精美英文欣赏:UFO之谜 UFO Mystery(下)

But in the eyes of many UFO fans, government officials were trying to hide information on extraterrestrial UFOs for fear of mass panic.

但是在许多UFO迷们看来，政府官员试图遮掩公众对天外来客的UFO的恐惧感。

The UFO craze continued throughout the latter decades of the twentieth century.

不明飞行物的热潮在二十世纪后期持续了几十年。

Numbers of sightings increased steadily¹, and, as of the late 1990s, almost half of Americans believed that UFOs were in fact extraterrestrial spaceships.

目击UFO的次数稳步增加，20实际九十年代后期，几乎一半的美国人相信不明飞行物是外星飞船。

The form of the UFO myth changed shape somewhat in the 1980s and 1990s, as individuals began to claim that, not only had they seen UFOs, but that they had actually been on board the spacecraft, as aliens had abducted² them and performed experiments on them before returning them to Earth.

有关UFO的神话描述在二十世纪八十和九十年代有所改变，人们开始声称他们不仅看到了不明飞行物，事实上还被带上了飞船，因为外星人绑架了他们，并对他们做了实验，之后才回到地球。

One "abducted" eighteen-year-old claimed to have had sex with an E.T.

一个十八岁声称自己被绑架的人说和外星人发生了性关系。

Scholars believe that the UFO myth contains religious-like elements that do much to explain its massive appeal, In believing the existence of superhuman being, by expecting travel to a better planet, and by creating a fellow community, the UFO myth embodies³ much of popular religious belief.

学者认为不明飞行物神话包含用来解释巨大吸引力的宗教元素。相信超人的存在，期望去一个更好的星球旅行，并且创建一个大众社区，这些赋予UFO神话很多流行的宗教信仰。

Meanwhile, the UFO myth, with its government conspiracy⁴ speculations⁵, indicates public's distrust of the government.

与此同时，政府对于UFO神话的有意图猜测，使得公众对政府产生不信任。

Periods of high numbers of UFO sightings, have corresponded to a number of crises in government faith, among them the Vietnam War and Watergate.

UFO目击事件高发期，连同越南战争和水门事件，政府部门产生了严重的信任危机。

But, as scholar Curtis Peebles has noted⁶, "We watch the skies seeking meaning. In the end, what we find is ourselves."

但是，正如柯蒂斯·皮伯斯所指出的，“我们观察天空寻求它的意义。最终，我们找到了自己。”

1 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

2 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

3 embodies   

v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This document embodies the concern of the government for the deformity. 这个文件体现了政府对残疾人的关怀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

5 speculations   

n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断

参考例句：

• Your speculations were all quite close to the truth. 你的揣测都很接近于事实。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• This possibility gives rise to interesting speculations. 这种可能性引起了有趣的推测。 来自《用法词典》

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。