精美英文欣赏:UFO之谜 UFO Mystery(上)

UFO Mystery

UFO之谜

The first mass sightings of UFOs in the United States came in 1896, when a number of people from California to the Midwest reported seeing mysterious aircraft.

第一次大规模目击UFO是在1896年的美国，据说当时有一群来自加利福利亚的人在去中西部地区的途中看到了神秘的航空器。

According to reports, these flying machines were cigar-shaped with intense colored lights.

据报道，这些飞行器都有雪茄形状的强烈的彩色灯光。

Another wave of UFO sightings were reported in 1909 and 1910, and, during World War Two.

另一波的UFO目击报告发生在1909年和1910年，都在第二次世界大战期间。

A poll taken in 1947, though, indicated that few Americans associated flying disks with extraterrestrial spaceships; most people thought of the reported sightings as optical illusions, unknown natural phenomena¹, or top-secret military vehicles not known to the public.

1947年的一项民意调查显示，尽管只有少部分美国人见过外星飞船的飞碟，但是大多数人认为看到的情景可能是光学错觉，未知的自然现象或者是大众不知道的绝密军用的运载工具。

A series of sightings between 1947 and 1949 changed public views of UFOs.

一系列在1947年和1949年的目击事件改变了公众对不明飞行物的观点。

And the UFO as an alien vehicle became the public interpretation² of these phenomena.

公众把UFO看作是外星人飞行器。

The government quickly established committees to investigate the sightings.

政府迅速建立委员会来调查这件事。

The Air Force's project, Sign, which began its work in 1948, concluded that UFOs were real, but not extraordinary.

美国空军的项目Sign，1948年开始研究，结论是UFO是真实的，但是不是什么离奇的现象。

UFOs, the committee concluded, were not extraterrestrial spaceships, but rather astronomical³ objects and weather balloons.

委员会得出结论，UFO不是外星飞船，而是天文物体和探空气球。

A second project, Grudge⁴, Published similar findings, but got little public belief.

第二个项目，Grudge，发布了类似的结果，但是很少有人相信。

Government officials thus started a series of programs to educate the public on matters related to UFO.

政府官员开始了一系列的计划，向公众灌输了与不明飞行物相关的知识。

This policy has remained largely unchanged for the past forty years.

在过去的四十年里，这个政策一直保持着。

1 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

2 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

3 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

4 grudge   

n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做

参考例句：

• I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
• I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。