Day 128: The Crater Under Chicxulub
At a cenote near Mérida, two close friends, Agustina (A), a geology student, and Antonia (B), talk about the Chicxulub crater while they swim.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a Spanish word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Spanish, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
¿Sabías que este cenote existe gracias a un asteroide? El impacto de Chicxulub fracturó la roca y formó el anillo de cenotes.
Did you know this cenote exists thanks to an asteroid? The Chicxulub impact fractured the rock and formed the ring of cenotes.
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B
¿El de los dinosaurios? No puedo creer que haya caído tan cerca; yo pensaba que había sido en otro continente.
The one that killed the dinosaurs? I can't believe it landed so close; I thought it had been on another continent.
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A
Pues fue aquí donde cayó, justo en Yucatán. El cráter mide unos 180 kilómetros, pero está enterrado bajo casi un kilómetro de roca.
Well, it was right here in Yucatán that it landed. The crater is about 180 kilometers across, but it's buried under almost a kilometer of rock.
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B
Me sorprende que en la escuela nadie nos lo haya contado. ¿Y cómo saben que fue un asteroide y no un volcán?
I'm surprised nobody at school ever told us. And how do they know it was an asteroid and not a volcano?
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A
Por el iridio y el cuarzo de impacto. Y un estudio reciente descubrió incluso de dónde venía la roca.
From the iridium and the shocked quartz. And a recent study even figured out where the rock came from.
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B
¿De dónde? No me digas que de Marte, porque ahí sí me salgo del agua ahorita mismo.
Where from? Don't tell me Mars, because then I really am getting out of the water right now.
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A
De más allá de Júpiter: era un asteroide rico en carbono, de las afueras del sistema solar.
From beyond Jupiter: it was a carbon-rich asteroid from the outer solar system.
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B
¿Y si viene otro? Espero que los científicos ya hayan pensado en algo más útil que medir cráteres.
And what if another one comes? I hope the scientists have already thought of something more useful than measuring craters.
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A
Ya lo hicieron: en 2022 la NASA estrelló una nave contra un asteroide y le cambió la órbita. Así que échate otro clavado sin miedo.
They have: in 2022 NASA crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid and changed its orbit. So go ahead and dive in again, no fear.
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