72. Saving the World p.498

    A student is talking to her teacher.

    S： I hear that scientists are planning to study asteroids² and meteors, right？

    T： Yes. They want to determine whether Earth is in danger of being struck by such a rock.

    S： What if they discover that a big one is coming straight for us？

    T： In that case, there are two things they can do. They can launch rockets to push the rock off its course.

    S： So that it will miss Earth, right？

    T： Right. And if that fails, we can try destroying the rock with nuclear missiles.

    S： Wow！ I never thought that nuclear weapons could save the world instead of ending it！

    save your breath 别浪费唇舌

    asteroid¹ 小行星

    I （was） determined³ to do = made up my mind

    We are in danger of losing the rice crop if it doesn't rain.

    What （will/would happen） if……

    You can't miss sb/sth. 你不会错的

    intersection⁴ 十字路口

    Let's go picnicking tomorrow. = Let's go on a picnic tomorrow.

    He swims like a rock. 游泳象旱鸭子