英语沙龙：We Walk on the Moon

We Walk on the Moon

Distinguished¹ Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with a great sense of pride as an American

and with humility² as a human being that I say to you today

what no men have been privileged to say before: “We walk on the moon.”

But the footprints at Tranquility Base belong to more than the crew of Apollo Ⅱ.

They were put there by hundreds of thousands of people across this country,

people in the government, industry and universities,

the teams and crews that preceded us, all who strived throughout the years with Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.

Those footprints belong to the American people and you, the representatives,

who accept and support, inevitable³ challenge of the moon.

And, since we came in peace for all mankind those footprints belong also to all people of the world.

As the moon shines impartially⁴ on all those looking up from our spinning earth

so do we hope the benefits of space exploration will be spread equally

with a harmonizing influence to all mankind.

Scientific exploration implies investigating the unknown.

The result can never be wholly anticipated.

Charles Lindberg said, “Scientific accomplishment⁵ is a path, not an end;

a path leading to and disappearing in mystery.”

Our steps in space have been a symbol of this country's way of life

as we open our doors and windows to the world to view our successes and failures

and as we share with all nations our discovery.

The Saturn⁶, Columbia, and Eagle and the Extravehicular Mobility⁷ Unit have proved to Neil,

Mike and me that this nation can produce equipment of the highest quality and dependability.

This should give all of us hope and inspiration to overcome some of the more difficult problems here on earth.

The Apollo lesson is that national goals can be met where there is a strong enough will to do so.

The first step on the moon was a step toward our sister planets and ultimately toward the stars.

“A small step for a man,” was a statement of a fact,

“a giant leap for mankind,” is a hope for future.

What this country does with the lessons of Apollo apply to domestic problems,

and what we do in further space exploration programs will determine

just how giant a leap we have taken.

Thank you.

1 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

2 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

3 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

4 impartially   

adv.公平地，无私地

参考例句：

• Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
• We hope that they're going to administer justice impartially. 我们希望他们能主持正义，不偏不倚。

5 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

6 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

7 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。