評論
打印
1. Spacecraftfromthe United States andfromRussiahave been to the moon,and menhave walked upon its surface.Rock and soil samples andinformation of manyotherkindshave becomeavailablein recent years.Yetwithallwe knowabout the moon,there isevenmorethatwe don't know.
1、美國和俄國的宇宙飛船都已經到達過月球，而且人類也在它的表面上行走過。月球上的巖石和土壤的樣本，以及許多其它類型的信息，近些年來已經為人們所知所用了（have become available）。(這三句都使用了現在完成時態。)然而除了我們所知道的關于月球的那些外，還有更多是我們不知道的。
2.Followingthe end of the Apollo space program,the National Geographic Societypublished anexcellent set of articlesabout the moon. Here,inshorter form, are some questions and answersfromone of thesearticles.Forthe full story, seethe September, 1973, issue of National Geographic.
2、在阿波羅太空計劃結束后，國家地理協會出版了一組有關月球的極好文章。這里，以簡短的形式(in shorter form)，截取了其中一篇文章中的部分問答。完整的內容，請見1973年九月發行的《國家地理》。
Were scientists rightaboutwhatthe moonwould be like? 科學家關于“月球外貌”的描述是正確的嗎？
3. Many were, of course, butmany were mistaken. Onesaid there was nolavaon the moon.Anothersaid that themoon materialwouldexplode as soon asanastronaut's boottouchedit.Onesaid there would certainly be water on the moon. Many feltthere was a chancethat theastronautscouldbring back to earth some strange infection. These ideasarenow known to be incorrect, and no doubt we are stillwrong aboutmany other things,also.
3、大多數是正確的，當然，也有相當部分是錯誤的(mistaken)。(1)一個說法是月球上沒有熔巖(lava)。(2)另外一個說法是宇航員的靴子一旦碰上月球物質就會爆炸（從句是過去時，主句是過去將來時）。(3)有人說月球確實存在水。(4)許多人還認為宇航員有可能把某些奇怪的傳染病菌帶回地球。這些說法現在被證明都是不正確的，無疑(no doubt)，我們關于月球的許多其它的看法也是錯誤的。
Is the moon like theearth? 月球像地球嗎？
4. Yes and no. It ismore like it thanmanyscientiststhought before Apollo. Like the earth, the moon is inlayers,witha crust on theoutsideanda deep mantlebelow. It may also have a core,asthe earth does. However, the crust isalmostfour timesthicker thanthe earth's crust.We do not know much yet about the moon's mantle, that section ofsuperheatedrock whichgoes down hundreds of miles below the crust（that引導的同位語從句）. We think-but we are not sure-that the moon has acenter corewhichincludes molten rock,as the earth does.
4、答案是，像也不像。月球比科學家在阿波羅計劃之前想象的還要像地球。如同地球一樣，月球上有地層，表面是一層地殼，其下是很深的地幔(mantle)。月球也可能如同地球一樣有一個地核。然而，月球地殼幾乎是地球地殼厚度的四倍。我們對月球地幔所知不多，那些過熱的巖石在外殼幾百英里以下。我們預料，但是我們不能確定，月球有一個由熔巖構成的地核，如同地球一樣。（地殼crust; 地幔mantle; 地核core）
5. In other ways, of course, the moon is very different. There isno life, and there is no water.Themakeup of itsatmosphere is very different; the earthcreatures cannot breathe in it.
5、在其它的方面（inother ways），當然，月球非常不同。它沒有生命，沒有水。它的大氣的構成（themakeup of its atmosphere）也非常不同，地球生物在那里不能呼吸。
Of what is the moon made? 月球是由什么構成的？
6. Definitely not green cheese.It hasthe same chemical elements as have theearth and the rest of the solar system butin very different amounts-more ofsome,less ofothers. Carbon,whichis a very important part oflivingthingson the earth, is rare on the moon.
6、很明顯不是綠色奶酪。月球有如同地球和其余太陽系行星(the restof the solar system)一樣的化學元素，但是其比率非常不同，某些多一點，其它少一些。碳是地球上生物(livingthings)的一個非常重要組成部分，在月球上非常稀少。
Is the moon hot or cold? 月球是酷熱的還是寒冷的？
7. Most scientists agreethatsome of the moonwas hotfor at least a time. Rocks from the moon showthattheywere once melted.Right nowthere seems to be heatsomeplaceinside the moon, possibly a great deal of it. On the surface, however, there is no sign ofheat-no volcano, for example.The surface itself rangesfromheat of 230℉tocold ofminus 290℉,dependinguponwherethe sun is.
7、大多數的科學家認為月球的一部分至少在一個時期是熱的。來自月球的巖石表明它們曾經被融化。現在(right now)，似乎在月球內部的某些地方(someplace inside the moon)仍處于高溫，也可能它是很大的一片地方，然而在表面上，沒有高溫的特征，例如沒有火山。月球表面溫度范圍從華氏正230度到華氏負290度，取決于太陽在什么地方。
Where did the moon comefrom? 月球來自哪里呢？
8. We don't know. The three main theories (ideas)are (1)thatthe moonwasborn from the earth, (2)thatthe earth and the moonwere borntogetherat thesame timefromthe same cloud of gas and dust, and (3)thatthe moonwas born someplace else inthe solar systemand then captured by the earth'sgravity. So far,none of these theorieshas beenprovedto beeitherrightorwrong. ProfessorGeorge W.Wetherill of the University of California in Los Angeles saysthathewouldgivethe first two theorieseacha 10 percent chanceandthethird theorya 20 percent chance.Theother60 percenthe would give to "thingswe haven't thoughtof yet."
8、我們不知道。主要存在著三個理論：（1）月球產生自地球，（2）地球和月球在同一時間從同一氣云和塵埃里共同產生，（3）月球是產生在太陽系的其它某個地方(someplace else in the solar system)，而后被地球的地心引力所捕獲。到現在為止，這些理論中沒有任何一個已經被證明正確或錯誤。洛杉磯加州大學的喬治教授說，他認為前兩個理論各有10%的正確性，第三個理論有20%的正確性，另外的60%他將給“至今我們都還沒想到的事物”。
9. In spite of all we have learned from space flights,the moon is still a riddle from the distant past-andwill be for a long timetocome. Although we knowmuch morenow, we find that, somehow,forevery answernew questions spring up.
9、盡管我們已經從太空飛行（space flight）中了解了一些，月球仍然是來自遙遠過去的一個謎，而且仍將會在未來很長一段時間如此。盡管我們現在比過去知道的更多，但是我們也發現，不知何故（somehow），每個新答案都會引發出更多的新問題。a你的英語聽上去會更自然。
