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里根总统就挑战者号失事所作讲话

(2009-05-14 10:51:59)
标签:

里根总统

挑战者号

教育

分类: 英语视频

 

 

 

The Loss of Challenger

外太空探索的道路并不是一帆风顺的。1986年1月28日,挑战者号航天飞机在起飞后不久就爆炸失事,机上七名宇航员也一同罹难,给世界航天事业造成巨大的打击。下面是时任美国总统里根在航天飞机失事后的讲话。在讲话中,里根总统表达了他对为航天事业献身的宇航员们的悼念、对其家人的慰问和对航天事业未来的信心。

 

Ladies and gentlemen:
I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.
Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we've never lost an astronaut in flight; we've never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. But they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.
For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, "Give me a challenge, and I'll meet it with joy." They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us. 
We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle (使......眼花缭乱) us. But for 25 years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.
And I want to say something to the school children of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.
I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue. I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them: Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it.
There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime, the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, "He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it." Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.
The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honoured us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye, and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."

注释:演讲的最后一句引用了执行此次航天任务的宇航员之一麦考利夫老师(Christa McAuliffe)最喜欢的一首诗中的第一句和最后一句,意思分别是“挣脱地球的桎梏”和“触摸到上帝的脸”。

Match the words with the explanations:

1. impact           A. mission

2. hunger           B. blow

3. pioneer          C. reporting

4. coverage         D. sorrow

5. diminish         E. the first person to do sth.

6. quest            F. desire

7. anguish          G. reduce

 

答案:

1-5 BFECG 6-7 AD

0

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