博主改写英语并翻译为汉语，英语汉语对照，发帖子于此，供网友参考

 

In 1665, a brilliant young English scientist, Isaac Newton, sat quietly in an apple orchard. Newton was thinking about the moon and the planets when an apple fell from a tree. 1665年，艾萨克 • 牛顿，一位聪慧的年轻的英国科学家，静静地坐在苹果园中。牛顿正在思考月亮和行星，一个苹果从树上掉下。

 

Newton looked at the apple and wondered: why did it fall down? Why didn’t anything fall up? What force pulled on the apple? Could it be the same force that pulls on the moon and keeps it close to the earth? 牛顿望着苹果，自问道：它为什么向下掉呢？为什么没有东西往上掉呢？什么力量在吸引苹果？它是不是就是吸引月亮，并让它一直靠近地球的那个同样的力量呢？

 

Young Newton began to study this force, called gravitation. Although the term “gravity” properly refers to the force between the earth and objects on or near it, “gravity” and “gravitation” are often used to mean the same thing. 年轻的牛顿开始研究这种叫做引力的力。虽然“引力（gravity）”这个术语，严格说来，是指地球和它上面或附近的物体之间的力，但是，“引力（gravity）”和“万有引力（gravitation）”常常用来指同样的事物。

 

 In the years that followed, Newton’s research unlocked one of nature’s most important secrets. Other learned men, such as Galileo, had also studied gravitation. 在以后的岁月里，牛顿的研究打开了一个自然界的最重要的秘密。其他有学之士，比如伽利略，也研究过引力。

 

Galileo proved that heavy objects and light objects fall at the same speed. But he didn’t know that gravitation reaches far out into space. 伽利略证明：重的物体和轻的物体，以相同的速度下落。但是，他不知道引力远远地进入到了宇宙。

 

Isaac Newton realized that gravity reaches everywhere. He used mathematics to prove that gravity holds the moon in orbit around the earth. (1) Gravity is the force that makes order in the universe. Without gravity, everything would float away in different directions. 艾萨克 • 牛顿认识到：引力无所不至。他用数学证明，引力使月亮保持在围绕地球的轨道中。引力是使宇宙井然有序的力量。没有引力，万物都将向不同的方向飘离。

 

What is gravity? Gravity is the attraction, or pull, of one object on another object. Even the tiniest pebble has its own gravity. Gravity’s strength depends on an object’s mass, or amount of matter. More mass means stronger gravity. 什么是引力？引力是一个物体对另一个物体所产生的吸引力，或拉力。即使是最小的鹅卵石也有它自己的引力。引力的力量的大小，取决于物体的质量，或物质的总量。质量越大，引力越强。

 

The earth has a stronger gravitational force than the moon. But the sun has a stronger gravity than the earth. 地球的引力比月球的大。但是，太阳的引力又比地球的大。

 

Gravity’s strength also depends on distance. The force of gravity gets weaker as objects move apart. Gravity is slightly weaker on a mountaintop than in a valley. The higher you go away from the earth, the weaker the earth’s gravity gets. 引力的力量还取决于距离。物体移动开时，引力变弱。山顶上的引力比山谷的略微小些。你离开地球越远，地球的引力就越小。

 

But gravity never disappears completely. An astronaut in orbit feels weightless, or zero gravity. (2) But a tiny amount of gravity is keeping his ship in orbit. 但是，引力绝不会全然消失。在轨道中飞行的宇航员，有失重的感觉，或失重状态的感觉。但是，微小的引力使他的飞船保持在轨道里。

 

Gravity all over the universe is measured in Earth terms. The force of gravity at the earth’s surface is 1 g. (3) Every other gravitational force is figured out in comparison to the earth’s gravity. (4) 整个宇宙的引力都是用地球术语来测量。地表引力的力量为1 g。其他所有的引力，都是与地球的引力相比较，来进行计算的。

 

Thus the moon’s gravity is one-sixth g. A child who weighs 60 pounds on the earth would weigh only 10 pounds on the moon. You have probably seen telecasts from the moon showing astronauts “walking.” Because an astronaut weighs so little on the moon, he almost seems to bounce up and down as he moves. 于是，月球的引力是1/6 g。在地球上体重60磅的小孩，在月球上只有10磅重。你大概看过从月球发回的展示宇航员月球“漫步”的电视节目。因为宇航员在月球上的重量很轻，所以他走动时，似乎在上下弹跳。

 

He can also jump very high, because there is so little gravitational force pulling him back to the moon’s surface. But Jupiter, the biggest planet, has about 2.66 g — more than double the earth’s gravity. A boy or girl who weighs 60 pounds on the earth would weigh about 159 pounds on Jupiter! How much would he/she on the other planets? 他也可以跳得很高，因为把它拉回月球表面的引力很小。但是，最大的木星的引力大约是2.66 g — 超过地球引力的两倍多。地球上重60磅的男孩子或女孩子，在木星上大约重159磅！他或她在其他行星上重多少呢？

 

On mercury,  22.8 pounds

On Venus,   52.8 pounds

On Mars,    23.4 pounds

(On Jupiter   159 pounds

On Saturn,   53 pounds

On Uranus   63 pounds

On Neptune,  67 pounds

On Pluto,     9.6 pounds

水星上，重22.8磅

金星上，重52.8磅

火星上，重23.4磅

（木星上，重159磅）

土星上，重53磅

天王星上，重63磅

海王星上，重96磅

冥王星上，重9.6磅

 

Gravity seems to be a strong force, but it is really very weak. A newborn baby overcomes gravity when he lifts his arm. When you pick up a book or a ball, you are using more force than the force of the earth’s gravity. When you drop the book or throw the ball, gravity takes over again. (5) Gravity may be weak, but it never stops working. That is probably what makes it seem so strong. 引力似乎是一种很强的力，但是它实际上很弱小。一个新生婴儿举起他的手臂时，他克服了引力。你捡起一本书或一个球时，你使用的力，比地球的引力大。你丢下书或扔掉球时，引力又占上风了。引力可能很小，但是，它一直在起作用。这大概就是使它似乎很强大之所在。

 

The pull of gravity makes a falling object accelerate, or move faster and faster. If you drop something from a height of 16 feet, it will hit the ground in one second. But from 64 feet high, the object will hit the ground in two seconds — in only twice as much time. 引力的拉力使下降的物体加速，或者，运动得越来越快。如果你从16英尺的高度往下丢东西，它会在一秒种内落到地上。但是，从64英尺高的地方，物体会在两秒种内落地 — 只用了两倍的时间。

 

During each second that an object falls, it accelerates at the rate of 32 feet a second. This means that, in each second of its fall, an object falls 32 feet faster than it did in the previous second. 在物体下落的每一秒中内，它以每秒32英尺的速度加速。这就意味着，在物体下落的每一秒种内，物体下落都比前一秒钟快32英尺。

 

When an object has fallen for one second, it has a speed of 32 feet per second. When it has fallen for two seconds, it has a speed of 64 feet a second (32 +32 = 64). 物体已经下落一秒钟后，它的速度是每秒32英尺。它下落两秒钟后，它的速度是每秒64英尺（32英尺 +32英尺 = 64英尺).

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注释：

1.       …gravity holds the moon in orbit around the earth.

        句子中的hold表示“保持某种状态或姿势等”。再比如：He had difficulty in holding the teapot steady when he poured out tea. (他倒茶时，很难拿稳茶壶。)

2.       zero gravity

        失重状态，零过载，这是物理学术语。也写作zero g。不要照面翻译成“零引力”。

3.       The force of gravity at the earth’s surface is 1 g.

        句子中的g是英语gravity（引力）的缩写。

4.       Every other gravitational force is figured out in comparison to the earth’s gravity.

        句子中习惯用语figure out表示“计算出，演算出，解决”。非正式美国英语。再比如：I’m figuring out the expenses of my trip to Hawaii. (我正在计算去夏威夷的旅行费用。)

5.       When you drop the book or throw the ball, gravity takes over again.

        句子中的习惯用语take over表示“占上风”，和become dominant的意思差不多。再比如：Don’t let your prejudice take over. (不要为偏见所左右。) / No doubt, a new point of view took over at the meeting. (毫无疑问，一种新的观点在会上占了上风。)

 

中考、高考模拟题

 

1.       All of the following statements are true except that ___________.

A.        Isaac Newton was a brilliant English scientist

B.        “gravity” and “gravitation” are often used to mean the same thing

C.        Galileo had also studied gravitation

D.       Galileo was the first man to study gravity

2.       What is gravity according to the article?

A.        Gravity is the attraction, or pull, of one object on another object.

B.        Gravity is the strength pushing away anything near it.

C.        Gravity is the amount of matter of any objects.

D.       Gravity is the mass which can be changed into energy.

3.       Which of the following statements is not mentioned in the article?

A.        More mass means stronger gravity.

B.        Gravity’s strength also depends on distance.

C.        The force of gravity gets weaker as objects move near.

D.       The higher one goes away from the earth, the weaker the earth’s gravity gets.

4.       The underlined word “accelerate” used in the article can be explained by ________.

A.        become faster

B.        add up to a great number

C.        become accurate

D.       have strong accent

 

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