VOA标准英语2013--Nigeria Reaches for the Stars

 

Nigeria Reaches for the Stars

The Nigerian space agency complex is as ambitious and seemingly as impossible as the program itself. On 200 hectares of land, a museum and a planetarium¹ are being built along with a complex for visiting scientists and a new operations building.

But not all of these building projects are funded, and very little construction appears to be going on.

Inside the main building everything is tinted² green from the colored glass ceiling and it feels a bit like another planet.  With statues of rockets and satellites decorating the lobby, it is easy to see why officials here are so excited.  

The agency is in touch with its three satellites in orbit, including NigeriaSat-X launched in 2011.  Center for Satellite Technology Development director Spencer Ojogba Onuh says they are particularly proud of NigeriaSat-X, which was built in Britain.

“The NigeriaSat-X was completely designed and manufactured using Surrey Satellite Technology equipment by Nigerian engineers and scientists,” said Onuh.

Some locals say space travel is a luxury they cannot afford in Nigeria, where most people live in abject³ poverty and nobody has consistent electricity.

But National Space Research and Development Agency spokesperson, Felix Ale, says satellite imagery is already helping⁴ the country in poverty alleviation⁵, security and development.

“The Nigerian satellites have really assisted in a lot of application areas," said Ale.  "It has been used in the area of disaster monitoring and in the area of agriculture.”

He says satellite imagery helped emergency services respond to floods that killed hundreds of people and displaced millions of others last summer.

Ale says another goal of the Nigerian space program is to send a Nigerian astronaut into space by 2015, which is still in the planning phase. But as far-fetched as it sounds, he says space programs are all about big dreams.

“I want to tell the world that the Nigerian space program is a success story.  It is a new song to sing about this country," stated Ale. "It is again a re-affirmation that things can work in this part of the world.  We have the commitment, we have the zeal⁶.”

Officials say if they can send an African astronaut into space it will encourage health research on diseases that have a large impact on the continent, like malaria⁷ and sickle⁸ cell anemia⁹.

Back in the green lobby, Ale shows off one satellite picture that he says demonstrates the destruction of the Niger Delta¹⁰, which Amnesty International says has suffered an Exxon Valdez-level oil spill every year for decades.  

In an upstairs conference room officials give a lecture to other civil servants, because despite their enthusiasm the space program is widely unknown to Nigerians.  They say Nigeria began space research in the 1950s, but projects were repeatedly side-lined until 1999 when the national space agency was established.   They say by 2028 they hope to have made-in-Nigeria satellites orbiting the earth

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 tinted   

adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• a pair of glasses with tinted lenses 一副有色镜片眼镜
• a rose-tinted vision of the world 对世界的理想化看法

3 abject   

adj.极可怜的，卑屈的

参考例句：

• This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.这一政策最后以惨败而告终。
• He had been obliged to offer an abject apology to Mr.Alleyne for his impertinence.他不得不低声下气，为他的无礼举动向艾莱恩先生请罪。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 alleviation   

n. 减轻，缓和，解痛物

参考例句：

• These were the circumstances and the hopes which gradually brought alleviation to Sir Thomas's pain. 这些情况及其希望逐渐缓解了托马斯爵士的痛苦。
• The cost reduction achieved in this way will benefit patients and the society in burden alleviation. 集中招标采购降低的采购成本要让利于患者，减轻社会负担。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

6 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。

7 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

8 sickle   

n.镰刀

参考例句：

• The gardener was swishing off the tops of weeds with a sickle.园丁正在用镰刀嗖嗖地割掉杂草的顶端。
• There is a picture of the sickle on the flag. 旗帜上有镰刀的图案。

9 anemia   

n.贫血，贫血症

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。
• I was put on iron tablets for my anemia.我曾因贫血吃补铁药片。

10 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。