The earth was first proved to be an oblate sphere by survey. It was found that the higher the latitude of a place was, the shorter the straight line distance between every degree of meridian was.

在测量中已发现纬度越高的地点，子午线每一度的直线距离越短，首次用测量方法证明地球为扁圆形。

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It creates as a distance between two points, rather than a straight line, an arabesque.

它加长了两点之间的距离，使它变得非直而曲。

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A tangent is a straight line that just touches a curve, so the concept of "running the tangents" is to run the shortest distance possible by running straight from one curve to the next.

切线是一条直线，刚好接触到曲线，所以跑切线是从一个弯道跑到另一个最短的距离。

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It creates as a distance between two points, rather than a straight line, an arabesque.

它加长了两点之间的距离，使它变得非直而曲。

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选

The data include readings from an on-board gyroscope to establish if the truck is moving in a straight line, turning or stationary and a tachometer, to cross-check the distance covered.

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Stephen Kelly needed to clear off the line after Taylor failed to gain distance on his punch, while Tuncay headed straight at the keeper when a yard either side would have given his team an equaliser.

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