英語新聞一點通：去外太空旅行? 維京航空讓你美夢成真－【精英翻譯】的部落格

How about a holiday in space?

In the 1968 movie, 2001 a Space Odyssey, travelling to the moon is normal. We see a passenger (who may be a scientist) sleeping in a large American spaceship. Soon, this fantasy could become reality; however it will certainly be different. For one thing, it will be in a much smaller spacecraft. One company promising to provide flights is Virgin Galactic, owned by British business man Richard Branson. For another, the flights will be shorter, at around an hour and a half. What’s more, passengers will only travel to the edge of space. There, they will experience three to four minutes of weightlessness before returning to earth. But in another way, the flights may be similar. Scientists are excited that tickets cost just NT$5,756,361. This means they will be able to do cheaper and more frequent experiments in near space than they can now. The day when we can all afford holidays in space may not be far away.

去外太空旅行? 維京航空讓你美夢成真

在1968拍攝的「2001年太空漫遊」電影場景中，到月球旅行是一件很平常的事，片中有一位乘客(可能是科學家)在大型的美籍太空船中呼呼大睡。再過不久，這個美夢或許可以成真，但旅行的方式將稍有不同。首先，你可能會搭乘比電影中所見更小型的太空船，維京航空英籍總裁理查布蘭森正計劃推出太空航程。此外，實際的航程可能較短，大約一個半小時。最主要的不同點是：乘客只能到達太空的邊緣。在返回地球之前，乘客將可以體驗三到四分鐘的無重力感，大致而言，實際的太空航程和電影中的情節相似。科學家們對於票價僅需新台幣$5,756,361元感到非常興奮，這表示他們將可以更便宜的方式在近太空進行更多的實驗，而大眾以負擔得起的價錢到外太空旅行也將指日可待。

字彙

odyssey 漫遊
moon 月球
fantasy 幻想；夢想
spaceship 太空船
flight航行；飛機
edge of space 太空邊緣
weightlessness 失重
experiment 實驗

解讀

The writer uses three informal phrases to list the differences between passenger experience in the movie and in the Virgin spaceship. They are, ‘For one thing’ (Firstly); ‘For another’ (Secondly) and ’What’s more’ (The most important difference is…)

作者使用了三個非正式的片語列出電影中的乘客與維京航空乘客的不同經驗。例如：「For one thing」表示「首先」，「For another」表示「第二點、此外」，「What’s more」則代表「最主要的不同點是…」。

文句練習

Scientists have discovered a new _________________ that humans might be able to live on.
The film is about one man’s _______________ to find the mother he lost when he was born.
The ______________ was delayed because of a terrible storm.
An _______________is a type of test to learn something, or to discover if something works, or if something is true.
Another word for spacecraft is _____________________.
Many people enjoy the ________________ of imagining that they have lots of money.
The word for having no weight is ____________________.
100 kilometers above the earth is the ___________________.

文句練習解答