新闻英语精解【86】太磁暴从24日起袭击地球

Most Potent Geomagnetic Storm Hits Earth

强烈的太阳磁暴袭击地球

DENVER - The most powerful geomagnetic storm possible walloped the Earth early Wednesday, knocking out some airline communications but apparently causing no large power outages or other major problems.

【参考译文】丹佛－最强烈的太阳磁暴于本周三开始袭击地球，并对某些航空通讯联系产生了干扰，但没有出现大规模电力供应中断或其他重大问题。

【讲解】geomagnetic，地磁的。geomagnetic storm也叫 magnetic storm，.磁暴(因太阳黑子活动而引起的地球磁场的大扰动)。

Wallop，To beat soundly; thrash.很响地打；连续拍打。也可作名词讲has a punch that delivers a wallop.具有一个能够有力的猛击的冲头。

knock out是个常用词组，意思很多。常用来在体育运动中指To defeat (a boxing opponent) by a knockout.拳击比赛中的对手；或者指To render useless or inoperative，使无用，使失去效能：The storm knocked out the telephones.风暴使电话中断。本文中用的就是这个意思。在非正式用语中，意思是To exert or exhaust (oneself or another) to the utmost: 尽心尽力。knocked herself out to be ready on time.为了及时作好准备她竭尽全力。

The storm, the most disruptive to hit Earth since 1989, was unleashed by the fourth-most powerful solar flare ever seen, NASA said. The gigantic cloud of highly charged particles hurled from the sun posed a threat to high frequency radio communications, satellite navigation systems and television broadcasts. Continued turbulence on the sun remains a concern for the next week, space forecasters say.

【参考译文】美国国家航空航天局说，这次太阳磁暴是由迄今所见最强烈四个太阳耀斑释放，对地球的袭击也是自1989年以来最具有破坏性的一次。太阳高速喷出的巨大粒子云团对于高频无线电波通讯、人造卫星航空系统和电视广播传输都造成了威胁。航空预报员说，太磁暴的旋涡流将一直持续到下周。

【讲解】solar flare，A sudden eruption of hydrogen gas on the surface of the sun, usually associated with sunspots and accompanied by a burst of ultraviolet radiation that is often followed by a magnetic disturbance. 太阳耀斑，太阳表面氢气的突然爆发，经常和太阳黑子有关并伴有紫外线辐射的爆发，从而导致磁干扰。

Hurl，To move with great speed, force, or violence; hurtle. 快速移动快速、用力或猛地运动；猛冲。He hurled the brick through the window. 他用力把砖头从窗户投进去。

turbulence 指的是An eddying motion of the atmosphere that interrupts the flow of wind. 湍流打断风的运动的极不规则的大气运动。

The biggest immediate effect was the blackout of high-frequency voice-radio communications for planes flying far northern routes. But airliners in an emergency could still communicate through VHF contact with another aircraft or military monitoring station, said Louis Garneau, a spokesman for the company that handles Canada's civil aviation navigation service.

【参考译文】太阳磁暴最严重的直接影响是北部航线飞机的高频声波通讯系统会发生中断。负责处理加拿大民用航空航海事务公司的发言人路易斯加纳表示，即使发生紧急情况，航班仍然可以通过特高频与其他飞机或军事检测电台联系。

【讲解】blackout 在本文中指的是Lack of illumination caused by an electrical power failure. 照明不足由电力缺乏引起的照明不足。常用于指（暂时）失去知觉，He had had a blackout after the accident.事故发生后,他晕过去一阵子。in an emergency，在紧急的时。

VHF是Very High Frequency的首字母缩写，甚高频(30VHF 300兆赫)。