本文为大家提供的托福材料是关于世界上固体的物质。
Sure, you think the world is full of solid objects. You think the radio you’re listening to is solid. You think the floor you’re standing on or the chair you’re sitting in is solid. Heck, you probably think that you yourself are a solid object. Wrong.
One of the strangest things modern atomic theory has shown us is that what we commonly (1)take to be the world of solid objects is for the most part empty space. That’s right. Even something as reliable as a table, a brick, a baseball, even your body, is (2)by and large just empty space.
Why is that? It’s because you, the baseball, and everything else is made up of atoms. And atoms themselves are mostly empty space… But wait! What about the protons and neutrons (3)and stuff? Well, they’re in there, but only in the very center. That’s called the nucleus.
An atom’s nucleus is surrounded by a cloud of orbiting electrons. Virtually all the mass of the atom — the stuff and not the fluff — is in the nucleus. And the nucleus is incredibly tiny compared to the overall size of the atom. In fact, it’s about a hundred thousand times smaller. It’s like (4)a speck of dust floating around inside a cathedral. In between the dust speck and the cathedral walls is nothing but space.
So you are made up of things that are mostly empty space, with occasional specks floating in them. Does it make you feel kind of empty, too? Don’t worry. Every other object in the world, from a pebble to (5)Mount Everest, is the same way.
Notes:
(1)take to be 把 ... 看作是 ..., 把 ... 当作是 ...
(2)by and large 大体上，总的来说
By and large the work of the news agency is appreciative.
一般而论这家新闻社的工作是让人感激的。
(3)and stuff 等等;诸如此类
My Husband will sometimes help me fold and stuff the envelopes.
我的丈夫有时愿意帮助我折叠和塞信封。
(4)a speck of 一点点
Her hand brushed a speck of lint from her skirt.
她的手掸掉衣裙上的一点棉花絮。
(5)Mount Everest:埃佛勒斯峰:喜马拉雅山主峰之一，中国称珠穆朗玛峰
