Passage 16
学霸导读 地球人一直没有联系上外星生物，是因为他们不存在，还是因为他们有意屏蔽 我们？
Why hasn’t Earth received any messages from extraterrestrials （ 外星生物 ） yet？ One possibility is because we’re unwitting inhabitants （ 居民 ） in a so-called “galactic （ 星系 ） zoo”. This was one of the scenarios a group of international researchers e 1 at a meeting organized by the nonprof it organization Messaging Extra Terrestrial Intelligence （ METI，向地外文明发送信息 ） last month.
The gathering， which took place at La Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie （ 科学与工业城 ） museum in Paris， brought together around 60 scientists who’ve researched the possibility of c 2 with hypothetical （ 假说的 ） intelligent extraterrestrials. They debated “The Great Silence”— why aliens haven’t contacted us—exploring one possibility known as the zoo hypothesis. First proposed in the 1970s， it describes Earth as a planet that is already under observation by “galactic zookeepers” who are deliberately concealing t 3 from human detection （ 探测 ） and have agreed to treat Earth as a “wilderness （ 荒野 ）” area.
If there are intelligent extraterrestrials out there， where are they， and why haven’t we found them yet？ This conundrum （ 令人迷惑的难题 ）， posed in 1950 by Italian physicist Enrico Fermi， is known as Fermi’s paradox （ 费米悖论 ）， and still stymies （ 阻碍 ） experts today.
METI president Douglas Vakoch discussed the idea that aliens are a 4 of Earth and are observing the planet like a zoo. If this is the case, humans should increase efforts to create messages capable of r 5 our keepers to demonstrate our intelligence, as suggested by Vakoch.
But what if we’re not part of a vast alien zoo?
What if humanity has been evaluated by alien civilizations and quarantined （ 隔离 ） from our galactic neighbors？ It’s possible that extraterrestrials are actively isolating us from contact for our o 6 good， because interacting with aliens would be culturally disruptive for Earth， said the meeting co-chair Jean-Pierre Rospars， honorary research director at l’Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique （ INRA ）.
Maybe if we want to hear from aliens we just need to be p 7 . Earth has existed for over 4.5 billion years, but extraterrestrial research has been going on for less than 50 years, Paris Match reported head of the planetarium of La Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, Cyril Birnbaum, saying.
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高频词汇
unwitting /ʌn'wɪtɪŋ/ adj. 不知情的；无意的
so-called /ˌsəʊ'kɔːld/ adj. 所谓的，号称的
non-prof it /ˌnɒn'prɒfɪt/ adj. （机构）非营利性的
intelligence /ɪn'telɪdʒəns/ n. 智力，智慧
conceal /kən'siːl/ v. 隐 藏；隐 匿；隐 瞒；隐蔽
pose /pəʊz/ v. （尤指在正式场合）提出（问题），质询
demonstrate /'demənstreɪt/ v. 显示；表明
civilization /ˌsɪvəlaɪ'zeɪʃn/ n. （特定时期特定社会或国家的） 文明，文化
isolate /'aɪsəleɪt/ v. 隔离；孤立；分离
disruptive /dɪs'rʌptɪv/ adj. 捣乱的，引起混乱的