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1、2012职称英语A级新增内容阅读理解SmallButWiseOnDecember14,NASA1blastedasmallbutmightytelescopeintospace.ThetelescopeiscalledWISEandisaboutaswidearoundasatrashcan.Don'tletitssmallsizefoolyou:WISEhasapowerfuldigitalcamera,anditwillbetakingpicturesofsomethewildestobjects2intheknownu
2、niverse,includingasteroids,faintstars,blazinggalaxies3andgiantcloudsofdustwhereplanetsandstarsareborn."I'mveryexcitedbecausewe'regoingtobeseeingpartsoftheuniversethatwehaven'tseenbefore,"saidNedWright,ascientistwhodirectstheWISEproject.Sincearrivinginspace,theWISEt
3、elescopehasbeencirclingtheEarth,heldbygravityinapolarorbit4(thismeansitcrossesclosetothenorthandsouthpoleswitheachlap5).Itscameraispointedoutward,awayfromtheEarth,andWISEwillsnapapictureofadifferentpartoftheskyevery11minutes.Aftersixmonthsitwillhavetakenpicturesacr
4、osstheentiresky.ThepicturestakenbyWISEwon'tbelikeeverydaydigitalphotographs,however.WISEstandsfor"Wide-fieldInfraredSurveyExplorer."Asitsnamesuggests,theWISEcameratakespicturesoffeaturesthatgiveoffinfraredradiation6.Radiationisenergythattravelsasawave.Visiblelight,
5、includingthefamiliarspectrumoflight7thatbecomesvisibleinarainbow,isanexampleofradiation.Whenanordinarydigitalcameratakesapictureofatree,forexample,itreceivesthewavesofvisiblelightthatarereflectedoffthetree.Whenthesewavesenterthecamerathroughthelens,they'reprocessed
6、bythecamera,whichthenputstheimagetogether.Wavesofinfraredradiationarelongerthanwavesofvisiblelight,soordinarydigitalcamerasdon'tseethem,andneitherdotheeyesofhumanbeings.Althoughinvisibletotheeye,longerinfraredradiationcanbedetectedaswarmthbytheskin.That'sakeyideato
7、whyWISEwillbeabletoseethingsothertelescopescan't.Noteverythingintheuniverseshowsupinvisiblelight.Asteroids,forexample,aregiantrocksthatfloatthroughspace一buttheyabsorbmostofthelightthatreachesthem.Theydon'treflectlight,sothey'redifficulttosee.Buttheydogiveoffinfrare
8、dradiation,soaninfraredtelescopelikeWISEwillbeabletoproduceimagesofthem.DuringitsmissionWISEwilltakepicturesofhundredsofthousandsofasteroids.Brow
