Hawking's search for alien life

霍金发起寻找外星人计划

霍金发起发起新的探索行动：寻找外星人计划

史蒂芬·霍金教授发起了一项新的探索行动，试图回答外星是否有生命存在这个问题。据说这是人类历史上规模最大的外星智慧生命搜索行动。以下是 Pallab Ghosh 的报道。

Scientists have been listening out for signals from intelligent civilisations on other worlds for

decades, so far with no success. This new initiative is the most ambitious yet. It will survey

ten times more of the sky than previous programmes. And over the next ten years, radio

telescopes will listen out for broadcasts from a million of the stars closest to the Earth。

The scheme has the support of some of the world's leading space researchers, including

Professor Stephen Hawking, who says it's now time to answer one of the biggest questions

in science:

Professor Stephen Hawking

"Somewhere in the cosmos, perhaps, intelligent life may be watching these lights of ours,

aware of what they mean. Or do our lights wander a lifeless cosmos - unseen beacons

announcing that here, on one rock, the Universe discovered its existence? There is no

bigger question. It's time to commit to finding the answer - to search for life beyond Earth."

Many scientists believe that there's only a small chance of receiving a signal from aliens from

outer space. But if we do, we'll know that humanity is not alone in the universe。

Media English ©British Broadcasting Corporation 2015

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Questions:

1. Does Stephen Hawking believe alien life will be found?

2. Which two words mean something very similar to ‘initiative’?

3. True or false: This project is the biggest search for aliens so far。

4. What signs of alien life are scientists looking for?

Vocabulary and definitions:

initiative 倡议

cosmos 宇宙

lifeless 无生命的，死气沉沉的

unseen 未被看到的，看不见的

beacons (复数)灯塔

humanity 人类

Media English ©British Broadcasting Corporation 2015

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Answers to the questions:

1. Does Stephen Hawking believe alien life will be found?

Answer: He doesn't say if he believes alien life will be found, but he says

it's the biggest question in science。

2. Which two words mean something very similar to ‘initiative’?

Answer: ‘Programme’ and ‘scheme’ both have similar meanings to

‘initiative’。

3. True or false? This project is the biggest search for aliens so far。

Answer: True. This is the most ambitious initiative yet, and will survey

ten times more of the sky than previous programmes。

4. What signs of alien life are scientists looking for?

Answer: They are using a radio telescope to listen out for broadcasts

and/or signals from stars close to Earth。