你能成为宇航员吗？ Could you be an astronaut?

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Alice…
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语，我是爱丽丝。
… And I’m Rob.
我是罗伯。
So Rob, what job did you want to do when you were little?
罗伯，你小时候梦想做什么工作呢？
I really wanted to be an astronaut.Be in orbit, watching the Earth from afar…
我特别想成为一名宇航员。在离地球很远的轨道上了望地球。
Wow! Be in orbit - it means be in space and following the Earth’s curvature.Well, the view must be nice from up there.But the reality of becoming an astronaut is pretty hard.And it’s the subject of today’s show! Did you know that less than 600 people have been into space so far?
哇！在轨道上，也就是在太空中，沿着地球的曲线运动。从那看地球，景观一定很棒。但实际上，要想成为一名宇航员非常困难。这也是今天节目的主题！你知道吗，目前为止不到600人去过太空。
I’d like to have been one of them.I know I have what it takes to be a spaceman!
真希望自己是其中之一。我觉得我具备宇航员的素质！
Yes. There are many others like you who would like to go for this job, Rob.And that’s the quiz question for you today.How many people have applied to join Nasa’s 2017 astronaut class? Was it…a) 800b) 8,000Or c) 18,000 people?
还有很多像你一样的人想成为宇航员。今天有一个问题要问你。有多少人申请了美国宇航局2017年的宇航员课程？a) 800人b) 8,000人还是 c) 18,000 人?
Mmmm… 8,000 sounds like a lot already so I’ll go for b) 8,000 people.
8000听上去就已经很多了，我选b) 8,000人。
Well, we’ll find out if you chose the right answer later on in the programme. So, what do you think is the biggest challenge when considering becoming an astronaut?
好的，之后再看你回答的是否正确。你觉得成为一名宇航员最大的挑战是什么？
Well, I’d say claustrophobia – and that means: fear of being in a small space. That might be a problem because the space capsules are small and you’re with the same people for months at a time.
我觉得是幽闭恐惧症，也就是害怕待在狭小空间。如果有这种病就会很麻烦，因为太空舱很小，你要和其他人在其中待好几个月。
Yes, that’s right. Well, astronauts are bound to get on each other’s nerves sometimes! To get on someone’s nerves means: to annoy them.
没错。宇航员有时会看不惯彼此。To get on someone’s nerves是指惹怒某人。
But I’m a great team player… so I think I’ll be OK.
但我是很有团队精神的人，所以这对我来说不是问题。
Yes, I can confirm that. Anyway, the challenge of being an astronaut doesn’t stop here.In the space capsule, astronauts have to put up with extremely difficult conditions.Like zero gravity, for example.
恩，我可以证明这一点。总之，成为宇航员的挑战不止这一点。在太空舱里，宇航员得忍受极端困难的条件。例如，零重力。
It looks like doing somersaults in the capsule and catching bits of food in your mouth as it floats out of its packet…
这就像是在太空舱里翻筋斗，然后当食物从包装袋中飘出时，用嘴逮住。
But zero gravity – a condition where gravity is exerting no force – can lead to wasting of the bones and muscles. Astronauts take two and a half hours of exercise per day to help prevent this.
但是零重力，即重力无法施加的状况，会导致骨骼和肌肉的萎缩。宇航员每天要进行两个半小时的锻炼以预防萎缩。
But what do astronauts have to do before they go into space to prepare themselves for weightlessness and spacewalking?
宇航员在进入太空前，要进行哪些训练来适应失重和太空行走呢？
They can practice using a virtual reality headset and special gloves. It’s like playing a computer game that looks and feels like doing a spacewalk.And they also train in a swimming pool!Let’s listen to Major Tim Peake, a British astronaut, talking about the preparation he did for his mission on the International Space Station.
他们会利用虚拟现实的头盔和特质手套进行练习。模拟太空行走就像是在玩电子游戏。他们也会在游泳池中进行训练。我们听听英国宇航员Tim Peake少校讲述他为国际空间站的任务所做的准备训练。
The way we practise spacewalk is in water.Water gives us the neutral buoyancy that we need.So we sink training modules into swimming pools and then practise the spacewalking on them. We wear very specific equipment, a pressurized spacesuit – very difficult to move in actually – it’s hard to bend the fingers, it’s hard to bend your arms – and it really gives you quite a difficult workout.
我们在水中练习太空行走。水可以提供我们需要的中性浮力。所以我们把训练舱沉入泳池，然后在上面训练太空行走。我们穿戴特制的装备——加压的宇航服，穿上它很难移动，很难弯曲手指或弯曲胳膊，练习真的很难。
British astronaut Tim Peake says water gives us buoyancy, which is the ability to float.Floating in space is similar to floating in water, so astronauts practise their spacewalk in swimming pools.
英国宇航员Tim Peake说水可以提供浮力。在太空中漂浮就像在水中浮动，所以宇航员们在泳池中练习太空行走。
Yes. They take to the water and to the air too.Astronauts experience the feeling of weightlessness in planes.A large plane with padded walls flies to high altitude and then goes into a nosedive – or a fast and sudden fall – which creates short periods of weightlessness.
是的，水能产生浮力，空气也能。宇航员在飞机上体验失重的感觉。带有填充壁的大型飞机飞到高海拔时突然俯冲，会造成短时间的失重感。
Fabulous! I’d love to do that!
太棒了！我喜欢这样！
But it’s not all fun and games.Don’t forget that one of the main reasons for being out on the International Space Station is to conduct research.Major Tim Peake is doing scientific experiments such as how to grow plants in space,and what effect radiation and zero gravity have on this process.
这不全是乐趣，也不是游戏。不要忘了去国际空间站最主要的原因是进行研究。Tim Peake少校所做的研究包含如何在太空种植植物，辐射和零重力会在植物培育过程中产生怎样的影响。
Like that film where an astronaut gets stranded – or left behind – on Mars and has to grow potatoes.
就像电影中所说，一位宇航员被困在了火星上，只能种土豆为生。
Yes.
是的。
The film is called The Martian.
这部电影叫《火星救援》。
That’s right. Yes. So do you think you have what it takes to survive in a challenging environment, Rob?Let’s listen to Major Tim Peake talking about his survival training.
没错。你觉得你具备在恶劣环境中生存的能力吗？我们听听Tim Peake少校讲述他的生存训练。
Survival training: for this year the European Space Agency sends us to Sardinia. When you land in the Soyuz capsule sometimes you might not land exactly where you expect to be.Foraging for food, for example, and your basic elements of shelter and protection, getting water… Go and live in a cave for seven days with an international crew.And it’s a wonderful environment to prepare you for a mission because you are very isolated.
生存训练：这一年欧洲太空总署将我们派至撒丁岛。当你所在的联盟号宇宙飞船着陆时，有时你并没有在预期的地点着陆。你就需要觅食、寻找最基本的庇护所、寻找水源。七天内和另一名外国宇航员在山洞居住。那里非常适合为太空任务做准备，因为那里非常与世隔绝。
So astronauts may get stranded on Earth – when the space capsule lands somewhere unexpected. And they have to find food. Forage means to search.
所以宇航员也有可能被困地球，当飞船没有在预期地点着陆时。他们需要寻找食物。Forage是指搜寻。
It’s a word we often use to describe how animals search for food.
这个词我们经常用来形容动物觅食。
Indeed. Well, let’s go back to that quiz question you asked me earlier, Alice.I’m keen to know how many people want to live this experience of being an astronaut.
的确如此。我们回到之前你问我的问题上吧。我想知道有多少人想要体验当宇航员的感觉。
OK. Well, I asked: How many people have applied to join NASA’s 2017 astronaut class? Was it… a) 800, b) 8,000 or c) 18,000 people?
好的，我的问题是：有多少人申请了美国宇航局2017年的宇航员课程？a) 800人b) 8,000人还是 c) 18,000 人?
And I said quite a lot: b) 8,000 people.
我选的是b) 8,000人。
And you were wrong, I’m afraid!According to Nasa’s website, more than 18,300 people applied to join their 2017 astronaut class. This is almost three times the number of applications received in 2012 for the most recent astronaut class.
你答错了。根据NASA的官网显示，超过18300人申请加入他们2017年的宇航员培训课程。这是2012年最近一次课程申请人数的三倍。
Wow! So there’s no chance of me ever succeeding.
所以我基本上没有成功的可能了。
Oh, well, you mustn’t give up, Rob.Anyway, we are running out of time so here are the words we heard today:
你不要放弃啊，罗伯。节目时间快结束了，我们再听一遍今天的单词：
in orbit
在轨道上
claustrophobia
幽闭恐惧症
get on someone’s nerves
惹怒某人
zero gravity
零重力
buoyancy
浮力
nosedive
俯冲
stranded
被困
forage
搜寻
Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English.Please join us again soon!
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。我们下期再会！
Bye.
再见。