Image Martian Dust Particles
NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander has taken its first-ever picture of a single particle of rusty Martian dust with one of its microscopes. The dust particles of dust was shown at a higher magnification than anything outside of Earth that has been imaged before. The rounded particle measured only about one micrometer, or one millionth of a meter, across.
“Taking this image requiried the highest resolution microscope operated off Earth and a specially designed device to hold the Martian dust,” said Tom Pike, a Phoenix science team member from Imperial College London. “We always knew it was going to be technically very challenging to image particles this small.”
The device that imaged the dust speck is called an atomic force microscope, which maps the shape of particles in three dimensions by scanning them with a sharp tip at the end of a spring. The atomic force microscope can detail the shapes of particles as small as about 100 nanometers. And this won’t be the last dust particle that Phoenix will image. “After this first success, we’re now working on building up a portrait gallery of the dust on Mars,” Pike said.
Dust exists everywhere on Mars, coating the surface and giving it its rusty red color. Dust particles also color the Martian sky pink and feed storms that regularly envelope the planet. The ultra-fine dust is the medium that actively links gases in the Martian atmosphere to processes in Martian soil, so it is critically important to understanding Mars’ environment, the researchers said.
The $420-million Phoenix mission is analyzing the dust and subsurface ice layers of Mars’ arctic regions to look for signs of potential past habitability. The particle seen in the atomic force microscope image was part of a sample scooped by the robotic arm from the “Snow White” trench and delivered to Phoenix’s microscope station in early July.
詞彙：
image / ’ɪmɪdʒ / v.繪……的影象
magnification / ,mægnɪfɪ’keɪʃən / n.放大
micrometer / maɪ’krɒmɪtə / n.微米
resolution / ,rezə’l(j)u:ʃən / n.解析度，清晰度
map / mæp / v.繪……的地圖
scan / skæn / v.掃描
subsurface / sʌb’sɜ:fɪs / adj.地面下的
habitability/,hæbitə'biləti/ n.居住性
scoop / sku:p / v.挖
trench / trentʃ / n.溝
註釋：
’s Phoenix Mars Lander：美國國家航空航天局的鳳凰號火星登陸器
earth：地球之外
rial College London：倫敦帝國學院
e particles this small：描繪如此之小的微粒。image particles this small是口語的說法，其意思是image such small particles/image particles which are so small。
this won’t be the last dust particle that Phoenix will image：這不會是鳳凰號掃描影象的最後的塵粒。本句的言外之意是：科學家將會收集更多的火星微粒進行掃描。
rait gallery：(火星塵粒)影象陳列館
a-fine：超小的
is critically important to understanding Mars’ environment：火星塵粒對於瞭解火星環境是極端重要的。it指代上一句的dust，而to是介詞，所以後接動名詞understanding。
練習：
dust particle on Mars is the small particle that has been imaged outside of Earth.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
g the samt technology, we have also measured the size of particles on the moon and Jupiter.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
ntists use the highest resolution microscope to watch and record the image of Martian particles on earth.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
Pike said that they used to think it was no easy job to image such small particles.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
electronic device has been developed to measure the weight of certain Martian particles.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
r collecting the last Martian dust particle, the scientists have started to build up a portrait gallery of it.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
Phoenix’s robotic arm collected the Martian dust particles for analysis on Mars.
A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned
答案與題解：
1.A 第一段說，NASA的鳳凰號火星登陸器用它的顯微鏡觀測地球外長度只有百萬分之一米的微粒。本題的表述與第一段的意思吻合。
2.C 通篇文章都沒有提到科學家用同樣的技術測量月球和水星上的微粒。
3.B 第一段說，NASA的鳳凰號火星登陸器觀測到的火星微粒是在地球之外，而非在地球上，所以本題的表述是錯的。
4.A Tom Pike說，“We always knew it was going to be technically very challenging to image particles this small.”(我們過去一直知道，觀察體積如此小的微粒具有很高的挑戰性。)(見第二段)這句話是選擇A的依據。
5.C 通篇文章都沒有提到有人發明了一種能測量火星上某些微粒的重量的電子裝置。
6.B 第三段中提到，“ ... this won’t be the last dust particle that Phoenix will image”。接著又說，“After this first success, we’re now working on building up a portrait gallery of the dust on Mars”。而本題卻說：“After collecting the last Martian dust particle, we’re now working on building up ... ”，這與文章所表達內容明顯不同，所以本題的答案是B。
7.A 選擇A的依據是文章最後一句：“The particle seen in the atomic force microscope image was part of a sample scooped by the robotic arm ... ”
參考譯文： 探視火星塵粒
美國國家航空航天局的鳳凰號火星登陸器通過其攜帶的望遠鏡觀測到了迄今為止第一幅火星微粒的照片。這次微粒的影象比以往任何拍攝地球以外的物質使用的放大率都要高。據測成原形的微粒直徑只有一微米，也就是百萬分之一米。
“此次觀測需要清晰度最高的望遠鏡，同時要專門設計能夠握持火星塵粒的裝置。”Pike說道，他是倫敦帝國學院鳳凰號科學小組的成員之一。“我們過去一直認為觀察體積如此小的微粒是具有很髙的挑戰性的。”
這次用於觀測微粒的裝置叫作原子力望遠鏡，它能夠通過位於彈簧末端的尖端來掃描這些微粒並在三維空間中繪製下它們的形狀。這種望遠鏡能夠以小到100奈米來呈現出這些微粒。而且這不會是鳳凰號掃描的最後的'塵粒，科學家將會收集更多的火星微粒進行掃描。“這次成功以後，我們正在努力建立一座火星塵粒影象陳列館。” Pike說道。
火星上到處都存在著塵粒，這些塵粒覆蓋著火星表面，使其呈現出鏽跡斑斑的紅色。這些塵粒把火星的天空染成了粉色，而且經常會引起覆蓋行星的塵暴。而超小的塵粒又是連線大氣層中的空氣與火星中的土壤的媒介物，所以研究者稱火星塵粒對於瞭解火星環境是極端重要的。
這次耗資420萬美元的鳳凰號任務將會分析火星北極範圍內的塵粒和地表下的冰層，目的是發現火星上過去是否有居住性的可能性。從原子力望遠鏡裡觀測到的塵粒是由機械手從“白雪溝”中獲得，而後在7月初被傳送到鳳凰號望遠鏡觀測站的樣本的一部分。
