2020考研英语：《经济学人》中英读译Day52

英语阅读能力依靠什么？必然是词汇的积累，但，仅仅是词汇的积累是不够了，更应该了解英语句式，不同句型所表达意义。如何培养自己的阅读语感呢？那么就跟着聚创考研信息网小编每天学一点英语，一起为考研筑起坚实的地基。阅读是需要积累的，就像我们需要经常和人沟通才会促进我们的表达能力一样~小伙伴跟着小编一起，每天坚持打卡，培养英语阅读能力及语感，了解文章一些经典词汇的用法。

 

经济学人: 威廉·博鲁茨 开普勒的构想和运行者

 

It used to be that finding even one new planet was enough to make an astronomer's career.Uranus was discovered in 1781 by William Herschel, who these days has, among other things, space telescopes, asteroids, schools and a street in Paris named in his honour.Urbain le Verrier, who predicted the existence of Neptune in 1846, based on its gravitational influence on Uranus,has likewise given his name to craters, asteroids and bits of the French capital. It is one of 72 engraved into the sides of the Eiffel tower.

译文

曾经即便是找到一颗新卫星都足以成就一名天文学家的事业。威廉·赫舍尔于1781年发现天王星。如今，还有那些为了纪念他而以他的名字命名的太空望远镜、小行星、学校和巴黎街道。1946年，基于海王星对天王星的重力影响，奥本·勒维耶预言了海王星的存在。同样也有以他名字为名的火山口和小行星。他的名字和其他71人的名字一同被刻在了法国埃菲尔铁塔的一侧。

 

These days, though, astronomers can do better. William Borucki has thousands to his name.He is the researcher who conceived of and ran Kepler, a planet-hunting space telescope that was launched in 2009.On October 30th NASA announced that, after nearly a decade in space, Kepler had run out of fuel and would be retired.

译文

虽然，如今的天文学家可以做得更好。威廉·博鲁茨基有上千个属于他的荣誉。他是一名研究人员，是开普勒的构想和运行者。行星探测太空望远镜开普勒于2009年发射。10月30日，开普勒在太空服役近十年之计，美国国家宇航局（NASA）宣布它的燃料已耗尽，并将退役。

 

Kepler has discovered around 2,600 exoplanets— those that orbit stars other than the sun.Another 3,000 candidates await confirmation from ground-based telescopes. The result has been a revolution in astronomy.Its practitioners had long assumed that other stars were likely to have planets of their own. These days, they know that to be true.

译文

开普勒发现了约2600颗外星行星—那些围绕恒星而非太阳运行的行星。另外3000名候选者在等待着陆基望远镜的确认。这是天文学史上的一个革命性成果。其实践者一直都认为其他恒星可能拥有自己的行星。如今他们知道事实确实如此。

 

The first exoplanets were detected in 1992, thanks to the gravitational effect they had on the pulsar around which they orbited.(A pulsar is the dead, ultra-dense remnant left over after a supernova.) A trickle of subsequent discoveries followed.

译文

首批外星行星于1992年被探测出来，这多亏了它们对围绕在它们运转轨道周围的脉冲星的重力影响。（脉冲星是在超新星阶段后超高密度的死亡残余。）随后小发现接踵而来。

 

Kepler transformed that trickle into a flood. Yet it almost did not happen. Dr Borucki proposed the mission four times to NASA before it was accepted in 2001.Rather than look for stellar wobbles caused by a planet's gravity, he suggested monitoring a star's light itself——looking for tiny dips in brightness as planets, if any, crossed in front of the stellar disc.It is a simple idea. But it required the construction of a light detector 1,000 times more sensitive than anything that had been built before.

译文

开普勒将细流转变成一次涌现。但它差一点就没能发生。博鲁茨基博士四次向NASA提议该望远镜，直到2001年NASA才同意。他并没有建议寻找由一颗行星重力引起的恒星摇晃，而是提议监视恒星光线的本身——寻找当行星从星盘前边穿过时（如果有的话）亮度中的微小倾角。这是个简单的想法，但它对光探测器的要求非常高，其灵敏度需要是之前那些望远镜的1000倍之多。

 

注释

1.predict 预言

I cannot predict which way they will jump.

我无法预测他们会往哪个方向跳。来源于《BBC》

 

2.engrave 雕刻

We hope to engrave an inestimably precious legacy into the collective memory of watchmaking devotees.

我们希望在钟表爱好者的集体记忆中刻下一笔不可估量的宝贵遗产。来源于《WSJ》

 

3.run out of 用完

He has never let me run out of rubbers!

他从来不让我用光橡胶！来源于《THETIMES》

 

4.propose 建议

She proposed that the book be banned.

她提议查禁这本书。

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  2、2020考研英语：《经济学人》中英读译Day51