新闻听力 | 人类是否应该尝试与外星人建立联系？
人类是否应该尝试与外星人建立联系？Should We Try to Communicate with Aliens?常速| 五级（中等）| 879词| 5min12s刘立军供稿Part I. QUESTIONSListen to the passage and choose the best answer to each question you hear.Q1. According to the passage, what is the main purpose of SETI?A. To stop the spread of radiation from Earth into outer space.B. To look for signs of intelligent life in the Universe.C. To train astronauts to communicate with aliens.D. To record natural radio waves from distant stars.Q2. What does Douglas Vakoch’s organization METI mainly propose?A. Listening to alien signals more carefully.B. Sending messages from Earth to outer space.C. Avoiding contact with civilizations that might be hostile.D. Developing stronger satellites for communication.Q3. What example did Stephen Hawking use to warn against contacting aliens?A. The extinction of many native species after foreign invasions.B. The wars caused by miscommunication between nations.C. The tragic experience of Native Americans when Columbus arrived.D. The failure of early attempts to decode radio signals.Q4. What does Douglas Vakoch mean by saying “We’re trying to be the galactic giraffes here.”?A. Humans want to show their intelligence to possible alien observers.B. Aliens may have already established secret contact with humans.C. The Universe is too vast for successful communication.D. Alien civilizations probably understand our attention-seeking behavior.Q5. What is the main idea of the passage?A. Space communication between planets may never be possible.B. Humans have already received signals from extraterrestrial civilizations.C. Alien contact would be extremely dangerous for human society.D. Scientists are debating whether humans should actively contact alien life.Part II. TRANSCRIPTShould We Try to Communicate with Aliens?Star 1: Hello? Star 2: Can you hear us?Star 1: I can hear you. Can you hear me?Star 2: Hello?Echoing: Is there anybody out there?Narrator: Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? Has been for as long as anyone can remember. Are we alone? It might sound like science fiction, but the Universe is so vast. Many scientists think it’s unrealistic to imagine we’re the only form of life in it. Alien life may also be what we would consider intelligent. But as the physicist Enrico Fermi asked in 1950, if we’re not alone, where is everybody?Mike Garrett: The Universe is full of natural radio waves generated by stars, and planets, and galaxies. But that emission is really very smooth.Narrator: (Q1) That’s Mike Garrett, an astrophysicist and active member of SETI—the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence.astrophysics n. 天体物理学terrestrial adj. 地球的Mike Garrett: Artificial radio waves are very spiky because they convey information. So we’re looking for anomalies—the signature of potentially other intelligent civilizations out there, broadcasting to the Universe.spiky adj. 成锥形的anomaly n. 异常现象Douglas Vakoch: What SETI assumes is that the aliens are very motivated, that they’re going out of their way to send us intentional signals for our benefit.Narrator: (Q2) And that’s Douglas Vakoch, the founder of METI, which stands for Messaging Extra Terrestrial Intelligence. They think listening is not enough.Douglas Vakoch: Maybe we should do the heavy lifting by reaching out first. I mean, someone has to take the first move.Narrator: Making the first move in any relationship has its risks—opening oneself up to rejection, or worse. Stories of alien fleets visiting Earth with the sole intention of wiping us out are common ground for science fiction. But there is a theory that, if we’re not careful, this could become science fact.Mike Garrett: (Q3) I think one of the things that Stephen Hawking, famous cosmologist, said about this idea of transmitting signals is that it might not turn out very well for us here on this planet, just like it didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans when Columbus first settled there.cosmologist n. 宇宙学家Narrator: But METI is amongst those who see this argument as a red herring.red herring 指转移注意力之物Douglas Vakoch: It’s too late to hide. We’re already known in the Universe.Narrator: Douglas and his colleagues believe that, through TV and radio broadcasts—not to mention mobile phone towers—Earth has been leaking radiation into space for decades. This “leakage” is exactly what SETI looks for as signs of life elsewhere, so it stands to reason that, if aliens are listening, they could probably already hear us. One theory, known as the Zoo Hypothesis, is that aliens already know we exist. But rather than making contact, they’re studying us from afar—as if we were animals in a zoo. (Q4) Douglas thinks that by sending out regular messages, we can demonstrate both our intelligence and desire to communicate.afar adv. 在远处Douglas Vakoch: If you imagine we go to the zoo and we’re walking around and we see a bunch of giraffes, what happens if one of them turns around, looks us in the eye, and starts pounding out a series of prime numbers with its hoof? We’re trying to be the galactic giraffes here.pound v. 连续重击prime number 质数，素数hoof n. 蹄galactic adj. 银河的，星系的Narrator: But for SETI and Mike, this remains problematic. Though not against communicating per se, Mike argues that we need to think much more carefully about what we want to say and how we want to say it.Mike Garrett: Who speaks for Earth? And who has the right? When I see a lot of these signals being sent, they don’t represent all of this planet. You know, just arbitrarily sending signals out into space is not very democratic.Narrator: If humans were to enter a dialogue with an alien species, how would we get them to understand us? This is more than a language barrier. It’s a fundamental difference barrier. Because of the enormous distances involved, we’re also dealing in difficult timescales. If we send a message to a life form 1,000 light years away, it will take 1,000 years to reach them. And assuming their technology is similar to ours, we’d wait another 1,000 years for the reply.Douglas Vakoch: It’s almost like you get an email from someone ten years ago and they say, “Yes, sounds great.” But you don’t even remember what it was about. This only works if it’s something embraced by generations to come. Narrator: The first message sent into space for the benefit of aliens was in 1974—more than 50 years ago. It became known as the Arecibo Message. And so far, we have received nothing in return, which returns us to Enrico Fermi’s question—“Where is everybody?” METI will continue reaching out to those planets that orbit within what’s known as the “Goldilocks Zone”—not too hot, not too cold—just right for potential life. Meanwhile, Mike and SETI will keep an ear to the sky, advancing techniques to pick up signals from other worlds. And maybe one day, just maybe...Mike Garrett: If we detect a signal and we know that we’re not alone in the Universe, I think that should make people happy. If we discover another civilization and they’re very different from us, we’ll realize actually how similar we are to our neighbors.Part III. KEYQ1.B.【解析】细节题。题目出处为：“That’s Mike Garrett, an astrophysicist and active member of SETI—the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence.”意为：“这是迈克·加勒特，他是SETI（搜寻地外智能生命组织）的成员。”因此正确答案为B。Q2.B.【解析】细节题。题目出处为：“That’s Douglas Vakoch, the founder of METI, which stands for Messaging Extra Terrestrial Intelligence. They think listening is not enough.” 意为：“道格拉斯·瓦科赫是METI的创始人，METI意为‘向地外智能生命传递信息’。他们认为仅仅倾听是不够的。”因此正确答案为B。Q3.C.【解析】细节题。题目出处为：“... one of the things that Stephen Hawking, famous cosmologist, said about this idea of transmitting signals is that it might not turn out very well for us here on this planet—just like it didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans when Columbus first settled there.” 意为：“……著名宇宙学家史蒂芬·霍金指出，主动发射信号的结果可能对人类而言并不好——就像哥伦布抵达美洲后印第安人的命运一样。”这一比喻警示人类主动联系外星生命或将带来不可控的风险，因此正确答案为C。Q4.A.【解析】推理题。在对话中，叙述者说：“Douglas thinks that by sending out regular messages, we can demonstrate both our intelligence and desire to communicate.（道格拉斯认为，通过定期向外发送信息，我们可以展示自己的智慧以及沟通的意愿。）” 接着，Douglas Vakoch进一步解释道：“If you imagine we go to the zoo and we’re walking around and we see a bunch of giraffes, what happens if one of them turns around, looks us in the eye and starts pounding out a series of prime numbers with its hoof? We’re trying to be the galactic giraffes here.” 大意是：如果我们在动物园看到一群长颈鹿，而其中一只转过身来，望向我们，并用蹄子敲出质数序列，这意味着什么？Douglas借此比喻说明，人类也在试图扮演银河系中“长颈鹿”的角色，主动发送规律性的信号，向可能存在的外星生命展示我们的智慧与沟通意愿。因此正确答案为A。Q5.D.【解析】主旨题。文章由旁白引出核心问题“Should we try to communicate with aliens?”并介绍了两个研究组织及其立场差异：SETI（Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence）专注寻找外太空智能生命信号；而METI（Messaging Extra Terrestrial Intelligence）主张人类主动向外太空发送信号。通过呈现Mike Garrett与Douglas Vakoch的不同观点，文章展示了科学界围绕“人类是否应主动与外星生命沟通”的持续争论。因此，本文的主旨是科学家正在探讨人类是否应主动尝试与外星生命建立联系，正确答案为D。（本文图片来源于摄图网，版权归摄图网所有)