VOA标准英语2011--Chicago's Adler Planetarium Honors Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin

Chicago's Adler Planetarium¹ Honors Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin

Chicago’s Adler Planetarium was the first one built in the United States, in 1930. Since it opened, it has helped visitors understand the marvels² of astronomy. It has mounted celebratory exhibits about historic U.S. accomplishments⁴ in space, spotlighting⁵ the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo NASA missions and their astronauts. But, as the museum prepares for a major expansion, it is also celebrating the accomplishments of other nations' space-faring achievements, overlooked during the Cold War.

Though it was almost 50 years ago, cosmonaut Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu remembers April 12, 1961 well. He was eight years old at the time, living in the Romanian city of Brasov.

“I was in the house together with my sister and mother listening to the radio, and the radio stopped and very important news was translated about the flight of the first human into outer space,” he said.

That human was Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. His voyage into space was a monumental achievement, celebrated⁶ throughout the Soviet⁷ Union.

“Yuri Gagarin showed us how to break frontiers, the frontier of the atmosphere,” Prunariu said.

Twenty years later, in May 1981, Prunariu himself blasted into space on a Soviet-built Soyuz rocket. He was Romania’s first and still only cosmonaut. Prunariu credits Gagarin with charting his own path into space.

“Yuri Gagarin’s a symbol, and we celebrate this symbol of the possibility of a human being to fly above the atmosphere of the Earth,” he said.

“We seem to forget that Gagarin’s flight in 1961 was so important,” said James Andrews, Professor of Russian History at Iowa State University. He says Gagarin’s accomplishment³, just over three years after the Soviets⁸ launched the first satellite - Sputnik - into space, was greeted with shock in the United States. It was later overshadowed by dramatic U.S. strides in space exploration.

“There was this monumental event that happened after Sputnik and I think we need to remember how important that was and how heroic,” Andrews said.

“We really haven’t broadened the view to look at what other nations, particularly the Soviet Union, were doing at the time," said Adler Planetarium President Paul Knappenberger. "But that’s something we’re working on now.”

At a ceremony in Chicago, Knappenberger was joined by Cosmonaut Prunariu as the Adler Planetarium's first recognition of Yuri Gagarin’s triumph was unveiled.

A bust⁹ of Gagarin, donated by the city of Moscow to the city of Chicago, honors the Russian cosmonaut and first human in space 50 years after his accomplishment. It will have a permanent home next to exhibits that - up until now - have mostly honored American achievements in space.

Knappenberger says it is a sign of things to come.

“We’re planning to expand the Adler in the near future with a new building adjacent to this one that will have a space exploration theme where we will celebrate not only the past accomplishments of the Soviet Union and America but also what’s going on right now on the international scene and with the private sector¹⁰ getting involved in space exploration,” he said.

Cosmonaut Prunariu, who is now the chairman of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Space, says honoring both past Soviet and American accomplishments helps chart a future path to the stars.

“This is not the last frontier. Other frontiers will be Mars, will be the solar system, will be other planetary systems," he said. "And for sure, we have to promote the idea that progress is promoted through such human adventures.”

The Adler Planetarium was not selected to receive one of the newly retired¹¹ NASA space shuttles. It will receive the astronaut space flight simulator currently located at Johnson Space Center in Houston. It will be a centerpiece exhibit of the $40 million expansion effort to turn the Adler Planetarium into Chicago’s Space Science Center.

1 planetarium   

n.天文馆；天象仪

参考例句：

• The planetarium staff also prepared talks for radio broadcast.天文馆的工作人员还要准备讲稿给电台广播。
• It landed in a shallow basin fifty yards from the planetarium.它降落在离天文馆五十码处的一个浅盆地中。

2 marvels   

n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor's treatment has worked marvels : the patient has recovered completely. 该医生妙手回春，病人已完全康复。 来自辞典例句
• Nevertheless he revels in a catalogue of marvels. 可他还是兴致勃勃地罗列了一堆怪诞不经的事物。 来自辞典例句

3 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

4 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 spotlighting   

v.聚光照明( spotlight的现在分词 )；使公众注意，使突出醒目

参考例句：

6 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

9 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

10 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

11 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。