UNIT 4 外刊撷英-（配套教参）【学霸笔记·同步精讲】2024-2025学年高中英语必修第三册（人教版）

本讲义围绕土星环起源这一核心知识点，系统梳理从土星环的重要性引入，到科学家对其形成时间的两种争议观点（原生说与年轻说）的脉络，以词汇注释、语法填空、词汇匹配及写作任务为学习支架。 该资料特色在于融合语言能力与思维品质培养，通过科学争议文本提升学生对天文词汇的理解与语法应用能力，借助两种观点的分析比较发展逻辑推断能力。课中辅助教师引导学生构建知识联系，课后学生可通过词汇匹配和写作任务巩固语言知识，弥补学习盲点。

Saturn①： What Put the Rings on It? Adapted from National Geographic 202303 Without its rings, Saturn looks really boring. Its plain face lacks the energy of Jupiter②'s watercolored bands③， the spicy blue of Neptune④， the suffocating (令人窒息的) murk (昏暗) of Venus⑤. Even rusty⑥ Mars looks more interesting. Thankfully, at some point in the past 4.5 billion years, the cosmos⑦ gave Earth's neighborhood an upgrade： It put a big, bright, icy ring system around Saturn. But scientists don't agree on when Saturn's rings formed or how the ring even came into being. It turns out that the genesis⑧ of one of the solar system's iconic features is still an unsolved mystery. “The planet was formed at a certain point during the formation of the solar system, and we don't know if the rings formed at the same time or if they were formed much later，” says Cornell University astrophysicist⑨ Maryame El Moutamid. “And the reason why it's so interesting is not only to know that but to understand the Saturn system—we have a planet, a ring system, and a moon system, and we think there is a connection between the rings and the moons.” That enigma⑩ is uniquely fascinating. For the most part, scientists have a good grip on the origin of our solar system's most spectacular sights: a chasm (裂缝) carved into Mars that would dwarf⑪ the Grand Canyon, Jupiter's churning (汹涌澎湃的) Great Red Spot⑫， the moon's enormous⑬ southern basin. But not Saturn's rings. “Saturn's rings are unique，” says Jeff Cuzzi of NASA's Ames Research Center. “They're the only big, massive rings, and they're very, very bright, which is unusual. So this has been a puzzle.” Scientists who think about this question tend to cluster into two camps. The first group suggests that Saturn's rings are primordial (原生的)—that they formed along with the planet more than four billion years ago—and that Saturn has never been a boring, blah (乏味的) world. The other group suspects⑭ the rings are much younger, formed within the past several hundred million years. Under that theory, the rings are so young that if the dinosaurs had had a space program, they'd have seen a ringless Saturn through their telescopes. “Both scenarios⑮ have great arguments, but they also have weaknesses，” El Moutamid says. “Honestly, and without trying to be too neutral⑯， I think the old age makes more sense⑰ to me than the young age，” El Moutamid says. “That's my belief up to now, but I am happy to be convinced⑱ otherwise.” ①Saturn n.　　　 土星 ②Jupiter n. 木星 ③band n. 带 ④Neptune n. 海王星 ⑤Venus n. 金星 ⑥rusty adj. 铁锈色的 ⑦cosmos n. 宇宙 ⑧genesis n. 发生；起源 ⑨astrophysicist n. 天体物理学家 ⑩enigma n. 谜 ⑪dwarf v. 使相形见绌 ⑫Great Red Spot (木星)大红斑(风暴气旋旋涡) ⑬enormous adj. 巨大的 ⑭suspect v. 猜想，认为 ⑮scenario n. 设想 ⑯neutral adj. 中立的 ⑰make sense 合乎情理 ⑱convince v. 说服；使信服 答案：1.At　2.an　3.why　4.connection　5.fascinating　6.sights　7.to cluster　8.while　9.had had　10.more 1．upgrade n.　　A．to come together in a small group or groups 2．iconic adj. B．very impressive 3．grip n. C．extremely large or serious 4．spectacular adj. D．acting as a sign or symbol of sth. 5．massive adj. E．an upward slope or grade 6．cluster v. F．an understanding of sth. 答案：1～5.EDFBC　6.A, Is space worth exploring and why? One possible version： I think space is worth exploring because we have benefited a lot from it, such as using satellites for communication and weather forecast. What's more, with further space research, we may solve the population problem by moving to other planets one day. Most importantly, space exploration will enable us to find new sources to solve the problem of energy shortages on the earth. 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $