欧美文化博览 阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦(18)

Nobody actually was willing to say without doubt this is the truth until somebody can prove it by taking a picture.

没有人真的愿意称毫无疑问这就是真相,直到有人能拍照片证明它才可以。

So who would you turn to?

那么你会向谁寻求帮助呢?

You turn to the astronomers¹, the astrophysicists.

你转向天文学家,天体物理学家。

Our laboratory is the entire universe.

我们的实验室就是整个宇宙。

By 1912, Einstein believes his finally on the verge² of proving his long percal leading and provocative³ theory.

到1912年,爱因斯坦相信他已经处于最后能证明他领先的而且带有挑衅意义的理论。

He published this revolutionary prediction and puts the call off to the astronomy world.

他出版了这次革命性的预测并且与天文学的世界不相往来。

"Go out and measure." He said. "Go to the eclipse and do this observation."

“走出去测量吧。”他说道。“去做这样的日食观测。”

Nothing happened.

但什么事也没发生。

He actually wrote to well-known astronomers trying to interest them in doing the test and was a little discouraged I think. Because he discovered that as people often do this,

他实际上写信给著名的天文学家试图让他们对这种测试感兴趣而结果我想他有点气馁。因为他发现人们经常如此。

astronomers are busy people with many things to do and don't necessarily drop everything at the job ahead, even for Einstein.

天文学家都是恨忙碌的人，他们有许多事要做,不一定会把所有的工作提前,即使对爱因斯坦也是如此。

It's a frustrating⁴ and bitter setback⁵ for Einstein.

这是爱因斯坦沮丧且受到痛苦挫折的时期。

But then, at Berlin Observatory⁶, a young assistant answers the call.

但后来,在柏林天文台,一位年轻的助手接起了电话。

1 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 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。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

3 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

4 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

6 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。