一英语翻译竞赛文章.doc

One small step back to where we started 注： “One small step back to where we started”是首届《参考消息》读者译文大赛文章要求参赛者翻译的文章。本人水平有限，不敢参加啦。不过看到这样一篇有一定挑战性的文章，不禁手痒，于是在这里献上自己的译文版本，与翻译爱好者们交流切磋。 “一千个人心中有一千个哈姆雷特。”同样，一千个翻译就会有一千种译文。欢迎翻译爱好者们不吝指正。 One small step back to where we started 重返起点的一小步 The Apollo missions were supposed to reveal the truth about the Moon. In fact, they taught us about the Earth – and ourselves 阿波罗任务的本意是揭示月球的真相。可实际上，它们要告诉我们的却是地球和我们自己。 Mark Mason马克?梅森 In July 1969, soon after their return from the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were shown footage of the world抯 reaction to the lunar landing. They saw the US newscaster Walter Cronkite wiping away his tears; people gathered around televisions from China to Brazil; pavements outside TV shops crammed as people watched in awe. Aldrin turned to Armstrong. “Neil,” he said, “we missed the whole thing”. 1969 年 7 月，从月球返回后不久，有人给尼尔?阿姆斯特朗和巴兹;奥尔德林放了一段录像，让他们看看全世界人们对登月的反应。他们看到美国新闻主播沃尔特;克朗凯特正在擦拭自己的泪花；从中国到巴西，人们聚集在电视机旁；当人们怀着敬畏的神情观看时，电视机商店外面的人行道被围得水泄不通。奥尔德林转向阿姆斯特朗。“尼尔，”他说道，“我们错过了这一切”。 That comment (reminiscent of George Harrison’s complaint that the Beatles felt left out because “We were the only people who never got to see the Beatles”) reveals the surprising truth about the Apollo missions: they weren’t about the Moon. They were about the Earth. 那个评论（它令人回想起乔治;哈里森的抱怨——甲壳虫乐队觉得自己被忽略了，因为“我们是唯一从来没有看过甲壳虫乐队的人”）揭示了令人惊讶的阿波罗任务的真相：它们并非月球之行，而是地球之旅。 The clues had been there from the start, when the crew of Apollo 8 became the first humans to leave their home planet’s orbit. Orbiting the Moon on Christmas Eve 1968, fulfilling dreams as old as mankind itself, their real wonder was not at the dead grey planet beneath them, but at the vibrant blue globe in the distance. The first three men to see the Moon up close soon realised — with a much deeper sense of reverence — that they were the first three men to see the Earth from a distance. Witnessing an earthrise made them feel humble. They read the opening chapters of Genesis to a worldwide audi