神秘的月球 第4期

 　　At the time,

　　当时

　　the Church insisted that all heavenly bodies were perfect,

　　教会坚称所有天体都是完美无瑕的圆形

　　unblemished spheres, and that the earth

　　地球是宇宙间

　　was the only body in the universe that was flawed.

　　唯一有缺陷的星体

　　But Galileo's close up view of the moon's surface

　　但伽利略看到的月球表面

　　revealed a world that was far from perfect.

　　是个与“完美”二字沾不上边的世界

　　He described it as

　　他说

　　"rough and uneven¹ just like the surface of earth itself."

　　月球表面“崎岖不平和地球表面相差无几”

　　Perhaps it was a living world, like our own?

　　也许月球果真和地球一样是个充满生机的世界

　　Hundreds of years later our knowledge

　　几百年之后

　　of the moon had barely improved.

　　我们对月球的了解几乎毫无长进

　　Just how ignorant we were was revealed in 1835.

　　人类的无知在1835年显露无遗

　　An American newspaper published a front-page story announcing

　　美国一份报纸的头条新闻是

　　that herds² of bison had been observed

　　有人看到一群野牛

　　tramping across the lunar surface.

　　飞奔过月球表面

　　Readers were entranced by this vision.

　　此情此景让读者神往不已

　　A few days later it was revealed to be an elaborate hoax³.

　　几天后就被人踢爆为骗局

　　The only way to find out what was really on the moon

　　想知道月球上有什么东西

　　was to go there and take a look.

　　唯有跑一趟亲眼目睹

　　But over a hundred years later it still seemed

　　时间又过了一百多年

　　an impossible dream.

　　登月仍然是个遥不可及的梦想

　　All that finally changed in the early 1960's.

　　这一切终于在1960年代初期有了转机

　　I believe that this nation should commit itself

　　我认为美国

　　to achieving the goal before this decade

　　应该在十年间达成

　　is out of landing a man on the moon

　　让人类登陆月球

　　and returning him safely to the earth.

　　并安全返回地球的目标

　　Kennedy's bid for the moon came out of a Cold War

　　甘迺迪的登月计划

　　battle to win over peoples'hearts and minds.

　　是一场争夺人心的冷战的产物

　　It was an inspired move, tapping into an ancient dream.

　　这个利用人类古老梦想的举动，堪称神来之笔

　　Finally we would find the answers to the moon's great mysteries;

　　人类长久以来的疑问终于可以得到解答：

　　how was it formed, what was it made of,

　　月亮是怎么形成的？其成分为何？

　　and was it a home for some form of life?

　　上面有没有生物？

　　The moon had sort of always been the symbol of the,

　　自古以来，月亮就象征着

　　the remote and the unreachable and here people

　　遥不可及的事物

　　are going to leave earth and go to the moon!

　　现在人类居然要离开地球，前往月球

　　But if they wanted to lay claim to the moon,

　　但美国人想拔得登月头筹

　　the Americans had a lot of catching⁴ up to do.

　　还得奋起直追才行

　　Their cold war rival

　　因为他们在冷战中的对手

　　the Soviet⁵ Union was way ahead.

　　苏联早就遥遥领先

　　The Russian's ambitious space programme

　　苏联人企图心十足的太空计划

　　produced a string of firsts

　　产生了许多第一名：

　　including the first satellite in orbit and the first man in space.

　　包括第一颗进入轨道的人造卫星和第一个进入太空的人

　　And in 1959 they'd set out to solve

　　他们在1959年

　　one of the moon's greatest mysteries,

　　着手解开月球最大的谜团

　　something that had kept humans guessing for centuries.

　　这个问题让人类猜测了好几百年

　　What was on the far side of the moon

　　月球的彼端究竟有什么？

　　the side that always faces away from us?

　　也就是永远背对着我们的那一面

　　To find out the Russian mission

　　为了找出答案

　　would have to circle the moon for the first time.

　　苏联人必须展开史上第一趟绕月任务

　　On the 7th of October the probe disappeared

　　10月7日探测器消失在月球的彼端

　　behind the far side of the moon, and its cameras leapt into action.

　　船上的摄影机开始拍摄

　　For 40 minutes it snapped away

　　并在科学家的屏息等待下

　　whilst scientists waited on tenterhooks⁶.

　　拍摄了40分钟

1 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

2 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

3 hoax   

v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧

参考例句：

• They were the victims of a cruel hoax.他们是一个残忍恶作剧的受害者。
• They hoax him out of his money.他们骗去他的钱。

4 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 tenterhooks   

n.坐立不安

参考例句：

• The students are on tenterhooks to hear the result of the examination.学生们烦躁不安地听考试结果。
• The mother was on tenterhooks until her little Laura came back.当小珞拉回来后，她母亲才放下心来。