夏说英语新闻晨读 第486期:嫦娥四号奔月

 本期内容：

China has launched the first mission to land a robotic craft on the far side of the Moon, Chinese media say. The Chang'e-4 mission will see a static lander and rover touch down in Von Kármán crater¹, located on the side of the Moon which never faces Earth. Von Karman crater is of interest to scientists because it is located within the oldest and largest impact feature on the Moon - the South Pole-Aitken Basin. The landing will not occur until early January, when the probe will descend² on thrusters and touch down on the rugged³ terrain⁴ of the lunar far side.

robotic craft: 全自动探测器
far side:（月球的）背面
static lander: 静止着陆器
rover: 漫步车；月球车
probe: 探测器
descend: 下降
thruster: 推进器
rugged terrain: 崎岖不平的地带

1 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

2 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

3 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

4 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。