knowing 先知.doc

Background: Lexington, Massachusetts 1959 The elementary school held a competition to find the best idea to celebrate this very special day, which is its official opening day. * Who is the winner? Lucinda Embry * What is her idea? The burial of time capsule. The teacher asked the kids to draw what they think the future is going to look like. And then their pictures will be put in the time capsule. 50 years from today a group of children in their age will open it up to see what they draw.* What is the time capsule? A time capsule is a historic cache of goods and/or information, usually intended as a method of communication with people in the future. Time capsules are sometimes created and buried during celebrations such as a World Fair, cornerstone (地基) laying for a building.Time capsules can be classified into two types: intentional and unintentional. Intentional time capsules are placed on purpose and are usually intended to be opened at a particular future date. Unintentional time capsules are usually archaeological in nature.* Almost every kid drew a picture except Lucinda, what did she do? She kept writing a list of numbers, number strings on a piece of paper. When Ms Taylor, the teacher asked students to hand in their working Lucinda didnt finish so Ms Taylor stopped her and toke that paper away. * What happened to Lucinda later? Ms Taylor found her in a closet, under the gym, scratching at the door with her fingernails like some kind of animal, leaving a couple of bloody numbers on the door which she didnt have a chance to finish during the class. * 50 years later the elementary school pulled the capsule out of the ground and handed that sealed envelopes to the kids Whos that lucky to get Lucindas work? Caleb* Whats his father job? A professor of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) , who teaches astrophysics(天体物理学) （astronaut 宇航员） * Calebs father John finds the secrets behind number strings written by Lucinda 50 years ago. What is the secret of those numbers, in other words, what do these numbers indicate? These numbers match the dates of every major global disaster for the next 50 years in perfect sequence from 1959.* How are these numbers arranged in order? (如何排序) 9 / 11 / 01 / 2996 / GPS（Global Positioning System 全球位置测定系统） Date (m / d / y); number of death; GPS (latitude 纬度& longitude) P.S. That day Johns wife Alison died in the fire* Left numbers in the list predict 3 tragedies would happen very soon. What kinda tragedies did Lucinda believe would happen? 1st 81 people burned to death in the plane crash 2nd a subway derailed (脱轨) in N.Y. city and 170 people died 3rd The end of the world caused by super-flare in our solar system, the radiation of which would destroy our ozone layer (臭氧层) , killing every living organism on the planet.* How many planets are in solar system? What are they? （太阳系有几大行星）依照至太阳的距离，它们分别是：水星(Mercury), 金星(Venus), 地球(Earth), 火星(Mars), 木星(Jupiter), 土星(Saturn), 天王星(Uranus),海王星 (Neptune) 及 冥王星(Pluto)。要把这个行星序记下，我们可透过以下句子：“My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets” “My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas”Mercury：（小写）水银；【罗神】(首字母大写) 墨丘利 (诸神的使者messenger；掌管商业的神)Venus：维纳斯女神（goddess of beauty and love）；绝代佳人Mars：【罗神】战神 Roman god of warJupiter：【罗神】主神the principal god of Roman mythology （相当于希腊神话的zeus）Saturn: (罗马神话)农业之神 Uranus：(希腊神话)乌拉诺斯神，最早的主神，天的化身，宙斯爷爷 (the earliest principal god of Greek Mythology, the symbol of sky) Neptune: 【罗神】海神 ancient Roman god of the seaPluto：【希腊】冥府之神;冥王 Roman god of the underworld,Plato：柏拉图(古希腊哲学家 philosopher ) BACK UP: astro- prefix 表示太空 astrobiology 天体生物学 astrogeology 天体地质学 Astro Boy 阿童木 Thinking cap 智慧帽Spaceship / robotsPOSITION LAT: 42.41 LON: 71.20 ( GPS coordinates lat and lon )subway train derailment perish Useful expressions: Determinism says that occurrences in nature are causally decided by preceding events or natural laws, that everything leading up to this point has happened for a reason. 宿命论说，本质是因果关系，由之前的事件原因或自然法则决定，这一切表明了冥冥中自有定数Everything has a purpose, an order to it, is determined But then theres the other side of the argument, the theory of randomnessI think shit just happensIs it ethical to say things like that about your sister-in-law?So whats on your scientific mind today?And she thinks that youre intriguing, which I thought was code for gay,but apparently not because shes asked if you would join us for dinner.Ill think about it! 我会考虑看看 that means no Dont think youre acting kind of awkward today? All right, stay with me. I know how this soundsDoesnt that sound exciting? 听起来很棒不是吗？Elaborate. A word or two about the composition. 简要说明下成分Since when does the cosmology department audit my lectures?Whoa. I mean, have a listen to yourself.I was up all night going over this. I went through that list again and again, and I tried to fault it and I couldnt.I mean, thats really what you think Im doing?I think that losing Allison has spun you off your axis a little,and I think its clouded your judgment.You are testing an old womans memoryIm not ready to meet anyone in any kind of special way. But I would like to take you offer for dinner. PLOTSIn 1959 at William Dawes（道斯） Elementary School in Lexington, Massachusetts, a time capsule containing students drawings of their ideas of the future is buried and set to be ceremoniously opened 50 years later.A girl named Lucinda Embry contributes a page full of seemingly random digits.That night Lucinda is found in a school closet, where her fingers are bloodied from scratching at the inside of the door, and she complains about hearing voices.In 2009, the time capsule is opened and the drawings are given to the current students. A boy named Caleb receives Lucindas envelope.His father, John Kessler, a widower and professor of astrophysics at MIT, takes interest in the paper and soon realizes some of the digits represent the dates and death tolls of every major disaster over the past fifty years, and suggests three disasters still to come.Meanwhile Caleb begins receiving visits from mysterious figures in overcoats,The last date on the paper is not accompanied by coordinates. T