007 阳光普照

旁白 neutral

Will spun in place, holding a basketball in one hand and a baseball in the other

威尔原地旋转，一只手拿着篮球，另一只手拿着棒球。

旁白 neutral

" If the basketball is the sun and the baseball is Earth, the baseball should go around the basketball," he told himself

"如果篮球是太阳，棒球是地球，那棒球就应该绕着篮球转，"他自言自语道。

旁白 neutral

" But why can't we see the sun all the time?"

"但我们为什么不能一直看到太阳呢？"

旁白 neutral

Dizzy, he lay down on his bed and stared at his homework

头晕目眩的他躺到床上，盯着作业发呆。

旁白 neutral

" All I know is that it gets dark at night — not why!"

"我只知道天会变黑——却不知道为什么！"

旁白 neutral

Will tried to focus on the worksheet, but he soon dozed off

威尔试图集中注意力做作业，但很快就打起了瞌睡。

旁白 neutral

When he opened his eyes, he was amazed to see Earth and the moon before him

当他睁开眼睛时，惊讶地发现地球和月球就在眼前。

旁白 neutral

" Cool!" he exclaimed, pulling his phone, QT, out of his pocket." Am I on a spaceship?"

"太酷了！"他惊呼道，从口袋里掏出手机QT。"我在宇宙飞船里吗？"

旁白 neutral

" Yes," QT replied." Earth is beautiful, isn't it?"

"是的，"QT回答。"地球很美，不是吗？"

旁白 neutral

" It sure is. But why can I see only one side of it?" Will asked." And of the moon too?"

"的确很美。但我为什么只能看到它的一面呢？"威尔问。"月球也是？"

旁白 neutral

" That's because the sunlight's coming from the left, so it can't shine on the opposite side

“那是因为太阳光从左边照过来，所以照不到另一边。

旁白 neutral

On the side that's lit right now, it is day. On the dark side, it is night

现在被照亮的那一面是白天，阴暗的那一面是夜晚。

旁白 neutral

If you look carefully, you can see the lights of big cities."

如果你仔细看，能看到大城市的灯光。”

旁白 neutral

" I see them! But when the sun rises, the sides will switch, right?"

“我看到了！但等太阳升起来，两边就会换过来，对吧？”

旁白 neutral

" What you call the sun rising is not exactly correct

“你所说的太阳升起，其实不太准确。

旁白 neutral

We don't experience day and night because the sun moves, but because Earth spins on its axis."

我们经历白天和黑夜，不是因为太阳在移动，而是因为地球在绕着自己的轴旋转。”

旁白 neutral

Will was confused." Its axis? What's that?"

威尔很困惑。“它的轴？那是什么？”

旁白 neutral

QT explained," An axis is an imaginary line that goes through Earth's poles. I'll show you."

QT解释说：“轴是一条假想的线，穿过地球的两极。我来演示给你看。”

旁白 neutral

QT shot a beam of light at the ship's controls, and a screen lit up one wall

QT朝飞船的控制台射出一束光，一面墙上亮起了一个屏幕。

旁白 neutral

" Earth rotates on its axis, spinning like a top, once every 24 hours

“地球绕着自己的轴旋转，像陀螺一样，每24小时转一圈。

旁白 neutral

Although the rotation is too slow for us to see in real time, here's a video of the last 24 hours, sped up," QT said

虽然自转太慢，我们无法实时看到，但这里有一段过去24小时的加速视频，”QT 说。

旁白 neutral

" The planet is spinning!" Will observed

“地球在转！”威尔观察到。

旁白 neutral

" But to us on Earth, it looks like the sun is rising in the east, moving across the sky, and setting in the west."

“但对我们在地球上的人来说，看起来像是太阳从东边升起，横跨天空，然后从西边落下。”

旁白 neutral

" Exactly," QT replied." The view from Earth is quite different from the view from space

“没错，”QT 回答。“从地球上看和从太空中看很不一样。

旁白 neutral

Watch the moon in this next video, and you'll see what I mean," QT went on

看下一段视频中的月球，你就会明白我的意思，”QT 继续说。

旁白 neutral

" The moon's shape appears to change — what we call the phases of the moon — but it actually stays the same

“月球的形状看起来在变化——我们称之为月相——但其实它保持不变。

旁白 neutral

What changes is how much of it we can see

变化的是我们能看到的多少。

旁白 neutral

Half the moon, the side facing the sun, is always lit

月球的一半，即朝向太阳的那一面，总是被照亮。

旁白 neutral

But because the moon orbits around Earth, we can usually only see part of the lit side."

但因为月球绕地球运行，我们通常只能看到亮面的一部分。”

旁白 neutral

" Oh...," Will said, watching closely

“哦……，”威尔说，专心地看着。

旁白 neutral

After the video finished, he asked," So where the moon is in its orbit determines how much of it we can see?

视频结束后，他问道：“那么，月球在轨道上的位置决定了我们能看见它多少？

旁白 neutral

That creates the phases of the moon?"

这就形成了月相？”

旁白 neutral

" You've got it," QT answered." But I want you to see something else

“你说对了。” QT回答，“但我想让你看点别的东西。

旁白 neutral

Take another look at Earth out there. Doesn't it look like it's tipping a little?"

再看看那边的地球。它看起来是不是有点倾斜？”

旁白 neutral

Staring at the planet, Will exclaimed," Hey! It does."

威尔盯着这颗星球，惊呼道：“嘿！真的有点。”

旁白 neutral

" Earth is tilted by about 23.5 degrees; that means it's not straight up and down

“地球大约倾斜了23.5度；这意味着它不是直上直下的。

旁白 neutral

If we move farther out, you'll see what I mean," QT said

如果我们走远一些，你就会明白我的意思。” QT说。

旁白 neutral

As they zoomed through the solar system, Earth got smaller and smaller, and the sun came into view

当他们快速穿过太阳系时，地球变得越来越小，太阳进入了视野。

旁白 neutral

Will gasped." It's enormous! And bright!"

威尔倒吸了一口气。“它真大！而且好亮！”

旁白 neutral

" It sure is. It looks small from Earth because it's very far away, about 150,000,000 kilometers

“确实。它从地球上看那么小，是因为它离得非常远，大约一亿五千万公里。”

旁白 neutral

So the orbit is a long trip. It takes about 365 days to orbit the sun once — "

所以公转是一段漫长的旅程。绕太阳一周大约需要365天——”

旁白 neutral

" That's a year," Will interrupted

“那就是一年，”威尔插话道。

旁白 neutral

" Yes, it is. Earth's tilt causes the seasons. I'll show you a diagram," QT said

“没错。地轴的倾斜造成了四季。我给你看个示意图，”QT说。

旁白 neutral

The screen lit up, showing Earth's orbit of the sun

屏幕亮了起来，显示出地球围绕太阳公转的轨道。

旁白 neutral

" The planet is always tilted the same way

“地球的倾斜方向始终不变，

旁白 neutral

so the northern hemisphere is pointed toward the sun for part of the year, and the southern hemisphere for another part."

所以北半球在一年中的部分时间会指向太阳，而南半球则在另一部分时间指向太阳。”

旁白 neutral

" The seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres are always opposite?" Will asked

“北半球和南半球的季节总是相反的吗？”威尔问道。

旁白 neutral

" Right. The hemisphere that's tilted away from the sun experiences winter, and the one that's tilted toward the sun experiences summer

“对。倾斜着远离太阳的那个半球会经历冬季，而倾斜着朝向太阳的那个半球则会经历夏季。

旁白 neutral

Right now it's December — winter in the northern hemisphere, where you live

现在是十二月——你居住的北半球正处于冬季。

旁白 neutral

See how little direct light it's getting compared to the southern hemisphere?

看，与南半球相比，这里得到的直射阳光是多么少呢？

旁白 neutral

There it's summer because it's getting a lot of direct light

那里是夏季，因为它接收到大量直射光。

旁白 neutral

When the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, it gets much more sunlight, so it's summer

当北半球倾向太阳时，它能获得更多的阳光，所以是夏季。

旁白 neutral

For spring and fall, neither hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, so the weather is the same."

在春季和秋季，两个半球都不向太阳倾斜，所以气候是一样的。"

旁白 neutral

Will thought for a moment." Is that why the days are longer during the summer?

威尔想了一会儿。"这就是为什么夏天白天更长的原因吗？

旁白 neutral

Because the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun?"

因为北半球倾向太阳？"

旁白 neutral

" Absolutely. That's what causes the 24-hour days in the Arctic

"完全正确。这就是北极出现极昼现象的原因。

旁白 neutral

And the Antarctic doesn't see the sun at all, causing 24-hour nights," QT said

而南极完全见不到太阳，形成极夜现象。"QT说道。

旁白 neutral

" But I'd better turn the ship around now

"但我最好现在就把飞船掉头。

旁白 neutral

We don't want to be floating out in space forever, do we?"

我们可不想永远在太空中漂流，对吧？"

旁白 neutral

" No." Will grinned." I've got basketball practice tomorrow!"

"不想。"威尔咧嘴一笑。"我明天还要参加篮球训练呢！"

旁白 neutral

The spaceship started moving back toward Earth, but as they flew past the sun, the ship swerved

飞船开始返回地球，但当他们飞过太阳时，飞船突然转向了。

旁白 neutral

" What's going on?" Will asked. Red lights on the controls were blinking, and a warning bell was ringing

"怎么回事？"威尔问道。控制面板上的红灯在闪烁，警报铃也响了起来。

旁白 neutral

" We might have gotten too close to the sun," QT said, sounding worried

"我们可能离太阳太近了，"QT说道，声音中带着担忧。

旁白 neutral

" Its gravity is pulling us in!" The ship was going faster and faster, straight into the sun

"它的引力正把我们拉进去！"飞船越来越快，直奔太阳而去。

旁白 neutral

Will covered his eyes with his hands to protect them from the blinding rays

威尔用手遮住眼睛，以保护它们免受刺眼光芒的伤害。

旁白 neutral

When he lowered his hands, squinting at the bright light, his dad was standing by the bedroom door with his hand on the light switch

当他放下手，眯着眼看那明亮的光时，他爸爸正站在卧室门边，手放在电灯开关上。

旁白 neutral

" Why was the light off?" he asked Will

"灯怎么关了？"他问威尔。

旁白 neutral

" I was just napping," Will replied, crawling out of bed

"我刚在打盹儿，"威尔爬下床回答道。

旁白 neutral

" Thanks for waking me up. I have to finish something."

"谢谢叫醒我。我得完成点东西。"

旁白 neutral

He picked up his homework and quickly answered the questions

他拿起作业，快速回答了问题。

旁白 neutral

" That wasn't so hard," he thought, putting away the basketball and baseball

"这也不是很难嘛，"他想着，把篮球和棒球收了起来。