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第一次太空漫步 The first space walk

2016-07-21来源:和谐英语
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Rob…
大家好,欢迎收听六分钟英语。我是罗伯。
… and I’m Neil. Hello.
我是尼尔,大家好。
Hello, Neil.I watched that space movie last night – the one where those astronauts are stranded in space.
你好,尼尔。我昨晚看了一部关于太空的电影,讲述宇航员们滞留在宇宙的故事。
Stranded means stuck in a place with only a small chance of leaving.Gravity, you mean?
滞留意味着困在一个地方,逃离的机会微乎其微。你看的是《地心引力》?
That’s the one. Let’s talk about space.Do you know this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first ever space walk?On 18th March 1965 Russian cosmonaut Alexei Leonov was the first man to drift free in space – 500km from the surface of Earth. And that’s the subject of today’s show!
就是那部电影。让我们谈谈宇宙。你知道吗?今年是人类第一次太空漫步的50周年纪念。1965年3月18日,前苏联宇航员阿列克谢?列昂诺夫成为第一个太空漫步的人,在距地球表面500公里的地方太空漫步。这就是今天节目要谈论的主题。
What on earth must that have felt like?
那种感觉究竟是什么样的呢?
Ah ha! Very good. It would have felt like nothing on earth – and that’s to say, very strange indeed.He was the first person to experience the colourful geography of our planet stretched out before him.
哈,不错。应该和在地球上的感觉很不一样,也就是说非常奇怪。地球壮丽的美景在他眼前徐徐展开,他是第一个将此壮观一览无余的人。
Very poetic, Rob! But moving on, how about answering today’s quiz question: How long did the first space walk last? Was it...a) 2 minutes?b) 12 minutes?or c) 22 minutes?
很诗意啊,罗伯。接下来回答今天的问题吧?人类第一次太空漫步持续了多长时间?a) 2 分钟?b) 12 分钟?还是c) 22 分钟?
Hmm. All quite short – so I think I’ll go for the one in the middle – 12 minutes.
选项给出的时间都很短,我选中间的那个吧,12分钟。
We’ll find out if you’re right or wrong later on. Now, ‘cosmonaut’ literally means ‘sailor of the universe’. But Leonov’s mission wasn’t plain sailing– in other words, it wasn’t easy or straightforward.
之后我们再看你回答的是否正确。“宇航员”字面意思就是指“宇宙中的水手”。但是列昂诺夫的任务并不是轻而易举之事,换句话说,并不容易或简单。
That’s right. No one had ever gone out into space before – it was unknown territory– unknown territory means a place or activity that people do not know anything about or have not experienced before. And as it happens, there were big problems.
没错。之前没有人进入太空,那是一片未知的领域。未知的领域是指人们对一个地方或一项活动没有任何的了解或从未经历过。一旦踏入未知的领域,会遇到很多大问题。
When Leonov left the capsule his spacesuit inflated – or swelled up – like a balloon because the pressure inside the suit was greater than outside.This made it impossible for Leonov to get back through the door of the spacecraft, putting him in a life-threatening situation.
当列昂诺夫离开太空舱,他的太空服像充了气一样,就是说迅速膨胀,像个气球,因为太空服内的压强远远大于外部的压强。这使列昂诺夫无法穿过舱门进入太空舱,将他置于命悬一线的境地。
Let’s listen to Helen Sharman, the first Briton in space, talking about it.
让我们听听第一位进入太空的英国人海伦?沙曼是怎么说的。
So he decreases the pressure of his suit, which means that it’s a bit more able to move inside it,but it means the amount of oxygen he’s got around his face is now dangerously low so he can’t cope with that for very long.So if he’s not able to get in quickly, he’s going to die of oxygen starvation, so he had the presence of mind to get on with all of this,got back in, swivelled himself round, managed to close the airlock,and then when the pressure was equilibrated was finally able to, you know, hug his compatriot up there in space.
所以他减小了太空服的压强,这样他更有可能进入舱内,但同时也意味着他所能呼吸的氧气越来越少,不能支撑很长时间。如果他不能快速进入舱内,他就会死于缺氧。所以他镇定地处理好这一切,返回舱内,转身成功关闭气闸,当压强最终平衡,他拥抱了他的同伴。
Now, if you can’t cope with somethingit means you are unable to deal successfully with a difficult situation. And here the situation was having very little oxygen.
如果你不能处理某件事,是指你不能成功地应对困境。这儿的困境是指氧气稀少。
But Leonov had the presence of mind to find a solution. Presence of mind means being able to react quickly and stay calm in a difficult or dangerous situation.
但是列昂诺夫沉着应对,想出了解决办法。沉着应对是指能够在困境或危险中迅速做出反应,并保持冷静。
And if I was in Leonov’s shoes – meaning if I was in his situation– I would have panicked big time!
如果换做是我,也就是说如果我处在那样的情况下,我会很恐慌。
And there was plenty more to panic about before the mission was over.The spacecraft’s automatic re-entry system failed so the cosmonauts had to fire the rockets manually – meaning controlled by hand – which they had never done before.
在任务结束前还有更大的恐慌。宇宙飞船的自动返航系统失灵,宇航员们不得不手动发射火箭,手动也就是亲手操作控制,他们之前从未体验过。
And that’s not all.Their capsule failed to detach – or separate – from the spacecraft’s equipment module, and this sent them tumbling through space towards Earth.
这还没完呢。他们的太空舱没能与宇宙飞船的设备模块相分离,这使他们一路颠簸地从宇宙靠近地球。
But the capsule did finally detach. And then you would think they’d have been home and dry, wouldn’t you? Home and dry means being close to achieving a goal.
但最终太空舱还是成功分离了。你也许认为他们安然无恙的返回了,是吗?安然无恙,就是说几近实现某个目标。
Well, they certainly weren’t dry.The capsule touched down – or landed – hundreds of kilometres off course in freezing Siberia populated only by wolves and bears. Leonov had sweated so much on the space walk that his boots were filled with water up to his knees!Both cosmonauts had to wring out – or twist and squeeze – their clothes to avoid frostbite.
不过他们并非一点事都没有。太空舱偏离预设的着陆地点,在几百里外荒无人烟,只有狼和熊生存的寒冷的西伯利亚着陆。列昂诺夫在太空漫步时流了很多汗,鞋子里满是水,都到了膝盖处。宇航员们不得不拧干(扭动挤压)他们的衣服,以防冻伤。
And off course, by the way, means not following the right route. Those men must have been overjoyed when they were finally airlifted to safety two days later!
偏离轨道,换句话说就是没有沿着正确的路线。宇航员们两天后被转送到安全地带时欣喜若狂。
But what seems unfair to me is, we all know about the Apollo moon landing, but how many of us know about the first space walk?
这其实很不公平,我们只知道阿波罗登月,又有多少人知道人类历史上的第一次太空漫步?
Well, at least we do now, and of course our listeners do too!OK, let’s have the answer to the quiz question. I asked: How long did the first space walk last? Was it… a) 2 minutes b) 12 minutes or c) 22 minutes?
至少我们现在知道啦,我们的听众朋友们也知道了!好的,现在我们回到之前的问题。问题是:第一次太空漫步持续了多长时间?a) 2 分钟?b) 12 分钟?还是c) 22 分钟?
I said b) 12 minutes.
我选的是b) 12 分钟。
And you were right!
恭喜你回答正确!
Excellent. Good! So 12 minutes eh?What an amazing short stroll that must have been but a very historic one too.
太棒了,所以就是12分钟是吧?这是多么惊艳地一次短时间漫步,非常有历史意义。
Now, can we hear today’s words again please?
现在,我们回忆一下今天听到的单词吧?
OK. We heard:
好的,我们听到的有:
stranded
滞留
like nothing on earth
奇怪得很
plain sailing
轻而易举的事
unknown territory
未知的领域
inflated
膨胀
can’t cope with something
不能应对某事
presence of mind
沉着应对
in Leonov’s shoes
换位思考
manually
手动地
detach
分离
home and dry
安然无恙
touched down
着陆
wring out
拧干
off course
偏离轨道
Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English. We thought it was out of this world – hope you thought so too!Please join us again soon.
好了,今天的六分钟英语就到这里。我们觉得太空漫步真的是很了不起,希望你也是这么认为。下次节目我们再会!
Bye.
再见。