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  August 25 
          Voyager is carrying recorded greetings from Earth 
          1989: Voyager spacecraft reaches Neptune 
          England have 
          The unmanned Voyager 2 spacecraft has sent back the first close-up pictures  
of Neptune and its satellite planets. 
          Neptune is over two billion miles from Earth - the most distant planet in  
our solar system. 
          Scientists at Mission Control in Florida have called it the "culmination of  
the greatest journey of exploration this century". 
          Voyager 2 has already sent back pictures and information from Jupiter,  
Saturn and Uranus. 
          But its trip to Neptune has provided the most spectacular so far. 
          Neptune"s blue hue is clearly visible - it comes from the planet"s mainly  
methane atmosphere. 
          Scientists have been astounded by the discovery of a storm the size of  
Earth hovering over Neptune. 
          Six new moons have also been identified. 
          Voyager 2 blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida in August 1977. 
          It is a twin to Voyager 1 which was launched the following month. 
          Originally their trip was only designed to take in Jupiter and Saturn but  
scientists later decided to extend their journey and reprogrammed them by remote  
control. 
          Voyager 2 is due to leave our solar system soon and begin a journey of  
exploration of the stars - it is the last we will hear of it for many years. 
          Voyager 1 is already on its way to conduct studies of interplanetary  
space. 
          Both spacecraft carry an disk of recorded sounds and images from Earth. 
          Included are greetings from many languages, images of life on our planet  
and human achievements. 
          Parisians cheered as Allied troops marched down the Champs Elysee 
          1944: Paris is liberated as Germans surrender 
          Artificially 1969: FilmTheTheAA After four years under German occupation,  
Paris is now free. 
          Last night, the French 2nd Armoured Division under General Philippe Leclerc  
was the first Allied force to enter the city, greeted by loud cheers from  
Parisians after many days of fighting between the Resistance and the German  
occupiers. 
          The new Free French wireless station reported the German commander of the  
Paris region, General Dietrich von Choltitz, signed a surrender at Montparnasse  
station in front of General Leclerc and Colonel Rol, commander of the Forces  
Francaises de l"Interieur (FFI) in the Paris region. 
          Colonel Rol praised the Resistance forces that fought the occupying Germans  
and opened the way for the Allies to enter the capital. 
          At 1900 local time, General Charles de Gaulle - leader of the Free French  
who has been living in exile in London since the Fall of France in 1940 -  
entered the city. 
          In a broadcast to the nation from the Hotel de Ville he said: "I wish  
simply from the bottom of my heart to say to you: Vive Paris!" 
          "We are here in Paris - Paris which stood erect and rose in order to free  
herself. Paris oppressed, downtrodden and martyred but still Paris - free now,  
freed by the hands of Frenchmen, the capital of Fighting France, France the  
great eternal." 
          He said the French could now stand up as a great world power and would not  
rest until the enemy had been defeated on its own territory. 
          This evening French, American and Senegalese troops marched triumphantly  
down the Champs Elysee to ecstatic cheers of Parisians, young and old. 
          But celebrations were brought to a swift halt by sniper fire from German  
troops and French Fascists. 
          The battle for Paris is not quite over and tonight, as the French 2nd  
Armoured Division reached the Porte d"Orleans district in the south of Paris,  
the FFI are still fighting German soldiers and taking prisoners. 
          Earlier today, Canadian and British forces joined up with American troops  
on the left bank of the River Seine south of Rouen. 
          And on the French coast, Honfleur has been captured by the Allies. 
          In the south of France, Americans have taken Cannes and Grasse, the capital  
of the Alpes-Maritimes 
          Vocabulary: 
          Neptune : a giant planet with a ring of ice particles; the 8th planet from  
the sun(海王星) 
          methane : a colorless odorless gas used as a fuel(甲烷;沼气) 
          astound : to astonish; to strike with amazement(大吃一惊) 
          martyr : torture or kill like a martyr(杀害;折磨) 
          sniper : a marksman who shoots at people from a concealed place(阻击兵) |   
 
 
 
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