Lesson 35 Space odyssey
第35課 太空探索
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
When will it be possible for us to think seriously about colonising Mars?
什么時候我們認(rèn)真思考開發(fā)火星是可能的？
The Moon is likely to become the industrial hub of the Solar System supplying the rocket fuels for its ships,
月球很可能成為太陽系的工業(yè)中心。
easily obtainable from the lunar rocks in the form of liquid oxygen.
從月球上的巖石中很容易提煉出液態(tài)氧，作為航天飛船的燃料。
The reason lies in its gravity.
其原因在于月球的重力。
Because the Moon has only an eightieth of the Earth's mass,
因?yàn)樵虑虻闹刂挥械厍虻?/8，
it requires 97% less energy
因此，從月球到地球的25萬英里所消耗的能量要
to travel the quarter of a million miles from the Moon to Earth-orbit than the 200 mile-journey from Earth's surface into orbit!
比從地球表面進(jìn)入地球軌道的200英里所耗能量少97%。
This may sound fantastic, but it is easily calculated.
這點(diǎn)聽起來令人難以置信，但卻很容易計算出來。
To escape from the Earth in a rocket, one must travel at seven miles per second.
要乘坐一枚火箭飛離地球，火箭的速度要達(dá)到每秒7英里，
The comparable speed from the Moon is only 1.5 miles per second.
而從月球出發(fā)的相應(yīng)速度史是每秒1.5英里。
Because the gravity on the Moon's surface is only a sixth of Earth's (remember how easily the Apollo astronauts bounded along),
由于月球表面的重力僅是地球表面的1/6 -- 還記得阿波羅飛船中的宇航員累松地跳躍 --
it takes much less energy to accelerate to that 1.5mps than it does on Earth.
在月球上加速到每秒1.5英里比在地球上所用能源要少得多。
Moon dwellers will be able to fly in space at only three percent of the cost of similar journeys by their terrestrial cousins.
月球居民在太空遨游的費(fèi)用僅是地球上朋友飛越同樣路所需費(fèi)用的3%。
Arthur C.Clark once suggested a revolutionary idea passes through three phases:
亞瑟.C.克拉克曾提議，一種創(chuàng)新的想法要經(jīng)過以下3個階段：
1. 'It's impossible--don't waste my time.'
1 “根本不可能，不要浪費(fèi)我的時間?！?BR> 2. 'It's possible, but not worth doing.'
2 “可能，但不值得做?！?BR> 3. 'I said it was a good idea all along.'
3 “我一直說這是個好想法?！?BR> The idea of colonising Mars--a world 160 times more distant than the Moon--will move decisively from the second phase to the third, when a significant number of people are living permanently in space.
如果有相當(dāng)數(shù)量的人永久性地住在太空，征服火星的計劃 -- 一個比月球遠(yuǎn)160倍的星球 -- 就可以明確地從第2階段進(jìn)入第3階段。
Mars has an extraordinary fascination for would-be voyagers.
火星對未來的星際旅客說有著特殊的魅力。
America, Russia and Europe are filled with enthusiasts--many of them serious and senior scientists who dream of sending people to it.
美國、俄羅斯和歐洲都有許多熱心此項(xiàng)事業(yè)的人 -- 其中的不少是認(rèn)真和資深的科學(xué)家，他們一直夢想著把人送上火星。
Their aim is understandable.
他們的目標(biāo)是可以理解的。
It is the one world in the Solar System that is most like the Earth.
火星是太陽系里與地球接近的一顆行星。
It is a world of red sandy deserts (hence its name--the Red Planet),
這是一個紅色沙漠的世界（因而得名：紅色行星），
cloudless skies, savage sandstorms, chasms wider than the Grand Canyon and at least one mountain more than twice as tall as Everest.
無云的天空，兇猛的沙暴，比大峽谷還寬的裂縫，起碼有一座山有珠穆朗瑪峰的近兩倍高。
It seems ideal for settlement.
看起來，它很合適居住。
第35課 太空探索
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
When will it be possible for us to think seriously about colonising Mars?
什么時候我們認(rèn)真思考開發(fā)火星是可能的？
The Moon is likely to become the industrial hub of the Solar System supplying the rocket fuels for its ships,
月球很可能成為太陽系的工業(yè)中心。
easily obtainable from the lunar rocks in the form of liquid oxygen.
從月球上的巖石中很容易提煉出液態(tài)氧，作為航天飛船的燃料。
The reason lies in its gravity.
其原因在于月球的重力。
Because the Moon has only an eightieth of the Earth's mass,
因?yàn)樵虑虻闹刂挥械厍虻?/8，
it requires 97% less energy
因此，從月球到地球的25萬英里所消耗的能量要
to travel the quarter of a million miles from the Moon to Earth-orbit than the 200 mile-journey from Earth's surface into orbit!
比從地球表面進(jìn)入地球軌道的200英里所耗能量少97%。
This may sound fantastic, but it is easily calculated.
這點(diǎn)聽起來令人難以置信，但卻很容易計算出來。
To escape from the Earth in a rocket, one must travel at seven miles per second.
要乘坐一枚火箭飛離地球，火箭的速度要達(dá)到每秒7英里，
The comparable speed from the Moon is only 1.5 miles per second.
而從月球出發(fā)的相應(yīng)速度史是每秒1.5英里。
Because the gravity on the Moon's surface is only a sixth of Earth's (remember how easily the Apollo astronauts bounded along),
由于月球表面的重力僅是地球表面的1/6 -- 還記得阿波羅飛船中的宇航員累松地跳躍 --
it takes much less energy to accelerate to that 1.5mps than it does on Earth.
在月球上加速到每秒1.5英里比在地球上所用能源要少得多。
Moon dwellers will be able to fly in space at only three percent of the cost of similar journeys by their terrestrial cousins.
月球居民在太空遨游的費(fèi)用僅是地球上朋友飛越同樣路所需費(fèi)用的3%。
Arthur C.Clark once suggested a revolutionary idea passes through three phases:
亞瑟.C.克拉克曾提議，一種創(chuàng)新的想法要經(jīng)過以下3個階段：
1. 'It's impossible--don't waste my time.'
1 “根本不可能，不要浪費(fèi)我的時間?！?BR> 2. 'It's possible, but not worth doing.'
2 “可能，但不值得做?！?BR> 3. 'I said it was a good idea all along.'
3 “我一直說這是個好想法?！?BR> The idea of colonising Mars--a world 160 times more distant than the Moon--will move decisively from the second phase to the third, when a significant number of people are living permanently in space.
如果有相當(dāng)數(shù)量的人永久性地住在太空，征服火星的計劃 -- 一個比月球遠(yuǎn)160倍的星球 -- 就可以明確地從第2階段進(jìn)入第3階段。
Mars has an extraordinary fascination for would-be voyagers.
火星對未來的星際旅客說有著特殊的魅力。
America, Russia and Europe are filled with enthusiasts--many of them serious and senior scientists who dream of sending people to it.
美國、俄羅斯和歐洲都有許多熱心此項(xiàng)事業(yè)的人 -- 其中的不少是認(rèn)真和資深的科學(xué)家，他們一直夢想著把人送上火星。
Their aim is understandable.
他們的目標(biāo)是可以理解的。
It is the one world in the Solar System that is most like the Earth.
火星是太陽系里與地球接近的一顆行星。
It is a world of red sandy deserts (hence its name--the Red Planet),
這是一個紅色沙漠的世界（因而得名：紅色行星），
cloudless skies, savage sandstorms, chasms wider than the Grand Canyon and at least one mountain more than twice as tall as Everest.
無云的天空，兇猛的沙暴，比大峽谷還寬的裂縫，起碼有一座山有珠穆朗瑪峰的近兩倍高。
It seems ideal for settlement.
看起來，它很合適居住。