BBC听英文｜Women in space 太空女性
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Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Neil.
大家好，欢迎来到六分钟英语。我是尼尔。
And hello. I’m Rob.
大家好，我是罗伯。
So Rob, you are a man who enjoys travel. What’s the furthest journey you’ve ever made?
所以罗伯，你是喜欢旅行的人。你曾经走过最远的旅行是什么？
Well, I have been to the other side of the world. I’ve been to Australia, New Zealand. So from London that’s a very long way.
好吧，我去过地球的另一端。我去过澳大利亚，新西兰。所以从伦敦过去那是非常长的一条路。
And how was it?
旅行怎么样？
Well, it was pretty boring really and quite cramped on the aeroplane.But I loved it when I got there.
好吧，在飞机上真的很无聊而且相当受限。但是等到达的时候，我非常欢喜。
So how would you feel about a journey of 56 million kilometres that took around nine months?
所以你感觉一个5600万公里，历时九个月的旅行怎么样？
Right. I’d have to travel Business Class, I think. Lots of movies and a very comfortable seat!
好吧。我觉得我一定要坐商务舱。有许多电影和非常舒适的座位。
Well, that’s how long it would take to get to the planet Mars.And this programme is all about the women who want to be the first to set foot on the red planet. First, though, today’s question, which is about the size of Mars. Is it … a) Bigger than Earth b) About the same size as Earth, or c) Smaller than Earth ?
好吧，那是到火星的距离。而且这个节目全是关于想要成为第一个登陆火星的女性。尽管今天的问题是关于火星的大小。它是……a)比地球大 b) 和地球同样大小 还是c)比地球小 ？
I’m pretty sure I know this. It’s bigger than Earth, much bigger I think.
我相当确定我知道答案。比地球要大，我认为要大很多。
OK, Well, we’ll find out if you’re right at the end of the programme. It’s been 40 years since NASA first recruited women to be astronauts. Today, a third of the people who work at NASA are women.
好的，节目最后我们将会揭晓你是否正确。美国国家航空航天局首次招收女性航天员已经40年了。现在，美国国家航空航天局工作人员中有三分之一是女性。
Yes, and 2016 was the first year that there were an equal number of women and men joining as astronaut trainees.
是的，并且在2016年，男女性宇航员受训者数量首次相等。
Equality is slowly coming but only men have had the opportunity to walk on the Moon, although that was over 45 years ago. Karen Nyberg is one of NASA’s current astronauts. In a recent BBC News feature she talked about her hopes. When did she join the astronaut programme?
男女数量缓慢达到相等，但是只有男性有机会漫步于月球上，尽管那是45多年前的事。凯伦•尼伯格是现美国国家航空航天局航天员之一。在最近的BBC新闻专题节目里，她谈到了自己的愿望。她是什么时候加入航天员计划的？
When I was selected as an astronaut in the year 2000, I thought that that might be a realistic possibility, that we would be the ones, the next to go to the Moon. So it’s unfortunate that we weren’t.
2000年放我被挑选为一名宇航员时，我觉得我们成为下一批登月人员或许是一种现实可能性。所以我们没有被选上很遗憾。
When did she become an astronaut?
她什么时候成为一名宇航员的？
Well, she said that she was selected in 2000. Selected’ means chosen.
好的，她说2000年她被挑选上。"Selected"指的“是挑选出来的”。
At that time, when she was selected, she thought going to the Moon would be a realistic possibility. So she thought that it wasn’t just a dream, but something that could happen. There was a good chance it would happen.
那时被挑选上的时候，她认为登月会是一种现实可能性。所以她认为那不仅仅是梦想，它还是有可能发生的。有不错的机会来实现它。
However, she was disappointed because that opportunity didn’t arrive at that time. She describes that as being unfortunate.In this sense ’unfortunate’ means unlucky. If you use this adjective, it means you are disappointed about something.But you do perhaps understand the reason for it.
然而她感到沮丧，因为那时机会并没来临。她形容那是遗憾的。从这个意义上来说"unfortunate"指的是遗憾的。如果你使用这个形容词，它指的是你对某事感到沮丧。但是或许你确实会理解它的原因。
So far, a woman hasn’t had the opportunity to step on the Moon. These days Mars is the big target for space travel. There are many problems to overcome.But could it, should it be a woman who is the first person to take that step?
到目前为止，女性没有机会登月。现在火星是宇宙航行的最大目标。有许多问题要克服。但是有可能，应该让女性成为迈出那一步的第一人吗？
Absolutely, why not? On a mission to Mars there would be need for many different kinds of specialists. We tend to think of astronauts as spaceship pilots.But really I think they are much more like scientists, carrying out different experiments.
绝对地，为什么不呢？在前往火星的任务中，需要各种各样的专家。我们倾向于把宇航员看作是宇宙飞船飞行员。但是我真的觉得他们更像开展不同的试验的科学家。
If we are going to set up a base on Mars, one thing that would be very important is to try to find a way of growing food. For that you need people with skills in those areas. One person with those skills is Gioia Massa, a Life Science project manager for NASA. Now you would think that being a top scientist she would be brilliant at all areas or aspects of the job. But she told BBC News that it wasn’t always the case. What two aspects does she mention she wasn’t good at?
如果我们想要在火星上建立基地，非常重要的一件事就是要努力找到种植粮食的方法。因此你需要掌握这些技术的人。焦亚•马萨是这些人之一，她是美国国家航空航天局生物科学项目的经理。现在你会觉得作为首席科学家，她在所有工作领域或者所有方面的工作都很优秀。但是她告诉BBC新闻并不总是那种情况。她提到哪两方面自己并不擅长？
There certainly were aspects where I was challenged. You know, I wasn’t as great in math as some of my colleagues.My handwriting is terrible, you know.So there are things that are not my strength. But then I fell in love with plants and plants were my strength, I really learned and focused on that.
有些方面确实对我来说有挑战性。你知道的，我并不像我的同事那样擅长数学。你知道的，我的书写也很糟糕。所以有些事情不是我的长处。但是不久我喜爱上植物。种植是我的长处，我真的学习并且专注于它。
So Rob, what did she have problems with?
所以罗伯，她有什么问题？
Well, she said that she wasn’t good at math.Math’ is a North American English word for what in British English, we call maths. Both words mean mathematics.so ’math’ in American English, ’maths’ in British English.
好吧，她说自己并不擅长数学。"Math"是北美英语单词，在英式英语中，我们把它叫做"maths"。这两个词都指的是数学。所以"math"是美式英语，"maths"是英式英语。
She also said that her handwriting is terrible!
她还说她的书写非常糟糕！
Mind you, if her handwriting was really terrible, maybe nobody would be able to read her bad maths!
注意，如果她的书写真的糟糕的话，或许没有人能看懂她不擅长的数学！
Good point! So handwriting and maths aren’t or weren’t her strengths. They are not what she is good at. What are her strengths?
说得好！所以书写和数学现在或者过去不是她的长处。它们是她所不擅长的。她的长处是什么？
Well, the thing she is good at, her real strengths are working with plants.So that’s what she concentrated on.
好吧，她擅长的事情，她真正的长处是和植物相关。所以那是她所专注的。
Right. Well, let’s see if one of your strengths is the knowledge of the planets. Today’s quiz question was: Is Mars…a) Bigger than Earth b) About the same size as Earth or c) Smaller than Earth ?What did you say Rob?
好的。好吧，让我们看一下你的长处是否是与星球相关的知识。今天的测试问题是：火星是…… a)比地球大 b)和地球同样大小 还是c)比地球小 ？你选的是什么，罗伯？
I said that it was bigger, much bigger.
我说是比地球大，大很多。
And the answer, I’m afraid to say, is that Mars is smaller than Earth, much smaller in fact.
答案恐怕是火星比地球要小，事实上要小得多。
Oh, well, I guess I won’t be selected to be an astronaut any time soon!
噢，好吧，我猜我任何时候都不会被选上宇航员！
Before we blast off out of here, let’s review the vocabulary we covered today.The first word was the one you just mentioned, ’selected’, meaning chosen.
在我们离开这里之前，让我们回顾一下今天涉及到的词汇。第一个单词是你刚刚提到的那个，"selected"指的是挑选出来的。
Then we had the phrase, ’a realistic possibility’ to describe something that has a good chance of happening, unlike my astronaut application!
然后我们提到了词组，“现实可能性”来形容某事有不错的机会发生，不像我的宇航员申请一样！
Well, if you did become an astronaut, that would be unfortunate, our next word, for me at least.
好吧，如果你确实成为一名宇航员，那将会是遗憾的，那是我们下一个单词，至少对我来说是那样的。
Unfortunate, you mean disappointing for you?
遗憾的，你指的是令你沮丧？
Well, if you were up in space I wouldn’t have the pleasure of your company.
好吧，如果你在太空中，我就不会有你陪伴的愉悦了。
Hashtag blushing. Our next word was ’aspects’, meaning parts of something.And then the Americanisation, ’math’.
让我脸红了。我们下一个单词是“方面”，指的是某事物的部分。然后是美式单词，“数学”。
Which we call maths, or mathematics in British English. And finally we had ’strengths’. And maths certainly isn’t one of my strengths, it’s not something I’m good at.
在英式英语里被叫做"maths"或者"mathematics"。最后我们提到了“长处”。而且数学绝对不是我的长处之一，它不是我擅长的事情。
But one of your strengths is saying nice things about people.
但是你的长处之一是对人说好话。
Hashtag double blush. Well, time for us to go – not to Mars, but to lunch!
又红脸了。好的，我们到时间去——不是火星，是去吃午饭了！
Bye bye!
拜拜！