VOA慢速英语2014 你不需要成为一个火箭专家

 

You Don't Have to Be a Rocket Scientist to Read This 你不需要成为一个火箭专家

I'm Phil Murray with Words and Their Stories, a program in Special English.

这里是美国之音慢速英语词汇典故节目。

"You do not need to be a rocket scientist." Americans hear these words often. People say them in schools, offices and factories. Broadcasters on radio and television use them.

“你不需要成为一名火箭科学家。”美国人经常听到这样的话，人们在学校里，办公室里和工厂里都这样说。播音员和电视里也常用这句话。

This is how you might hear the words used.

这就是你听到的这些词语的用法。

Workers in an office are afraid to try to use their new computer system. Their employer¹ tells them not to be foolish: "You do not need to be a rocket scientist to learn this," he says.

办公室的职员很怕去尝试使用新的电脑系统，他们的老板告诉他们不要变得愚蠢。“你们不需要成为一个火箭科学家去学习这些，”他说。

Or, high school students cannot seem to understand something their teacher is explaining. "Come on," she says. "You do not need to be a rocket scientist to understand this."

或者是，高中生无法明白老师正在讲的内容。“你们不需要成为火箭科学家才能理解这些知识。”她说道。

Or, a company that makes soap is trying to sell its product on television. "You do not need to be a rocket scientist to see that our soap cleans better," the company says.

做香皂的公司想要在电视上销售产品。“你不需要成为火箭科学家才能了解我们的香皂做的更好，”公司说道。

These words send a strong message. They say that you do not need to be extremely² intelligent to understand something.

这些话都传达一个很强的信息。他们再说你不需要特别聪明来理解这些事情。

How did the expression begin?

这句话是怎么开始的？

No one seems to know for sure. But an official of the American space agency³ -- NASA -- says the expression just grew. It grew, he says, because rocket scientists probably are the most intelligent people around.

没人确切知道，但是美国航空航天局一位官员表示这句话才流行起来。它的流行是因为火箭科学家可能是最聪明的人。

Not everyone would agree.

并非所有人都同意。

Some people might be considered more intelligent than rocket scientists. For example, a person who speaks and reads 15 languages, or a medical doctor who operates on the brain.

一些人可能比火箭科学家更聪明。比如说，一个人能说能读15种语言，或者说一个医生能进行脑部手术。

Still, many people would agree that there is something special about scientists who build rockets. Maybe it has to do with the mystery of space travel.

但是，许多人都同意，能造火箭的科学家必有过人之处。也许这与太空旅行的神秘有关。

Moving pictures from before World War II showed a man named Buck⁴ Rogers landing⁵ on the planet⁶ Mars⁷. He was a hero who could defeat any enemy from outer space.

二战前的照片显示一个名叫巴克·罗杰斯的人登上火星，他是能够打败外太空敌人的英雄。

The rocket scientist is a different kind of hero. He or she makes space travel possible.

火箭科学家是另一种英雄。他们让太空旅行成为可能。

Rocket scientists, however, can have problems just like anyone else.

然而，火箭科学家也有一些问题需要解决。

A Washington⁸ rocket scientist tells about a launch⁹ that was postponed¹⁰ many, many times. Finally, everything seemed right. Mechanical¹¹ failures had been repaired. The weather was good.

一位华盛顿火箭科学家表示一个发射被推迟了数次。最终，所有的一切似乎都是对的。机械故障被维修好。天气也好。

The scientists had planned that part of the rocket would fall into the ocean after the launch. All ships and boats within many kilometers of the danger area had been warned¹². But in the last few seconds a small boat entered the area. Once again, the launch was postponed.

科学家们计划好火箭的部分将要在发射后掉入大海。数千米外的所有船只都被警告。但是在最后几秒，一艘小船进入危险区域，发射被推迟。

When the work goes well, most rocket scientists enjoy their jobs. One scientist said, "As a child I loved to build rockets. Now I am grown. I still love to build rockets. And now I get paid for it."

工作顺利时，大多数的火箭科学家都满足于自己的工作，一位科学家说，”小的时候，我喜欢造火箭。现在我长大了，我仍然爱造火箭，我现在还能得到报酬。”

1 employer   

n.雇用方，雇主

参考例句：

• My employer deducted ten pounds from my wages this week.我的雇主从我本周的工钱中扣除了十英镑。
• His monthly salary is paid into the bank by his employer.他的月薪由雇主替他存入银行。

2 extremely   

adv.极其，非常，极度

参考例句：

• The film is extremely good,I just cannot miss it.这部电影太精彩了，我非看不可。
• The old man was extremely difficult to get along with.这个老人极难相与。

3 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

4 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

5 landing   

n.登陆；着陆；楼梯平台

参考例句：

• Owing to engine trouble,the plane had to make a forced landing.由于发动机出了毛病，飞机不得不进行迫降。
• When are we landing?我们什么时候着陆？

6 planet   

n.行星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun. 海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Rubbish, however, is only part of the problem of polluting our planet. 然而, 垃圾只是我们这个星球的污染问题的一个方面。

7 Mars   

n.火星，战争

参考例句：

• As of now we don't know much about Mars.目前我们对火星还知之甚少。
• He contended that there must be life on Mars.他坚信火星上面一定有生物。

8 Washington   

n.华盛顿特区(是美国首都)

参考例句：

• His birthplace is Washington,but he lives in San Francisco.他出生于华盛顿，但住在旧金山。
• They, together with my father,have gone to Washington.他们和我父亲一起去华盛顿了。

9 launch   

vt.发动，推出；发射；n.发射，下水，投产

参考例句：

• The makers are about to launch out a new product.制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。
• Would it be wise to launch into this rough sea?在这样汹涌的大海中游泳明智吗？

10 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

11 mechanical   

adj.机械(学)的；力学的；机械似的；手工操作的

参考例句：

• He borrowed a mechanical book from me.他从我这儿借了一本力学方面的书。
• He looks very mechanical.他看上去非常呆板。

12 warned   

v.警告( warn的过去式和过去分词 )；提醒；告诫；预先通知

参考例句：

• Motorists have been warned to beware of icy roads. 已经提醒开车的人当心冰封的路面。
• I've warned her countless times. 我警告过她无数次了。