話說(shuō)上文提到的大批科學(xué)家奔赴各地觀測(cè)金星凌日的活動(dòng)促成了人類歷史上第一次國(guó)際合作科學(xué)活動(dòng)。時(shí)運(yùn)不濟(jì)，命途多舛。倒大霉的再一次輪到了法國(guó)科學(xué)家。
為了保證情節(jié)完整，今天的內(nèi)容有點(diǎn)多啊。大家還是要認(rèn)真做題哦~~

?《萬(wàn)物簡(jiǎn)史》推出部落節(jié)目版，戳這里訂閱:http://bulo.hujiang.com/menu/6004/



書(shū)本的朗讀語(yǔ)音很charming的磁性英音~(yú)~~大家可以好好學(xué)著模仿哦~~~??！
因?yàn)樵鵀槊绹?guó)人所寫(xiě),單詞采用美式拼法,不抄全文,然后聽(tīng)寫(xiě)單詞或詞組(用[-No-]表示)以及句子(用[---No---]表示)。請(qǐng)邊聽(tīng)寫(xiě)邊理解文意，根據(jù)上下文注意各句標(biāo)號(hào)，這樣有助于提高正確率。



Hint:
Venus



It was history's first [-1-], and almost everywhere it ran into problems. Many observers were [-2-] by war, sickness, or shipwreck. Others made their destinations but opened their crates to find equipment broken or warped by tropical heat. [---3---] Jean Chappe spent months traveling to Siberia by coach, boat, and sleigh, nursing his delicate instruments over every perilous bump, only to find the last vital stretch blocked by swollen rivers, the result of unusually heavy spring rains, which the locals were swift to blame on him after they saw him pointing strange instruments at the sky. Chappe managed to escape with his life, but with no useful measurements.

Unluckier still was Guillaume Le Gentil, whose experiences are wonderfully [-4-] by Timothy Ferris in Coming of Age in the Milky Way . Le Gentil set off from France a year ahead of time to observe the transit from India, but various [-5-] left him still at sea on the day of the transit—just about the worst place to be since steady measurements were impossible on a pitching ship.

[-6-], Le Gentil continued on to India to await the next transit in 1769. With eight years to prepare, he erected a first-rate viewing station, tested and retested his instruments, and had everything in a state of perfect [-7-]. [---8---]

Stoically, Le Gentil packed up his instruments and set off for the nearest port, but en route he contracted dysentery and was laid up for nearly a year. Still weakened, he finally made it onto a ship. It was nearly wrecked in a hurricane off the African coast. [---9---]


cooperative international scientific venture waylaid Once again the French seemed fated to provide the most memorably unlucky participants. summarized setbacks Undaunted readiness On the morning of the second transit, June 4, 1769, he awoke to a fine day, but, just as Venus began its pass, a cloud slid in front of the Sun and remained there for almost exactly the duration of the transit: three hours, 14 minutes, and seven seconds. When at last he reached home, 11.5 years after setting off, and having achieved nothing, he discovered that his relatives had had him declared dead in his absence and had enthusiastically plundered his estate.
這是歷史上第一次國(guó)際合作的科學(xué)活動(dòng)，但它幾乎到處困難重重。許多觀測(cè)人員遇上了戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)、疾病或海難。有的抵達(dá)了目的地，但打開(kāi)箱子一看，只見(jiàn)儀器已經(jīng)破碎或被熱帶的灼人的陽(yáng)光烤彎。法國(guó)人似乎命中注定要再一次遭遇倒霉的厄運(yùn)。讓?沙佩乘馬車呀，乘船呀，乘雪橇呀，花了幾個(gè)月才到達(dá)西伯利亞，每一顛簸都得小心護(hù)著容易損壞的儀器。最后只剩下關(guān)鍵的一段行程，卻被一條漲水的河流擋住了去路。原來(lái)，就在他到達(dá)前不久，當(dāng)?shù)叵铝艘粓?chǎng)罕見(jiàn)的春雨。當(dāng)?shù)厝笋R上歸罪于他，因?yàn)樗麄兛吹剿压殴值膬x器對(duì)準(zhǔn)天空。沙佩設(shè)法逃得性命，但沒(méi)有進(jìn)行任何有意義的測(cè)量工作。 　　更倒霉的是紀(jì)曉姆?讓蒂，他的經(jīng)歷蒂姆西?費(fèi)里斯在《在銀河系里成長(zhǎng)》一書(shū)里作了精彩而簡(jiǎn)要的描述。讓蒂提前一年從法國(guó)出發(fā)，打算在印度觀測(cè)這次凌日現(xiàn)象，但遇到了種種挫折，發(fā)生凌日的那一天還在海上--這幾乎是最糟糕的地方，因?yàn)闇y(cè)量需要保持平穩(wěn)狀態(tài)，而這在顛簸的船上根本無(wú)法做到。 　　讓蒂并不氣餒，繼續(xù)前往印度，等待1769年的下一次凌日現(xiàn)象。他有8年的準(zhǔn)備時(shí)間，因此建立了一個(gè)一流的觀察站，他一次又一次測(cè)試他的儀器，把準(zhǔn)備工作做得完美無(wú)缺。1769年6月4日是發(fā)生第二次凌日現(xiàn)象的日子。早晨醒來(lái)，他看到是個(gè)艷陽(yáng)天；但是，正當(dāng)金星從太陽(yáng)表面通過(guò)的時(shí)候，一朵烏云擋住了太陽(yáng)，在那里停留了3小時(shí)14分7秒的時(shí)間，等到云開(kāi)霧散，金星凌日的過(guò)程已經(jīng)結(jié)束了。 　　讓蒂大失所望地收拾儀器，前往最近的港口，途中患了痢疾，有將近一年時(shí)間臥床不起。他不顧身體依然虛弱，最后登上了一條船。這條船在非洲近海的一次颶風(fēng)中幾乎失事。出門(mén)十一年半以后，他終于回到家里。他一無(wú)所獲，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)他的親戚已經(jīng)宣布他死亡，爭(zhēng)先恐后地奪走了他的財(cái)產(chǎn)。