The History of the Universe in One Year
宇宙歷史一年記
語音播放：

What if we compared the history of the universe to 365 days? This is roughly how it would go:
如果我們將宇宙歷史以一年365天來比喻？大略也就是以下：

January 01 Big Bang
Our universe begins expanding after an enormous explosion called the Big Bang.
1月1日  宇宙大爆炸(the Big Bang)
我們的宇宙在一場稱為the Big Bang的巨大的爆炸後開始擴張。

January 22 Galaxy Formations
The first galaxies, systems containing millions of stars, begin to form.
1月22日  銀河系的形成
第一座銀河系統開始形成，其中包括數百萬顆星星。

語音播放：

March 16 Milky Way Forms
Our own galaxy, knows as the Milky Way, begins to take shape. The Milky Way contains millions of stars. 
3月16日  銀河帶形成
我們的銀河系，也就是所謂銀河帶，開始有形體。銀河帶中包括百萬顆星星。

September 2 Solar System Forms
Our own solar system, that is, the system containing several planets circling a star we call the sun, first forms.
9月2日  太陽系形成
我們的太陽系，也就是包含好幾顆環繞太陽運行的行星系初次出現。

September 6 Earth Forms
The oldest known rocks on earth date to 4.5 billion years ago, suggesting the Earth was formed around this time.
9月6日  地球形成
地球所知最古老的岩石可追朔到45億年前，推測地球大約是在那時成形的。

語音播放：

September 21 First Life
The first forms of life appear, knows as prokaryotes, a kind of organism consisting of a single cell.
9月21日  生命形成
第一個生命出現，我們稱為原核生物體，是一種單細胞的生物體。

October 29 Appearance of Oxygen
Oxygen in the form of O2 first appears in the earth’s atmosphere.
10月29日 氧氣的出現
氧氣第一次以二氧化碳的形式出現在大氣層中。

語音播放：

Appearance of fish (December 17), plants (December 20), insects (December 21), amphibians (December 22), reptiles (December 23), dinosaurs (December 25), mammals (December 26), birds (December 27), and flowers (December 29).
魚類的出現(12月17日)，植物(12月20日)，昆蟲(12月21日)，兩棲類 (12月22日)，爬蟲類(12月23日)，恐龍(12月25日)，哺乳類(12月26日)，鳥類(12月27日)，花朵(12月29日).

December 30 Dinosaurs Die Out
All the dinosaurs suddenly disappear, about 65 million years ago, in a mass extinction event.
12月30日  恐龍大滅絕
所有的恐龍大約在六百五十萬年前，在一場大規模的毀滅事件中突然消失無蹤。

語音播放：

December 31 at 2:24 p.m. Hominids
Hominids, the first human-like apes, appear.
12月31日 下午2:24
原人的出現，第一種類人猿，類似猿猴。

December 31 at 11:52 p.m. Modern Humans
The first anatomically modern humans appear about 200,000 years ago.
12月31日晚間11:52 
第一位有現代人類身體構造的生物大約在兩十萬年前出現。

December 31 at 11:59:49 The wheel and the first alphabet are invented.
12月31日晚間11:59  發明輪軸以及第一套字母系統。

December 31 at 11:59:55 p.m. Jesus Christ is born, the year 0.
12月31日晚間11:59:55  耶穌基督出生，0年啟動。

Vocabulary 好字精選

1. enormous (adj) very large  巨大的，龐大的
The wedding cake was so enormous that there was enough for all 200 guests.  
婚禮蛋糕非常大，因此足夠全部200名賓客享用。

2. solar (adj) related to the sun  太陽的
Solar energy is a clean, renewable form of energy.   
太陽能是乾淨、可再生的能源型態。

3. cell (n) the smallest structural unit of an organism  細胞
Your DNA is found in every cell in your body except for red blood cells.
你的DNA存在身體中每一個細胞中，除了紅血球外。

4. atmosphere (n) all the gases surrounding a planet  大氣層，氣氛
The earth’s atmosphere is 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen.
地球的大氣層含有78%氮氣及21%氧氣。

5. amphibian (n) group of cold blooded animals   兩棲類
The frog is the most well-known amphibian. 
青蛙是最廣為人知的兩棲類。

6. extinction (n) the death of an entire species  絕種
According to a recent study, 21,000 species are currently facing extinction.
根據一份近期的研究顯示，2萬1千種物種目前正瀕臨絕種中。

7. anatomically (adv) related to anatomy (biology)  解剖學上，結構上的(生物)
Even though Richard is anatomically male, he considers his gender to be female.
即便Richard身體構造上是一名男性，但他認為自己是女性。

8. alphabet (n) symbols that make up a written language  字母，字母系統
The English alphabet contains 26 letters.
英文字母有26個。

Phrases and Sentence Patterns 句型解析

1. compare A to B (sentence pattern) To say A is like B (note: it’s different than compare A with B, which means to point out the similarities and differences, or make a comparison, between A and B)  將…比喻成…
The poet compared his lover’s eyes to twinkling stars.
這位詩人將愛人的眼睛比喻成閃耀的星星。

2. take shape (phrasal verb) to develop or form  形成，發展成
After days of work, the sculptor’s piece was finally beginning to take shape.     
工作數天後，這名雕刻家的作品最後開始成形了。

3. date to (phrasal verb) goes back to, originates in  追朔到
The largest of the Great Pyramids of Giza dates to 2580-2560 BCE.
吉薩大金字塔群中最大的那一座可追朔至西元前2580-2860之間

(注意：BCE = Before Common Era表西元前，與 ’BC’, 或 ‘Before Christ’耶穌出生前’相同。)

Exercise 課後練習題

1. Oh, no. I’ve made a/an _______________ mistake. I forgot to turn off the stove before we left home!
噢不。我犯了一個大錯誤。我離開家之前忘了把爐火關掉了。

2. This brand new car runs entirely on ____________ energy so it is good for the environment.
這台全新的車完全利用太陽能發電，因此對環保很好。
3. Have you ever wondered how many _______________there are in the human body?
你是否曾想過人類體內有多少個細胞？

4. An increase in greenhouse gases such as methane and CO2 in the earth’s ______________ is resulting in global warming.
地球大氣層中像是甲烷及二氧化碳等溫室氣體的增加造成地球暖化。

5. Mrs. Lang is living beside a pond for month to study the ______________ that live there.
藍太太住在池塘旁一個月研究在此處棲息的兩棲類。

6. The black rhino is on the verge of ______________, with only about 5000 remaining.
黑犀牛正瀕臨絕種，現存僅有五千頭。

7. The behavior of the males and females of this animal species are the same, but _______________ they are very different.
這種動物的雌性與雄性的行為相同，但生物結構上非常不同。

8. The Mandarin language does not have a/an _____________.
普通話(國語)並沒有字母。

9. Emily was angry when her boyfriend _______________ her _______________ their friend James because she had made a false claim.
當Emily的男朋友因為她說了一句假話就拿她跟他們的朋友James比較，她很生氣。

10. The government’s new health insurance policy is finally beginning to _______________ after years of discussions.
政府的新式健保政策在討論多年之後，終於開始成形
11. These ancient city walls _______________ the time of Jesus.
這些古代的城牆可追朔到基督的時代。

解答：
1.enormous
2.solar
3.cells
4.atmosphere
5.amphibians
6.extinction
7.anatomically
8.alphabet
9.compared/to
10.take shape
11.date to

Comprehension Questions 閱讀理解

1. Which of the following is in the correct order from biggest to smallest?   
a. Solar System, Universe, Milky Way, Cell, Earth.
b. Solar System, Universe, Milky Way, Earth, Cell.
c. Universe, Solar System, Milky Way, Cell, Earth.
d. Universe, Milky Way, Solar System, Earth, Cell.    

2. Based on the final minute of the year in this article, we can infer that five seconds equals about ___________.  
a. 1 million years
b. 200,000 years
c. 2000 years
d. 1 year

解答：
1. 以下選項何者是最大到最小的正確順序？
a. 太陽系、宇宙、銀河帶、細胞、地球
b. 太陽系、宇宙、銀河帶、地球、細胞
c. 宇宙、太陽系、銀河帶、細胞、地球
d. 宇宙、銀河帶、太陽系、地球、細胞

2. 根據文章中一年中的最後一分鐘，我們可以推論每五分鐘代表____________。
a. 1 百萬年
b. 20萬年
c. 2千年
d. 1 年

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