近日嫦娥五號攜帶月球樣本返回地球，我們來看看紐約時報的報導。看標題：China Brings Moon Rocks to Earth, and a New Era of Competition to Space嫦娥五號攜月球樣本返回地球，太空競賽新時代來臨China may have been a latecomer to the moon, but when its capsule full of lunar rocks and soil returned to Earth early Thursday, it set the stage for a new space race over the coming decades. This time, it will be a competition over resources on the moon that could propel deeper space exploration.中國在登月上也許是個後來者，但當載滿月球巖石和土壤的太空艙在周四早些時候返回地球時，它為未來幾十年的新太空競賽拉開了序幕。這次將是對月球資源的競爭，可能會推動更深入的太空探索。Latecomer：遲來者；遲到者。例句：The latecomers stood just outside at door and window.遲來者就在門外和窗戶外站著。類似的詞還有：laggard落後者；技不如人者Set the stage for：為……打好基礎;為…創造條件;為…做好準備。例句：This meeting will set the stage for the school sports meeting.這個會議將為校運會做好準備。Propel：推動；激勵；驅策。例句：It was a shooting star that propelled me into astronomy in the first place。最初是一顆流星促使我從事天文學。同義詞辨析Propel/push/shove/thrustpropel v. 推動，驅動〔辨析〕指施加外力，尤指推力，使某人或某物前進。〔例證〕It is impossible for only one person to propel the car up the ramp.僅憑一個人是不可能把這輛小汽車推上坡道的。She was so surprised that he would give her a boat propelled by a small motor as a birthday present.她沒想到他竟然送給她一艘由小馬達驅動的小船作為生日禮物。push v. 推，推動〔辨析〕指用手、胳膊等使人或物移動。〔例證〕Shoppers pushing their grocery carts crowd the supermarkets at weekends.周末，推著購物車的購物者擠滿了各大超市。He came back so late that he had to slowly push the door open.他回來得太晚了，不得不慢慢地把門推開。shove v. 推，推擠〔辨析〕指用手或肩膀粗魯地推擠或推撞。〔例證〕Everyone was pushing and shoving to get a better view of the prince.大家都推搡著為一睹王子的風採搶佔好位置。The table wouldn't move no matter how hard he shoved.無論他怎麼使勁推，桌子都紋絲不動。thrust v. 猛推，猛塞〔辨析〕指突然或用力地朝某個方向推某人或某物。〔例證〕He was beginning to get angry and thrust her roughly towards the door.他開始生氣了，粗暴地把她往門口推。His mother thrust an envelope into his hand and then got in the car.他媽媽把一個信封往他手裡一塞就上車了。
The first two Chang』e spacecraft were orbiters that circled the moon. Chang』e-3 landed in December 2013, and China joined the United States and Soviet Union as the only nations to make a successful landing there. In January 2019, Chang』e-4 became the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the moon. Its rover, called Yutu-2, is still operating, studying lunar geology nearly two years later. China is now the only country to land successfully on the moon in the 21st century and has done it three times.最初兩艘嫦娥號太空飛行器都是繞月運行的軌道飛行器。嫦娥三號於2013年12月著陸，中國也成為繼美國和蘇聯之後唯一一個成功在月球著陸的國家。2019年1月，嫦娥四號成為首個在月球遠端著陸的太空飛行器。經過近兩年的時間，其月球車玉兔二號仍在運行，研究月球地質。中國是21世紀唯一一個成功著陸月球的國家，並且已經完成了三次。Spacecraft：太空飛行器;宇宙飛船Orbiter：(繞天體作軌道運行的)宇宙飛船;軌道飛行器Rover：漫遊者；流浪者。我們熟悉的路虎就是Land Rover。 而月球車是Lunar Rover。想了解嫦娥五號的配置，可以點擊下面連結，了解更多航空航天詞彙。外刊速讀|中國將發射嫦娥五號探測器實施月面取樣返回，取樣返回用英語怎麼說？這裡有個比較有意思的表達，就是Join as，意思是「作為……加入」，文中的意思是「中國作為登陸月球的國家加入美國和蘇聯的行列」，但翻譯成中文可以表達「中國也成為繼美國和蘇聯之後唯一一個成功在月球著陸的國家」，這樣的中文就比較通順。China envisions its moon missions as more than demonstrations of its space technology and national pride. It envisions the moon as a base — robotic at first, then perhaps a human outpost— that will support space exploration in the decades to come.中國的登月工程不僅是為了展示其太空科技和民族自豪感。它將月球設想為在未來幾十年支持太空探索的基地——一開始是機器人探索，然後是可能的人類前哨。Envision：設想;想像;預想。例句：They envision an equal society, free of poverty and disease.他們嚮往一個沒有貧窮和疾病的平等社會。同義詞辨析：imagine/envisage/ visualize/picture/envision以上各詞均含想像、設想之義。 imagine指想像、設想：The house was just as she had imagined it.這房子正是她所想像的。 envisage( especially BrE ) 指想像、設想、展望：I don't envisage working with him again.我想像不出再與他一起工作的可能。 注釋：在美國英語中，這一意義常用envision（見下）。visualize：( rather formal ) 指在腦海中構圖、想像、構思：Try to visualize him as an old man.儘量設想他是一個老人。 picture：指在腦海中構圖、想像：We found it hard to picture him as the father of three kids.我們很難想像他居然是三個孩子的父親了。 用imagine、visualize還是picture？imagine在這組詞中最通用，用以想像人、地、事物或經歷等，visualize和picture尤用於想像或構思圖景。兩詞含義非常相似，只是visualize稍正式些，並常指為特定目的有意識地想像或設想。envision 指展望、想像：They envision an equal society, free from poverty and disease.他們嚮往一個沒有貧窮和疾病的平等社會。 注釋：envision尤用於商業和政治語境，在北美英語中亦作envisage的變體：I don't envision working with him again.我想像不出再與他一起工作的可能。 China is planning to build a space station in orbit around Earth and has offered to have astronauts from other nations work there. If it is able to accomplish that goal, that would make the Chinese orbital outpost a competitor with the International Space Station led by the United States and Russia.中國計劃在地球周圍的軌道上建立一個空間站，並提出讓其他國家的太空人在那裡工作。如果能實現這一目標，中國的空間站將成為美俄主導的國際空間站(International Space Station)的競爭對手。想要學習更多關於美國文化和美式英語，歡迎關注我，帶你了解世界眼中的中國和中國眼中的世界。