太空飞行工程师克里斯多夫的一本新书

47 太空飞行工程师克里斯多夫的一本新书

DATE=6-8-2001
TITLE=AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ #821 - Flight
BYLINE=Paul Thompson

HOST:
(Start at 54") Special English often broadcasts programs about space flight. We sometimes tell about the latest flight of the American space (1) shuttle or other (2)spacecraft.  And we often tell about the history of the space program.   Shirley Griffith tells us about a new book from one of the men who made space flight possible.  
ANNCR:
Christopher Kraft was one of the first flight engineers to work for a new government (3)agency called the National Aeronautics² and Space Administration - (4) NASA.  In Nineteen-Fifty-Eight, Mister Kraft joined the team that planned the first rocket (5) launch that carried an American in space.  He has written a book about his experiences.  It is called "Flight: My Life in Mission Control."  
Chris Kraft was NASA's first flight director. The flight director does not fly into space. Instead, he controls each flight. In his book, Chris Kraft describes his work from the minute a space flight began until the crew was safely back on Earth.  Mister Kraft had complete (6)responsibility for everything.  He says NASA officials could (7) dismiss him after a flight was over.  But no one could change his orders during a flight, not even the president of the United States.   
Chris Kraft brought together the team of experts that controlled famous space flights, including all the landings on the moon.  He also helped design the room that is still called Mission Control. Engineers in the Mission Control room reported to Mister Kraft as the flight director.  He might ask a question or two and then make the necessary decisions. 
For example, during the early Mercury³ flights, engineers provided Mister Kraft with information each time the spaceship circled the Earth. This information included the health of the astronaut and how each of the many space crafts systems was operating.   After each engineer reported, Mister Kraft decided⁴ if the astronaut would continue for another orbit or return to Earth.  Very often the lives of the astronauts depended on his decisions.
Chris Kraft retired⁵ from NASA in Nineteen-Eighty-Two.  At the time, he was the head of the Johnson Space Flight Center in (8) Houston, (9) Texas.  Mister Kraft's book is an interesting look at America's space program by its first flight director.

 

美国女诗人埃米莉·迪金森

DATE=6-8-2001
TITLE=AMERICAN MOSAIC #821 - Emily Dickinson
BYLINE=Nancy Steinbach

HOST:
(Start at 4'25") Our VOA listener question this week comes in an e-mail from (1)Ho Chi Minh City, (2)Vietnam.  Anh T. Ha asks about the famous American poet, Emily Dickinson.
Emily Dickinson is considered one of America's greatest (3) poets. She wrote simple poems about complex ideas.  Here is a well-known example:
VOICE:
I'm nobody!  Who are you? Are you nobody, too? Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell! They'd (4) banish⁶ us, you know. How dreary⁷ to be somebody! How public, like a frog To tell your name the livelong day To an admiring (5) bog⁸!"
HOST:
Emily Dickinson has always been a kind of (6)mystery.  Few people of her time knew who she was or what she was doing.  She wrote many letters and more than one-thousand-seven-hundred poems.  She published only about ten poems during her life.
Emily Dickinson was born in Eighteen-Thirty in the small Massachusetts town of Amherst.  She lived and died in the same house where she was born.  Her parents were important people in the town.  Many famous visitors came to the Dickinson home and Emily met them.  
Emily Dickinson was well educated. Yet she (7)withdrew from the world as she grew older.  She saw fewer and fewer visitors.  She rarely left her house.  She died in Eighteen-Eighty-Six, at the age of fifty-five.  She was completely unknown to the world.
Many writers and even some scientists have attempted to learn more about Emily Dickinson's life. New scientific research recently suggested that she suffered a kind of mental problem that provided her with great creative energy.  Yet one writer says part of the joy of studying Emily Dickinson is what we cannot know.   What we do know is her (8)poetry. 
VOICE:
This is my letter to the world, That never wrote to me -- The simple news that Nature told, With tender (9) majesty⁹
Her message is committed To hands I cannot see; For love of her, sweet countrymen, Judge (10) tenderly of me!
HOST:
To learn more about Emily Dickinson, listen to the VOA Special English program "People in America" on Sunday.

 

著名歌手苏珊娜·麦考科

DATE=6-8-2001
TITLE=AMERICAN MOSAIC #821 - Susannah McCorkle
BYLINE=Nancy Steinbach

HOST:
(Start at 7'45") Susannah McCorkle sang (1)jazz and popular songs mainly in New York City.  Some experts say she was one of the best jazz singers in America. She killed herself last month after (2)suffering (3)severe (4) depression for many years.  Steve Ember tells us about her.
ANNCR:
Susannah McCorkle was fifty-five years old.  She decided to be a singer when she was a student studying languages in Europe. She loved (5) Brazilian music, especially songs written by Antonio Carlos Jobim.  Here she sings his song "Wave."
((CUT 1: WAVE))
Susannah McCorkle recorded seventeen (6)albums.  She also wrote short stories.  And she  wrote the words to some of her songs.  This one is called "The Computer Age."
((CUT 2: THE COMPUTER AGE))
Critics say Susannah McCorkle studied the songs she sang.  She learned all she could about them. The songs all had special meaning for her.  As a result, she performed old songs in new and different ways.  We leave you now with an example of this. Susannah McCorkle (7) communicates the sadness she found in this song, "There's No Business Like Show Business."(Stop at 11'22")
(1) shuttle [ `FQtl] n. 航天飞机
(2) spacecraft [ 5speiskrB:ft ]n.太空船
(3) agency [ 5eidVEnsi ]n.机构
(4) NASA [ `nAs[] n. (美国)国家航空和宇宙航行局
(5) launch [ lC:ntF, lB:ntF ]n.发射
(6) responsibility [ ris7pCnsE5biliti ]n.责任, 职责
(7) dismiss [dis`mis] vt.解散, 下课, 开除, 解职, 使(或让)离开 vi.解散
(8) Houston [ `hjU:stEn] n.休斯顿
         (9) Texas [ `teks[s] n.德克萨斯州(美国州名)

(1) Ho Chi Minh [`hEJ`tFi:`mIn] City n.胡志明市
(2) Vietnam [9vIEt5nAm]n.越南
(3) poet [ `pEUit] n.诗人
(4) banish [ `bAniF] vt.流放, 驱逐, 消除
(5) bog [bRg] n.沼泽 
(6) mystery [ 5mistEri ]n.神秘, 神秘的事物
(7) withdraw [ wiT5drC: ]vi.缩回
(8) poetry [ 5pEuitri, 5pEutri ]n.诗意
(9) majesty [ `mAdVisti] n.最高权威, 王权, 雄伟
        (10) tenderly [ `tend[li] adv.温和地, 体贴地

 

        (1) Jazz [ dVAz ]n.(20世纪产生于美国的一种舞曲性音乐)爵士乐
        (2) suffer [ 5sQfE ]vt.经历
        (3) severe [ si5viE ]adj.严重的
        (4) depression [di`preF[n] n.沮丧, 消沉
        (5) Brazilian [br[`ziliEn] n.巴西人 adj.巴西的
        (6) album [ 5AlbEm ]n.音乐专辑
        (7) communicate [k[`mjU:nikeit] v.沟通, 通信

 

 

 

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 aeronautics   

n.航空术，航空学

参考例句：

• National Aeronautics and Space undertakings have made great progress.国家的航空航天事业有了很大的发展。
• He devoted every spare moment to aeronautics.他把他所有多余的时间用在航空学上。

3 mercury   

n.汞，水银，水银柱

参考例句：

• The liquid we can see in thermometers is mercury.我们看到的温度计里的液体是水银。
• Mercury has a much greater density than water.水银的密度比水大得多。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 banish   

vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除

参考例句：

• The doctor advised her to banish fear and anxiety.医生劝她消除恐惧和忧虑。
• He tried to banish gloom from his thought.他试图驱除心中的忧愁。

7 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

8 bog   

n.沼泽；室...陷入泥淖

参考例句：

• We were able to pass him a rope before the bog sucked him under.我们终于得以在沼泽把他吞没前把绳子扔给他。
• The path goes across an area of bog.这条小路穿过一片沼泽。

9 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！