillhavetobepatient.ItwilltakeatleastfourmoreyearsforanyoftheinformationcollectedtoreachEarth.

AviLoebteachesastronomyatHarvardUniversity.Heexplainedthegroupwantstointerestyoungpeopleintheproject.

Hesaid,“ourgoalistogetpeopleallovertheworldinvolved,especiallyyoungpeoplethatwillbearoundwhenwegetthere.”

Futureimprovementsintechnologycouldchangethetimelineandhelpspeeduptheproject.Butfornow,apersonbornthisyearmaybeinhisorher50swhenthosenanocraftreachtheirtarget.

WordsinThisStory

alien–n.acreaturefromsomewhereotherthanEarth

ambitious–adj.somethingthatwilltakealotoftimeandeffortandisdifficulttoachieve

gram-scalewafer–n.asmallobjectthatweighsaboutagram

photonthrusters–n.adevicethathelpsmoveaspacecraftforward

transcend–v.goingbeyondorrisingabovenormallimits

void–adj.empty

onthecontrary–phrase.theopposite

beam-n.alineoflight

postagestamp–n.asmallsquareonaletterforpaymenttomail

commit–v.tosayyouwilldefinitelydosomething

cosmos–n.thesystemthatistheuniverse

timeline-n.ascheduleofevents