在火星上开车 Driving on Mars

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English, I’m Neil and with me today is Chris.
大家好！欢迎大家来到BBC英语学习栏目的六分钟英语，我是Neil,今天和我一起讨论的是Chris。
Hello there.
大家好。
Now Chris, are you fan of driving?
Chris,你喜欢开车吗？
Erm not really. I do have a driving licence but I don’t actually drive that often.
额....不太热衷。我确实有驾照，但是我其实不经常开车。
OK then, so how do you think you would you like to try driving on Mars?
好吧，那么你认为你会愿意在火星上开车吗？
On Mars? Wow, yes, I suppose that would be even more challenging than the London rush hour.
火星上？哇哦，是的，我想和伦敦交通的高峰时刻相比，在火星上开车可更是个挑战了。
Well, our story today is about driving on Mars, though the vehicle which has been sent up there is remotely controlled.It means there isn’t a person driving it.It’s controlled using a machine back on Earth.
好的，今天我们的故事就是关于在火星上开车的，虽然被发送过去的车辆是被远程遥控的。意味着并没有人去驾驶车。是通过在地球上的机器进行控制的。
Wow, it sounds just like the best Christmas present I ever got as a child!
喔，听起来就像是我孩子时代得到的最棒的圣诞礼物！
Well, you’re going to like this programme then today!But before we get into the details, though, let’s have our quiz question.It’s Mars-related, of course. I want to know how long a Mars year is.So, how long does it take Mars to go around, or orbit, the Sun? Is it:a) 152 daysb) 687 daysc) 2024 days
当然，你一定会喜欢今天的内容的！但是在我们进入今天的主题细节前，我们会有一个小测试题目。当然也是和火星相关的。我想知道一个火星年有多长。火星绕太阳一周需要多久？152天687天2024天
That’s quite a tricky one. I will say b) 687 days.
这真是相当棘手的问题呀，我猜是687天
OK, we will find out if you are right at the end of the programme.Now, some more information about this vehicle on Mars.
好的，在今天节目的最后，我们一起来找到答案。接下来是更多关于这款车在火星上的信息。
Yes, this isn’t the first rover – or driverless car - to drive on the surface of the red planet.
的确，这不是第一辆在红色星球表面驶动的无人驾驶汽车。
No, there have been plenty of others but this is by far the most sophisticated.It’s called the Curiosity rover and was made by NASA, the American Space Agency.
是的，之前就有其他款车，但这款是目前最高级的。这辆车称为好奇号漫游者，由美国航空航天局制造。
It took eight months to get to Mars and it’s about the size of a family car.While it’s up there, Curiosity will spend about two years exploring.
它用了8个小时到达火星，大小就像家庭用车那么大。虽然它已经在火星上，但是好奇号将花费两年时间对火星进行探索。
After that, there’s a plan to send up a new robot called InSight.Listen to this first part of a report from the BBC’s correspondent Jonathan Amos.What does he say the robot will be doing?
那之后，计划将新型机器人“洞察力”派遣过去。认真听来自BBC的通讯员Jonathan Amos的报告的第一段。听听他介绍的机器人将做些什么？
InSight will put seismometers on the surface of the Red Planet and listen for ‘Marsquakes’.From the pattern of signals it picks up, the spacecraft should be able to work out where the different rock boundaries lie inside the planet
“洞察力”会将测震仪放置在火星表面，监听火星上的震动信息。根据它挑选的信号模式，宇宙飞船应该能够判断出火星内部不同岩石的边界。
Some interesting vocabulary there, Chris.
Chris,这里有一些有趣的词汇。
Yes, the robot will put some seismometers on the surface of Mars.A seismometer is a machine which measures sudden movements under the surface of a planet.
是的，机器人将一些测震仪放置在火星表面。测震仪是一种能够测量出行星表面之下的一些突然运动的机器。
These seismometers will listen for what they’re calling ‘Marsquakes’.
这些测震仪将监听他们所谓的“火星震动”。
When the earth shakes violently, it’s called an earthquake.Because this is Mars, they are calling them ‘Marsquakes’.
当地球剧烈震动时，就是发生了地震。因为这是火星，人们称之为“火星震”。
They also hope to find out more about Mars’s core – that’s the centre of the planet.
他们也同样希望找到更多关于火星内壳的信息，这是火星的中心。
Listen out for a word which describes metal or rock which is so hot, it is liquid.Here’s the second part of the BBC report.
从听力中找出形容热的金属或岩石的词，它是一种液体。这里是BBC报告的第二部分。
It should also be able to establish whether Mars has a molten core.It is Earth’s swirling iron core that gives it the magnetic field which protects our atmosphere and oceans from being eroded by the Sun.Mars doesn’t have that and this probably goes a long way to explaining why the cold, desiccated world appears to have no life on it today.
通过检测火星震，还能够确定火星是否有熔岩中心。熔岩中心是地球的旋转铁心，它通过磁场保护我们的大气和海洋以防止它们被太阳侵蚀。火星没有这样的熔岩中心，这可能就基本解释了为什么时至今日在这个寒冷、干燥的星球上至今没有生命迹象。
Very interesting stuff there.They want to find out if the core of Mars is molten.That’s the word which describes rock or metal which is so hot it’s liquid.
非常有趣。人们想要找到火星内核是否是灼热的。这个词就是用来形容灼热的岩石或钢铁并且是液体。
The Earth’s core is made from iron.This spinning iron ball gives us the magnetic field which protects our atmosphere.They think that Mars doesn’t have that and so its atmosphere is very thin.Therefore, it’s not protected from the Sun and that’s also why there is probably no life on Mars.
地球内核是钢铁质地的。这个旋转的铁球给了我们一个磁场来保护我们的大气层。人们认为火星没有这种磁场，因此它的大气层是非常稀薄的。因此，它会受到太阳的侵蚀，并且这也是为什么火星上没有生命的原因。
No life on Mars!? Oh, come on Chris, don’t disappoint me.
火星上没有生命！？哦，算了吧Chris，别让我失望。
Well, according to scientists, it’s very unlikely.But they do hope the explorations will give them some clues about whether there ever was life on the red planet.
的确，根据科学家的研究，火星上确实不太可能有生命迹象。但是他们相当希望这次探索将会给他们带来一些线索，在这个红色星球上是否有生命迹象。
It’s a shame. It would be so fascinating to discover there was life on Mars.Just think how amazing it would be to discover little green men alive on Mars!
很抱歉。在火星上发现生命将是非常令人陶醉的。试着想想，在火星上发现有小绿人活着是多么惊人！
Er, yeah, you sound a little bit obsessed with this idea of life on Mars, Neil.But you’re not the only one, according to some critics of NASA.
额，是的，你看起来很痴迷于火星上有生命这个观点。但是根据美国航空航天局的一些观点，你不是唯一一个。
Let’s hear the final part of this BBC report from Jonathan Amos.What do they say NASA should be doing?
我们来听听来自Jonathan Amos的BBC报告的最后一段。他们所说的美国航空航天局在做的研究是什么？
Nasa says the selection of InSight was made before its latest rover, Curiosity, landed a fortnight ago, and so recent events had no influence on the decision.But there are those within the planetary science community who believe the agency is becoming Mars-obsessed, and they would like to see a more diverse list of exploration targets.
美国国家航空航天局称，在最新的越野车“好奇”登陆火星两周前，他们就选择了“洞察力”，因此最近的新闻对决定没有影响。但是行星科学界认为美国国家航空航天局越来越痴迷于火星研究，他们更愿意看到更多样化的探索目标列表。
Critics of NASA say they should be looking at a more diverse list of exploration targets.Basically, this means they should be looking at a variety of places in space rather than concentrating on Mars.
来自美国航空航天局的评论员称，他们应该寻找更多样化的勘探目标列表。基本上，这意味着他们应该寻找太空中更多样化的地区而不是只关注火星。
Well, I’d be quite happy for them to keep concentrating on Mars, actually!
事实上，我对他们能关注于火星还是感到相当高兴的！
But you don’t work for NASA.
但是你不为美国航空航天局工作。
That is very true. Now, we’re coming to the end of the programme, so there’s just time to answer the quiz question.I wanted to know how long a Mars year is.So how long does it take Mars to go around, or orbit, the Sun? Is it:a) 152 daysb) 687 daysc) 2024 days
千真万确。现在，我们到了节目的结尾，正好回答小测试问题。我想知道火星年有多长。也就是，火星多久绕太阳一周？152天687天2024天
And I said b) 687 days.
我觉得是687天
And you were absolutely right. I think you should be the one working for NASA, Chris.
相当正确。我想你应该为美国航空航天局工作呀，Chris。
Thank you!
谢谢！
That’s all from us, but do join us again for more 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com. Goodbye for now!
这就是今天全部内容，期待下一次加入我们的BBC六分钟英语，再见了！
Bye!
拜拜！