实战口语情景对话 第1156期:Going to Mars 去火星

Sarah: So do you think we should sent people to Mars or Moon to spend all this money on space travel?
萨拉：你认为我们应该花费大笔金钱把人类送上火星或月球进行太空旅行吗？

John: Well, I think we should. Space travel can give people hope for the future, and space travel can unite people from different countries for a common goal.
约翰：我认为应该。太空旅行可以让人类对未来充满希望，也可以用共同的目标让不同国家的人团结起来。

Sarah: But do any countries work together to travel in space?
萨拉：可是各国有在太空旅行上展开合作吗？

John: Oh certainly. The International Space station has astronauts from different countries working together. And I think that a joint effort is the best way to do space missions. I think that we could go back to the Moon and learn much more by going there than we can learn if we don't go there.
约翰：哦当然有了。来自不同国家的宇航员在国际空间站一起工作。我认为共同努力是进行太空任务的最佳方法。我们可以回到月球，我认为与不去月球相比，去月球可以学到更多东西。

Sarah: I see what you mean, but I think we could learn more and we could improve more if we can help the people on Earth. Think of everything we could learn from the children that can't get an education these days. Maybe the next Einstein is a poor little girl who doesn't have the money to go to school. If we spent more money on school or clean water and vaccines, maybe we could learn more from ourselves than from going to space and going to Mars.
萨拉：我明白你的意思，不过我认为帮助地球上的人能使我们学到更多、提高更多。想想我们在无法接受教育的孩子身上了解到的情况。也许下一个爱因斯坦就是没有钱上学的贫穷女孩。如果我们在学校、清洁饮用水和疫苗上投入更多资金，也许相比去太空和去火星，我们可以从自己身上学到更多。

John: I agree with you that more should be spent on education, but we don't need the next Einstein if were not doing space travel. The problem is what are people with money willing to spend it on. I think that it would be nice if we could have all the rich countries spend money on education for poor people, but if you look at the numbers, the cost of one space mission is much cheaper than the things we spend money on now.
约翰：我同意你的观点，我们应该加大对教育的投入，但是如果我们不进行太空旅行，那我们不需要另一个爱因斯坦。问题是富有的人想将钱花在哪里。我认为如果所有富有国家都可以增加教育经费，解决穷人上学问题，那是件好事，但是如果看金额的话，你会发现一次太空任务的费用远低于我们现在在其他事情上的花费。

Sarah: Like what?
萨拉：比如哪些花费？

John: Well, the first example that comes to mind is war. One day of war is so expensive for all the governments and the militaries that are involved. One day of war costs more money than one space mission. But war goes on and on for days.
约翰：我首先想到的是战争。对所有牵涉战事中的国家政府和军队来说，一日军费非常昂贵。一日军费比太空任务的费用要多得多。但是战争会持续很长时间。

Sarah: Yeah, and years.
萨拉：对，可能持续数年。

John: So, if you think about money in terms of ... sorry ... so the money for a space mission is expensive by itself, but when you compare it to other things it's actually kind of cheap.
约翰：所以，如果你想想那些花费……抱歉，一次太空任务的花费的确很多，但是当和其他花费相比时，你会发现其实太空任务并不昂贵。

Sarah: I see what you're saying. You're comparing the cost of space travel to war, but I would compare the cost of space travel to the cost of, for example, getting rid of malaria. I think we could get rid of a terrible disease like malaria for as much as we would spend on a trip to Mars.
萨拉：我明白你的观点。你将太空旅行的花费和战争花费相比，但是我会将太空旅行的花费和消除疟疾相比。有去火星旅行的那笔费用，我们可以消除疟疾等可怕的疾病。

John: Getting rid of malaria or going to Mars? Well, of course I would also choose that we get rid of malaria.
约翰：消除疟疾还是去火星？当然我也会选择消除疟疾。

Sarah: Maybe we'll have to agree to disagree.
萨拉：也许我们可以保留不同意见。

John: We might have to disagree this time.
约翰：这次我们可以保留不同意见。

Sarah: OK.
萨拉：好。