外刊精讀⑦上天了上天了！蹭熱點圍觀SpaceX的獵鷹重型火箭，看看外媒怎麼說

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每周外刊精讀

2月6號，獵鷹重型火箭（SpaceX Falcon Heavy）「上天了」，埃隆·馬斯克在7年前的「狂言」終於付諸於現實！這不僅吸引了一大批太空迷和科技迷的目光，不少吃瓜群眾（例如小編我）也十分關注呢~~

我們就來蹭一下熱點，這期精讀內容摘自Financial Times文章

Forget the bravado(虛張聲勢)— Elon Musk』s SpaceX achievement is stunning.致敬那些勇敢無畏的創新者! （各位小夥伴久等了，因為小編昨天不小心在後台刪掉了推送，今天補上哦~~soooo sorry）

背景

隨著SpaceX的獵鷹重型火箭成功發射，歷來由各國航天局壟斷的領域被私人攻破了，私人企業有了將宇航員送上太空的能力，這也使更多人認識了埃隆·馬斯克（Elon Musk）——兩家價值數十億美元的公司創始人。這一次試飛可以說是相當有象徵意義的，因為Elon Musk 還將一輛循環播放大衛·鮑威（DavidBowie）經典歌曲《太空怪人》（Space Oddity）的特斯拉送上太空。

Elon Musk自己說發射火箭是為了移民火星，而賺錢只是副產品，他的最終目標是拯救人類。當然，不少人認為他是一位「有理想的營銷家」。

通讀

這篇文章總共有575 words，在精讀前最好先去了解一下特斯拉（Tesla）。文章生詞不算多，但也有一些值得學習的表達，理解難度屬於中上。本期，我們一塊兒來精讀最後4段。

The US space establishment was initiallywary oftech billionaires such as Mr Musk and the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, when they first declared their ambitions to run their own private space programmes. But Nasa quickly came to admire the highly innovative andhard-chargingattitude that these entrepreneurs have brought to the business. Such has been Nasa』s faith in Mr Musk that it has evengranted SpaceXa licence tooperate from thehallowed ground of Launchpad 39A, the site from which Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collinsblastedoffto the Moon in 1969.

So many people have now bought into Mr Musk』s extraordinary vision that it might be sensible to apply a discount to his accomplishments.Certainly, the $57bn stock market value of Tesla Motors, hislossmakingcar company that delivered just over 100,000 vehicles last year, would appear todefyfinancialgravity. And the failed deployment of a spy satellite following its launch on a Falcon 9 rocket on January 7 also highlighted the periodicfallibilityof the SpaceX programme, although the company has said its rocket functioned perfectly.

It used to be said of Steve Jobs that Apple』smonomaniacalfounderconjureduphis own 「reality distortion field」, in whosethrallpeople suspended their disbelief. Much the same can be said of Mr Musk.

But whatever the occasional distortions, the underlying reality behind both entrepreneurs』 achievements is impressive and indisputable.

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第一句

The US space establishment was initiallywary oftech billionaires such as Mr Musk and the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, when they first declared their ambitions to run their own private space programmes.

bewary of意思是not completely trusting or certain about something or someone謹慎的；小心翼翼的

當馬斯克和Jeff Bezos（亞馬遜創始人）等科技億萬富翁宣布開展私人太空項目的雄心時，美國太空局開始時對他們心存警惕。

第二句

But Nasa quickly came to admire the highly innovative andhard-chargingattitude that these entrepreneurs have brought to the business.

hard-charging意為determined and often forceful in doing a job努力進取的；有幹勁的

俗話說得好，「不打不相識」，美國國家航空航天局(NASA)雖然一開始抱著謹慎的態度，但很快就開始稱讚這些企業家。

第三句

Such has been Nasa』s faith in Mr Musk that it has evengranted SpaceXa licence tooperate from thehallowed ground of Launchpad 39A, the site from which Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collinsblastedoffto the Moon in 1969.

grant a licence to： grant就指to give or allow someone something, usually in an official way（通常指官方）同意，准予，授予。那grant a licence的意思就是授予許可證。

hallow意為to give something great importance and respect, often because it is very old（通常因為其非常古老而）尊敬（或崇敬）…這裡提到的 hallowed ground 是具有歷史意義的肯尼迪航天中心39A發射台(Launchpad 39A)。

blast off的解釋是If a rocket blasts off, it leaves the ground to go into space.（火箭）發射。

從這般舉動來看，NASA後來對Elon Musk真可謂是信心滿滿。

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第一句

So many people have now bought into Mr Musk』s extraordinary vision that it might be sensible to apply a discount to his accomplishments.

參考譯文

現在有這麼多的人為馬斯克的非凡願景所折服，也許給他的成就打點折扣是理智的。

這句話是一個「so...that...」的句型，意思是「如此/這麼...以至於...」。這裡，作者其實也在表明自己的立場：Elon Musk目前的成就的確令人驚嘆，但我們不能太盲目崇拜，應該保持客觀理智。

第二句

Certainly, the $57bn stock market value of Tesla Motors, hislossmakingcar company that delivered just over 100,000 vehicles last year, would appear todefyfinancial gravity.

lossmaking意思是not making a profit虧損的，不盈利的。

defy financial gravity,defy gravity的本意是「違反重力定律」，引申開來就是「違反規律」，加上financial就是指違反金融規律。

這句話交代了作者勸大家客觀看待Elon Musk 的成就的原因。

第三句

And the failed deployment of a spy satellite following its launch on a Falcon 9 rocket on January 7 also highlighted the periodicfallibilityof the SpaceX programme, although the company has said its rocket functioned perfectly.

fallibility指the likelihood of making errors易錯性；謬誤性

這句話的大意是說，儘管公司稱其火箭表現完美，但在1月7日，其實有一顆間諜衛星部署失敗了，這說明SpaceX項目不時會出現問題。

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第一、二句

It used to be said of Steve Jobs that Apple』smonomaniacalfounderconjureduphis own 「reality distortion field」, in whosethrallpeople suspended their disbelief. Much the same can be said of Mr Musk.

monomaniacal的解釋是obsessed with a single subject or idea偏執的

conjure up指to make a picture or idea appear in someone"s mind想像出；聯想起。這個片語在上一期出現過，大家還有印象么？所以說，多看多積累，單詞你都會！

reality distortion field意思是"現實扭曲力場"，就是指結合駭人的眼神、專註的神情，口若懸河的表述、過人的意志力、扭曲事實以達到目標的迫切願望，及所形成的視聽混淆能力。

thrall:he state of being under the control of another person束縛

作者在文章倒數第二段提到了馬斯克和喬布斯的共同性格特點——偏執而又偉大。

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第一句

But whatever the occasional distortions, the underlying reality behind both entrepreneurs』 achievements is impressive and indisputable.

參考譯文

但不管間或造成了什麼扭曲，兩位企業家成就背後的深層現實是令人印象深刻和無可爭議的。

最後四段是文章的精華，作者在最後表達了自己對Elon Musk 和SpaceX的獵鷹重型火箭成功發射的態度——理性地欣賞與讚美。的確，打破了NASA在美國對太空技術的「壟斷」已經是很不容易了，從7年前「口出狂言」到今天實現諾言，Elon Musk不僅讓全世界的人見證了他夢想實現的第一步，也讓全世界的人認識了一位「偏執而偉大」的創造者。

從這件事看，小編其實也會納悶，為什麼中國遲遲沒有出現像喬布斯、馬克斯 這樣的人呢？除了「當官、當大官，發財、發大財」，我們還有什麼夢想呢？有時候，舉國體制有其好處，但同時逐漸刺激個人的積極性是不是會更好呢？大家感興趣的也可以到微博找找「」一張圖看懂Elon Musk」介紹圖，圖太大了，小編傳不上來呀~

好了，這就是2018年第期「外刊精讀」的全部內容了，歡迎大家在評論區留言交流並且給小編點贊~~

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