【专题】慢速英语（英音版）2014-08-18

完整文稿欢迎关注周末微信，或登录以下网址： http://english.cri.cn/7146/2014/08/15/2582s840469.htm This is NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news. Europe's unmanned space probe Rosetta has completed a decade-long journey to link up with a comet. Turning what seemed like a science fiction tale into reality, the unmanned probe swung alongside the comet after a 6.4-billion kilometer chase through outer space over the course of a decade. The Rosetta probe will orbit and study the giant lump of dust and ice as it hurtles towards the sun; and if all goes according to plan, it will drop a lander onto the comet in the coming months. The incredible trip, launched in March 2004, marks a milestone in mankind's efforts to understand the mysterious "shooting stars" that periodically flash past Earth, and which have often been viewed with fear and trepidation. While the moon, Mars and even asteroids have been visited, no spacecraft has yet got so close to a comet. Having achieved this feat, Rosetta will go one step further and drop a lander on Comet 67P's icy surface - a maneuver planned for November. Scientists on the Rosetta mission have compared what they have done so far to "finding a speck of dust in a big city". But that's probably an understatement. To catch their quarry, scientists at the European Space Agency had to overcome a series of hurdles that included a last-minute change of destination - after a carrier rocket failure delayed the launch - and a tense hibernation period of 31 months during which the probe was out of contact with ground stations. Overall, scientists hope the 1.3 billion EURO mission will help them learn more about the origins of comets, stars, planets and maybe even life on Earth. This is NEWS Plus Special English. As word of American actor Robin Williams' death spread, tributes from inside and outside the entertainment industry continue to pour in. News media in the United States say the Academy Award winner and comic supernova's explosions of pop culture riffs and impressions dazzled audiences for decades and made him a gleamy-eyed laureate for the Information Age. They complement him as a brilliant shape-shifter who could channel his frenetic energy into delightful comic characters like "Mrs. Doubtfire", or harness it into richly nuanced work like his Oscar-winning turn in "Good Will Hunting". U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement that Williams gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most from troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on the streets. "The Birdcage" co-star Nathan Lane says what he will always remember about Williams was his huge heart - his tremendous kindness, generosity, and compassion as an acting partner, colleague and fellow traveler in a difficult world. Williams committed suicide at his San Francisco Bay Area home on August 11th. He was 63 and died of asphyxia. Born in Chicago in 1951, Williams' personal life was often short on laughter. He acknowledged drug and alcohol problems in the 1970s and 80s; and he had recently been battling severe depression. In June last month, Williams was returning to a multistep treatment program after 18 months of nonstop work. He had sought treatment in 2006 after a relapse following 20 years of sobriety. Williams' wife, Susan Schneider, says that as he is remembered, she hopes the focus will not be on his death, but on the countless moments of joy and laughter he gave to millions of people.