-
Secti on A Fin la nd Norther n Lights
The Northern Lights, also known as
Aurora
“
Orealis
（<
/p>
北极光
）
”
or the
“
Dawn of
the North
”
, never fail to
take your breath Theay.
aurora borealis
is one of the most sublime
（
超群的
）
and
magnificent
natural phenomena on Earth.
Before scientists cracked
（
侦破
）
the
mystery of the auroras, men were
drawn
（
吸弓丨
）
and fascinate
d
（
强
烈
地吸引住
）
by these
dancing and magical lights that were often found
in mythology
（
神话
）
and lege nds. In Roma n
Mythology, it is said that
the Aurora
is the deity
（
神
）
of the dawn. In North America, the Inuits
（
爱斯基摩人
）
have many lege nds that expla in them as spirits
of the
dead. They believed that the
lights are the esse nces
（
精华<
/p>
）
of deer,
salmon
（
鮭鱼
）
,sea
ls and other animals that they hunted. Aristotle
（
亚
里斯多德
）
thought it
was glowing air gushing
（
喷出
）
from cracks in
the
sky. The appearanee of the red
aurora in medieval
（
中世纪的
）
times
was feared as a bad ome n
（
前兆
）
or
a sig n of God's an ger. They
believed
the manifestation
（
显现
）
of
the aurora indicated famine or war.
Charles Hall
（
查尔斯
?霍尔
）
,a 19th-century polar
explorer, exclaimed:
（
想出
）
such infinite<
/p>
（
无穷的
）
sce nes of
glory?
（
毛利人
）
thought that
the displays
were just reflections of a
campfire
（
营火
）
or
torches.
Regardless whether you believe
the scie ntific facts or the lege nds
behind its existenee, you
'
II still be
ca
吸
Vfetedy these
super natural display of lights, and
there are coun tless desti nati ons where you
can see the majestic phe nomenon. Fin
la nd
（芬兰）
，
for
example, should be a
represe ntative.
Many visitors to Fi nla nd come with hopes of see
ing the Finland
Norther n Lights. The
best place to see the Norther n Lights in Fi nla
nd is in the no
rther n Lapland regi
on
（
拉普兰地
区
）
,which is
almost en tirely located within the
realm
（
区域
）
of the Arctic
Circle
（
北极圈
）
.During the dark win ter mon ths here, whe n the sun rarely peaks
（
使达
至
U
最高峰
）
its head over the horizon, you can expect to see the Finland Norther n
Lights with
regularity, and other peak
（
峰值
）
seas ons in
clude February through
March and
September through October. The time betwee n 6
p.m. and 1 a.m. is the
most intense
period of the day. The highest probability within
this timespan
（时间
间隔）
to see
the Finland Norther n Lights is betwee
n 9 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., though they are
certainly not restricted to this time
frame. If you have never see n the Norther n
Lights wherever they com mon ly occur
in the world, then you will be amazed the
first time when you lay eyes on them.
The Norther n Lights are similar to a
sun set in the sky at ni ght, but appear
occasi on ally in
arcs
（弧光）
or
spirals
（螺旋形物）
usually followi
ng the earth's
magnetic
（磁性的）
field. They are most
often light green in color but often have a
hint of pink.
Swirling
（
涡旋形的
）
shades of
blue, gree n, and pink are most com
mon
whe n it comes to the Fi nland
Northern
Lights. Strong eruptions also have
violet
（
紫罗兰色的
）
and white
colours. Red no rther n lights are
rare, but can sometimes be observed on lower
latitudes
（
纬度
）
.
The Finland Aurora
Borealis, while best see n in Lapla nd, can also
be witnessed
as far south as the
capital city of Helsinki
（
赫尔辛基
）
from time to
time, though on
average, there are only
some twenty days out of the year whe n view ing
them is
possible in most souther n
parts of the country. Part of the reason why it
can be
difficult to see the Northern
Lights of Fin la nd in Helsi nki is because of the
fact that
it is hard to escape to dimly
lit areas. The relative lack of city lights is
just one of the
reas ons why the Lapla
nd regi on sees some 200 ni ghtly occurre nces
every year,
and one must also consider
the region
'
s northern
location. The
lower reaches
（
区域
）
of the Arctic
Circle are ideal for view ing the
Norther n Lights across the pla net,
which is why Can ada and Alaska are good
destinations in the Western Hemisphere<
/p>
（
半球
）
.
For those who are won deri ng what
causes the Norther n Lights in
Finland,
solar flares
（
耀斑
）<
/p>
are largely responsible. These flares
effectively cause
solar winds and solar
storms, which create
lingering
（
游
移的
）
atmospheric
particles or matter. The Aurora
Borealis is just caused by these
charged
（
带
电
的
）
particles<
/p>
（
粒子
）
eje
cted
（
喷出
）
from the
sun. When these particles
reach the earth, they
collide
（
碰撞
）
with gas atoms
in
the earth's atmosphere causing them
to energise
（
释放出能量
）
which
results in a
spectacular multi-coloured
light show. As such
（
因此
）
, scie ntists
can often
accurately predict whe n the
best times are for view ing the Norther n Lights
in
Finland by keep ing an eye out
for
（
留心
）
solar flares.
（
757
words
）
New Words
aurora [?:'r?:r?] n.
曙光
[C];
极光
[C];
【罗
神】
（
大写：）奥罗拉
（
即曙
光女神
）
sublime [s?'bla?m]
a.
雄伟的；卓越的；壮丽的；超群的
crack [kr?k] v.
敲破
；
破
（
案
）<
/p>
;
破解
draw v.
吸引
（
注意等
）
fasc
inate v.
强烈地吸引住
mythology [mi' ?l?d?i]
n.
神话
deity
['di:iti] n.
神
essence ['esns]
n.
精髓，精华
salmon
['s?m ?n] n.
鮭，大麻哈鱼
gush [g?? v.
涌出，喷出
medieval [medi'i:v ?l] a.
中世纪
的，中古（时代）的
；
原始的
omen [' ?um?n]
n.
前兆，预兆，兆头
manifestation [,m?nifes'tei ??n]
n.
显现
conceive
[k?n'si:v] v.
想像；想出
infinite ['infinit] a.
无穷的，广大无边的
campfire ['k?mp,fai ?] n.
营火
,
篝火
captivate ['k?ptiveit] v.
吸住；迷惑住
realm
[relm] n.
区域，围
peak vt.
使达到最高峰
n.
最大量；巅值，峰值
timespan n.
时
间间隔
arc [
a
:k]
n.
弧；弧光
spiral
['spair ?l] n.
螺旋形物
magnetic [m?g'netik] a.
磁
（
性
）
的
swirling [sw ?:l] v.
（
使
）
打旋
;
盘绕
violet
['vai?lit] a.
紫罗兰色的
latitude
['l?titju:d] n.
纬度
reach n.
区域，领域，围
hemisphere ['hemisfi ?] n.
半球
flare [fl ??]
n.
（
太阳的
）
耀斑，色球爆发
lingering ['li?g?ri?] a.
逗留不去的；游移的
charge
v.
充
（
电
）
particle ['p
a
:tikl]
n.
颗粒，微粒；粒子
eject [i'd ?ekt] v.
喷出
collide
[k?'laid]
v.
（
车等<
/p>
）
碰撞
（
with
）
；
（
意志等
）
冲突，抵触
（
with
）
energise['
en?d?aiz] =energize
（美）
vt.
供给
...
能量，使精力充沛
vi.
释放出能量
Useful Expressi ons
take on
e
'
breath away
屏息凝神
with
regularity
经常地
be
restricted to
局限于
lay eyes on
看至
U,
看见
a hint of
一丁点儿
collide with
（
车等
）
碰撞
；
（
意志等
）
as such
这样；因此
keep an eye out for
留心
Proper Names
Aurora Borealis
北极光
the In uit
因纽特人；爱斯基摩人
Aristotle
亚里斯多德
冲突，抵触
Charles
Hall
查尔斯霍尔
Maori
毛利人；毛利语
Finland
芬兰
Lapla nd
region
拉普兰地区
Arctic Circle
北极圈
（
北纬
66
度
33
分以北区域
）
Helsi nki
赫尔
辛基
（
芬兰首都
）
Notes
1. Aurora Borealis:
北极光
---
北端的光
”
由太阳风和地球磁场及上层大气交互作用产生。与南极光
（
aurora
australis
）
一
起
,
统称为极光。
aur
ora borealis
这个词是由一个法国的
科学家
Pierre
Gassendi
命名的。
2.
Aurora:
古希腊曙光女神
古希
腊女神奥罗拉
（
也叫厄俄斯
）
是曙光女神，她在将光明带
往人间的时
候，爱上了忧郁的特洛伊王子梯托诺斯，并将王子带
回了奥林匹斯山。月亮女神
阿尔忒弥斯帮助她将王子藏了起来，
并告诉他去宙斯的神殿祈求王子得到长寿。
奥罗拉向
宙斯祈求了
王子的长寿，却忘记了祈求他的永葆青春。
< br>于
是王子迅速地
老去，