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DavidBaron_2017X-_你欠自己一个日全食的经历_
Before I get to bulk of what I have to say, 在我谈到正题之前,
bulk:n.大部分;主体;(大)体积;大(量);v.扩展;增大;堆积起来;形成大块;
I feel compelled just to mention a couple of things about myself. 我觉得有必要做个简短的自我介绍。
compelled:v.强迫;迫使;使必须;引起(反应);(compel的过去分词和过去式)
I am not some mystical , spiritual sort of person. 我不是什么神秘的, 有特殊精神追求的人。
mystical:adj.神秘的;神秘主义的; spiritual:n.圣歌(尤指美国南部黑人的);adj.精神的,心灵的;
I'm a science writer. 我是名科技写手。
I studied physics in college. 在大学,我主修物理。
I used to be a science correspondent for NPR. 我曾经是NPR（国家广播电台）的 科学通讯员。
correspondent:n.通讯记者;客户;通信者;代理商行;
OK, that said: in the course of working on a story for NPR, 好的,就这么多。 在帮NPR写一篇稿子时,
in the course of:在…过程中;在…期间;
I got some advice from an astronomer that challenged my outlook , and frankly, changed my life. 我从一名天文学家那里 得到了一些建议, 而这些建议挑战了我的观点, 老实说,还改变了我的一生。
astronomer:n.天文学家; outlook:n.见解;前景;人生观;可能性;
You see, the story was about an eclipse , a partial solar eclipse that was set to cross the country in May of 1994. 这篇稿子是关于日食的, 1994年5月穿过国境的 日偏食。
eclipse:v.使黯然失色;形成蚀;n.日蚀,月蚀;黯然失色; partial:adj.部分的;不完整的;片面的;有偏见的;
And the astronomer -- I interviewed him, and he explained what was going to happen and how to view it, but he emphasized that, as interesting as a partial solar eclipse is, a much rarer total solar eclipse is completely different. 那个天文学家——我采访了他, 他解释了会发生什么, 以及如何观测日偏食, 但是他强调,虽然同日偏食一样有趣, 更稀少的日全食却完全不同。
interviewed:v.对(某人)进行面试(或面谈); (媒体)采访(interview的过去分词和过去式) emphasized:v.强调,着重(emphasize的过去式);
In a total eclipse, for all of two or three minutes, the moon completely blocks the face of the sun, creating what he described as the most awe-inspiring spectacle in all of nature. 在日全食时, 月球会完全遮挡太阳, 长达两到三分钟, 形成我们所描述的在自然中 最令人感到敬畏的 奇观。
described:v.描述;形容;把…称为;做…运动;(describe的过去分词和过去式) awe-inspiring:adj.使人敬畏的;令人惊叹的; spectacle:n.景象;场面;奇观;壮观;公开展示;表相,假相n.(复)眼镜;
And so the advice he gave me was this: "Before you die," he said, "you owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse." 所以他给我的建议是: “你死之前,”他说道, “你欠自己一次日全食的体验。”
owe:v.归功于;欠(债);欠(账);欠(情)
Well honestly, I felt a little uncomfortable hearing that from someone I didn't know very well; it felt sort of intimate . 老实说, 听到一个不那么熟的人 和你说这些, 我感到有些不舒服; 语气有些私人化。
intimate:n.知己; v.暗示; adj.亲密的;
But it got my attention, and so I did some research. 但是这引起了我的注意, 所以我做了些研究。
Now the thing about total eclipses is, if you wait for one to come to you, you're going to be waiting a long time. 关于日全食你要知道, 如果你原地等它光顾, 你要等很久很久。
eclipses:n.(日,月)[天]食(eclipse的复数形式); v.引起(日,月)[天]食;
Any given point on earth experiences a total eclipse about once every 400 years. 在地球上固定的一点, 要400年才能经历 一次日全食。
But if you're willing to travel, you don't have to wait that long. 但是如果你乐意旅行, 你就不需要等那么久。
And so I learned that a few years later, in 1998, a total eclipse was going to cross the Caribbean . 我了解到几年后,在1998年, 一次日全食将穿过加勒比。
Caribbean:adj.加勒比海的;加勒比人的;加勒比语的;n.加勒比海;
Now, a total eclipse is visible only along a narrow path, about a hundred miles wide, and that's where the moon's shadow falls. 日全食只在一条 狭小的路径上才能看到, 只有一百多英里宽, 那里就是月球的阴影所在。
visible:adj.明显的;看得见的;现有的;可得到的;n.可见物;进出口贸易中的有形项目; narrow:adj.狭窄的; v.使窄小; n.峡谷; (场所,物品等的)狭窄部分;
It's called the "path of totality ." 它叫做“日全食带”。
totality:n.[天]全食;全体;总数;
And in February 1998, the path of totality was going to cross Aruba . 在1998年的2月, 日全食带将穿过阿鲁巴。
Aruba:n.阿鲁巴岛(加勒比海);
So I talked to my husband, and we thought: February? Aruba? 我告诉了我丈夫, 我们想了想:二月？阿鲁巴？
Sounded like a good idea anyway. 反正听起来挺不错的。
(Laughter) （笑声）
So we headed south, to enjoy the sun and to see what would happen when the sun briefly went away. 所以我们南下, 去享受阳光, 并看看当太阳短暂不见的时候, 会发生什么。
briefly:adv.简要地;简短地;暂时地;
Well, the day of the eclipse found us and many other people out behind the Hyatt Regency , on the beach , waiting for the show to begin. 日食那天,我们和许多人 在凯悦酒店后面的 沙滩上, 等待好戏上演。
Regency:n.摄政;摄政统治;摄政权; on the beach:adj.在海滩上;失业的;潦倒的;退休的;
And we wore eclipse glasses with cardboard frames and really dark lenses that enabled us to look at the sun safely. 我们戴了纸框的日食眼镜, 非常黑的镜片保证我们 可以安全的直视太阳。
cardboard:n.[纸]硬纸板;纸板箱;卡纸板;adj.不真实的;硬纸板制的; frames:n.[计][电子][通信]帧,[电影]画面;[建][计]框架;眼镜架(frame的复数); lenses:n.透镜;镜片;(眼球的)晶状体;(lens的复数) enabled:v.使得;授予…权力;(enabled是enable的过去式)
A total eclipse begins as a partial eclipse, as the moon very slowly makes its way in front of the sun. 日全食以日偏食开场, 然后月亮慢慢的移动到太阳的前面。
So first it looked the sun had a little notch in its edge, and then that notch grew larger and larger, turning the sun into a crescent . 一开始,看上去 太阳的边上有了一个小缺口, 然后那个缺口越来越大, 把太阳变成了新月形。
notch:n.刻痕,凹口;等级;峡谷;v.赢得;用刻痕计算;在…上刻凹痕; crescent:n.新月; adj.新月形的; vt.以新月形物装饰;
And it was all very interesting, but I wouldn't say it was spectacular . 那真是非常有趣, 但还没到叹为观止的程度。
spectacular:adj.壮观的;壮丽的;令人惊叹的;n.壮观的场面;精彩的表演;
I mean, the day remained bright. 我的意思是,天仍然是亮的。
If I hadn't known what was going on overhead , 如果我不知道 头顶上将要发生什么,
overhead:n.开销;经常费用;经常开支;adj.头上方的;地面以上的;adv.在头上方;在空中
I wouldn't have noticed anything unusual. 我不会注意到任何不寻常的事情。
Well, about 10 minutes before the total solar eclipse was set to begin, weird things started to happen. 日全食开始前的十分钟, 奇怪的事情开始发生了。
weird:adj.奇怪的;奇异的;离奇的;n.命运;宿命;命运女神;
A cool wind kicked up. 冷风袭来。
Daylight looked odd , and shadows became very strange; they looked bizarrely sharp , as if someone had turned up the contrast knob on the TV. 阳光看起来有些奇怪, 阴影也变得非常奇怪; 它们看上去反常的尖锐, 就像是有人调高了电视的对比度。
Daylight:n.日光; odd:adj.古怪的;奇数的;n.奇数; bizarrely:adv.奇形怪状地;怪诞地; sharp:锋利的,尖的 contrast:n.对比;对照;反差;明显的差异;v.对比;对照;形成对比; knob:n.把手;瘤;球形突出物;vi.鼓起;vt.使有球形突出物;
Then I looked offshore , and I noticed running lights on boats, so clearly it was getting dark, although I hadn't realized it. 然后我看了看海上, 我注意到船上的灯光, 很显然那里变暗了, 尽管我还没意识到。
offshore:adj.离岸的;[海洋]近海的;吹向海面的;adv.向海面,向海;
Well soon, it was obvious it was getting dark. 很快,很明显变暗了。
obvious:adj.明显的;显著的;平淡无奇的;
It felt like my eyesight was failing. 那感觉就像是我的视力在下降。
eyesight:n.视力;目力;
And then all of a sudden , the lights went out. 然后一下子, 光线全没了。
all of a sudden:突然地,出乎意料地;
Well, at that, a cheer erupted from the beach, and I took off my eclipse glasses, because at this point during the total eclipse, it was safe to look at the sun with the naked eye. 那时, 海滩上爆发出一阵欢呼, 我摘下日食眼镜, 因为日全食的那个时刻, 裸眼看太阳是安全的。
erupted:v.爆发;长出(erupt的过去分词); naked:adj.裸体的;无装饰的;无证据的;直率的;
And I glanced upward , and I was just dumbstruck . 我朝上看着, 真的呆住了。
glanced:v.瞥一眼;匆匆一看;扫视;浏览;(glance的过去分词和过去式) upward:adj.向上的;上升的;adv.向上; dumbstruck:adj.吓得发懵的;被吓得目瞪口呆的;
Now, consider that, at this point, I was in my mid-30s. 考虑到那个时候,我三十多岁,
I had lived on earth long enough to know what the sky looks like. 在地球上生活也有些年头了, 早就知道了天空是什么模样。
I mean -- 我想说——
(Laughter) （笑声）
I'd seen blue skies and grey skies and starry skies and angry skies and pink skies at sunrise . 我见过蓝色的天空,灰色的天空, 星光闪闪的天空,愤怒的天空, 以及日出时粉色的天空。
starry:adj.布满星星的;闪闪发光的;星光照耀的;星形的; sunrise:n.日出;朝霞;
But here was a sky I had never seen. 但这是我从未见过的天空。
First, there were the colors. 首先注意到的是颜色的变换。
Up above, it was a deep purple-grey, like twilight . 上空,那是深的紫灰色, 就像是黎明。
twilight:n.黎明,黄昏;薄暮;衰退期;朦胧状态;adj.昏暗的,微明的;暮年的;
But on the horizon it was orange, like sunset , 360 degrees. 但是地平线上是橘色的, 像是日落, 360度。
horizon:n.地平线;(欲望、知识或兴趣的)范围; sunset:adj.霞红色的; n.日落(时分); v.(使)定期届满废止;
And up above, in the twilight, bright stars and planets had come out. 上空,好似黄昏, 闪亮的星星出来了。
So there was Jupiter and there was Mercury and there was Venus . 那是木星, 那是水星, 还有金星。
Jupiter:n.[天]木星;朱庇特(罗马神话中的宙斯神); Mercury:n.[化]汞,水银;[天]水星;温度表;精神,元气; Venus:n.[天]金星;维纳斯(爱与美的女神);
They were all in a line. 它们在一条线上。
And there, along this line, was this thing, this glorious , bewildering thing. 而那里,在这条线上, 还有这个东西, 这个辉煌的,令人说不清的东西。
glorious:adj.光荣的;辉煌的;极好的; bewildering:adj.使人困惑的;令人产生混乱的;v.使迷惑(bewilder的ing形式);
It looked like a wreath woven from silvery thread , and it just hung out there in space, shimmering . 它看上去就像是用银丝 编织出的花环, 就挂在宇宙空间中,闪闪发光。
wreath:n.花冠;圈状物;v.环绕;盘旋; woven:v.编织;交织(weave的过去分词);编造;adj.织物的;n.机织织物; silvery:adj.银色的;清脆的;银铃一般的;似银的; thread:n.螺纹;线索;思路;脉络;v.穿过;穿(针);纫(针);(使)穿过; shimmering:adj.闪烁的;微微发亮的;v.闪耀(shimmer进行式);
That was the sun's outer atmosphere , the solar corona . 那是太阳的外层大气, 日冕。
outer:adj.外面的,外部的;远离中心的;n.环外命中; atmosphere:n.大气;气氛;气压;风格; corona:n.[物]电晕;日冕;冠状物;
And pictures just don't do it justice . 图片根本无法显示它的真实面貌。
justice:n.公平;公正;司法制度;审判;
It's not just a ring or halo around the sun; it's finely textured , like it's made out of strands of silk. 那不只是绕着太阳的 一个环或光圈。 那是细心编织过的, 就像是用丝做出来的一样。
halo:n.光环;荣光;v.使有晕轮;围以光环;成晕轮; finely:adv.非常地;细微地;美好地;雅致地; textured:adj.有织纹的; v.使具有某种结构(texture的过去分词); strands:n.线; v.搁浅;
And although it looked nothing like our sun, of course, I knew that's what it was. 尽管那看上去一点也不像太阳, 当然,我知道它是什么。
So there was the sun, and there were the planets, and I could see how the planets revolve around the sun. 那个是太阳, 周围还有行星, 我可以看到行星 如何绕太阳旋转。
revolve:v.(使)旋转;(非正式)以…为主要(考虑);以…为中心(兴趣);
It's like I had left our solar system and was standing on some alien world, looking back at creation . 那感觉就像是我离开了太阳系, 站在某个陌生的世界, 回头观望。
solar system:[天]太阳系; creation:n.创造,创作;创作物,产物;
And for the first time in my life, 那是我人生中第一次,
I just felt viscerally connected to the universe in all of its immensity . 发自内心的感受到, 在浩瀚的宇宙中, 与它相联系。
viscerally:内脏的;位于内脏的;影响内脏的; immensity:n.巨大;无限;广大;
Time stopped, or it just kind of felt nonexistent , and what I beheld with my eyes -- 时间静止了, 它就像不存在一样, 我用双眼看到的——
nonexistent:adj.不存在的; beheld:v.见到;观察(behold的过去式和过去分词);
I didn't just see it, it felt like a vision . 我不只是看到它, 更像是感知到了一个幻影。
vision:n.视力;美景;幻象;想象力;v.想象;显现;梦见;
And I stood there in this nirvana for all of 174 seconds -- less than three minutes -- when all of a sudden, it was over. 我站在这仙境中, 整整174秒——不到三分钟—— 然后突然,它结束了。
nirvana:n.涅槃;天堂;
The sun burst out, the blue sky returned, the stars and the planets and the corona were gone. 阳光重现, 蓝天回归, 星星和日冕不见了。
burst:v.破裂;爆炸;突破;冲进;n.爆发;点射;释放;(情感的)迸发;
The world returned to normal. 世界恢复了正常。
But I had changed. 但是我变了。
And that's how I became an umbraphile -- an eclipse chaser . 这就是我如何变成了日食追逐者—— 一个捕捉日食奇观的人。
chaser:n.驱逐舰;猎人;饮烈酒后喝的饮料;[机]螺纹梳刀;
(Laughter) （笑声）
So, this is how I spend my time and hard-earned money. 这就是我如何花掉了我的时间, 以及辛苦赚来的钱。
hard-earned:adj.辛苦得到的;
Every couple of years, I head off to wherever the moon's shadow will fall to experience another couple minutes of cosmic bliss , and to share the experience with others: with friends in Australia, with an entire city in Germany. 每过几年,我就会到 月亮阴影所在的地方, 去感受宇宙恩赐的 几分钟时间, 去与他人分享经历: 和澳大利亚的朋友, 和德国的整座城市。
cosmic:adj.宇宙的; bliss:n.幸福;极乐;
In 1999, in Munich, I joined hundreds of thousands who filled the streets and the rooftops and cheered in unison as the solar corona emerged . 1999年,在慕尼黑, 我和占满了街道和屋顶的 成百上千人一起, 当日冕出现时, 一同欢呼。
rooftops:n.屋顶;adj.屋顶上的; unison:n.和谐;齐唱;同度;[声]同音; emerged:v.(从隐蔽处或暗处)出现;暴露;露出真相;显现;(emerge的过去分词和过去式)
And over time, I've become something else: an eclipse evangelist . 随着时间流逝,我又变了: 日食传道者。
evangelist:n.福音传道者;圣经新约福音书的作者;
I see it as my job to pay forward the advice that I received all those years ago. 我把它视为我的职业, 去传递若干年前我接收到的建议。
And so let me tell you: before you die, you owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse. 所以我想和你们说: 在你们死之前, 你们欠自己一次日全食的体验。
It is the ultimate experience of awe. 这是对“敬畏”的终极体验。
ultimate:adj.最终的;极限的;根本的;n.终极;根本;基本原则;
Now, that word, " awesome ," has grown so overused that it's lost its original meaning. 现在,“awesome”这个词已经被滥用了, 它失去了原本的含义。
awesome:adj.令人敬畏的;使人畏惧的;可怕的;极好的; overused:adj.过度使用的;v.过度使用(overuse的过去分词); original:n.原件;原作;原物;原型;adj.原始的;最初的;独创的;新颖的;
True awe, a sense of wonder and insignificance in the face of something enormous and grand, is rare in our lives. 真正的敬畏 (awe), 在面临伟大事物时感受到的 惊奇和渺小, 在我们生活中很少见。
insignificance:n.无意义;不重要;无价值; in the face of:面对; enormous:adj.庞大的,巨大的;凶暴的,极恶的;
But when you experience it, it's powerful. 但是当你感受它时,很强烈。
Awe dissolves the ego . 敬畏消除了自我。
dissolves:v.溶解;分解(dissolve的单三式);溶接; ego:n.自我;自负;自我意识;
It makes us feel connected. 它让我们感到了彼此间的联系。
Indeed, it promotes empathy and generosity . 事实上, 它鼓励了同理心和慷慨。
promotes:v.促进;推动;促销;推销;提升;晋升;(promote的第三人称单数) empathy:n.神入;移情作用;执着; generosity:n.慷慨,大方;宽宏大量;
Well, there is nothing truly more awesome than a total solar eclipse. 没有比日全食更令人敬畏的事情了。
Unfortunately , few Americans have seen one, because it's been 38 years since one last touched the continental United States and 99 years since one last crossed the breadth of the nation. 不幸的是, 很少有美国人见过日全食, 因为距离上一次在美国大陆 发生的日全食已经有38年, 距离上一次跨越美国的日全食 已经过去了99年。
Unfortunately:adv.不幸地; continental:adj.大陆的;大陆性的;n.欧洲人; United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式) breadth:n.宽度;(知识、兴趣等)广泛;
But that is about to change. 但是这会有所改变。
is about to:眼看就要;即将;正要;行将;
Over the next 35 years, five total solar eclipses will visit the continental United States, and three of them will be especially grand. 在接下来的35年, 将会有5次日全食造访美国大陆, 其中3次会异常壮观。
especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分;
Six weeks from now, on August 21, 2017 -- 六周后,2017年8月21号——
(Applause) （掌声）
the moon's shadow will race from Oregon to South Carolina . 月球阴影将从俄勒冈州 行至南卡罗来纳州。
Oregon:n.俄勒冈州(美国州名); Carolina:n.卡罗莱纳州(在美国东南部);
April 8, 2024, the moon's shadow heads north from Texas to Maine . 2024年4月8日,月球阴影将从 德克萨斯州北移至缅因州。
Maine:n.缅因州(美国州名);
In 2045, on August 12, the path cuts from California to Florida. 2045年8月12日, 这条日食带将贯穿加州到佛罗里达州。
I say: 我想说:
What if we made these holidays? 要是我们把这些天 作为节假日会怎么样？
What if:如果…怎么办?
What if we -- 要是我们——
(Laughter) （笑声）
(Applause) （掌声）
What if we all stood together, as many people as possible, in the shadow of the moon? 要是我们站在一起, 尽可能多的人站在月球阴影 所及之处会怎么样？
Just maybe, this shared experience of awe would help heal our divisions , get us to treat each other just a bit more humanely . 也许,这令人敬畏的共同经历, 会帮助消除我们之间的隔阂, 让我们对待彼此时多一些人性的关怀。
heal:v.复原;治疗(病人);使又愉快起来;(使)结束 divisions:n.分开;分隔;分配;除(法);不和;差异;(division的复数) treat:v.治疗;处理;招待;款待;n.款待;乐事;乐趣; humanely:adv.人道地;富人情地;慈悲地;
Now, admittedly , some folks consider my evangelizing a little out there; my obsession , eccentric . 我承认,有些人认为我的传道 有些过头了; 我的狂热有些不正常。
admittedly:adv.公认地;无可否认地;明白地; evangelizing:vt.传福音;使信基督教;vi.传福音;传道; obsession:n.痴迷;困扰;[内科][心理]强迫观念; eccentric:adj.古怪的,反常的;n.古怪的人;
I mean, why focus so much attention on something so brief? 为什么要关注那么短暂的东西？
Why cross the globe -- or state lines, for that matter -- for something that lasts three minutes? 为什么环游世界—— 穿过国境线,只为了—— 只为了持续三分钟的东西？
As I said : 就像我刚才说的:
As I said:正如我所说的
I am not a spiritual person. 我不是个有独特精神追求的人。
I don't believe in God. 我不相信上帝。
I wish I did. 我倒是希望我相信。
But when I think of my own mortality -- and I do, a lot -- when I think of everyone I have lost, my mother in particular , what soothes me is that moment of awe I had in Aruba. 但是当我想到自己的死亡的时候—— 而我确实经常想到这件事—— 当我想到每一个我失去的人的时候, 特别是我的母亲, 抚慰我的 就是在阿鲁巴的那个敬畏时刻。
mortality:n.死亡数,死亡率;必死性,必死的命运; in particular:尤其,特别; soothes:v.安慰;劝慰;减轻,缓解(soothe的第三人称单数)
I picture myself on that beach, looking at that sky, and I remember how I felt. 我想象自己在海滩上, 仰望着天空, 我当时感受依然记忆犹新。
My existence may be temporary , but that's OK because, my gosh, look at what I'm a part of. 我的存在可能是短暂的, 但是那无所谓,因为,我的天哪, 看看我存在于一个 多么令人敬畏的空间。
temporary:adj.暂时的,临时的;n.临时工,临时雇员;
And so this is a lesson I've learned, and it's one that applies to life in general : duration of experience does not equal impact . 所以这是我获得的经验, 而且它可以被运用到所有生命: 经历的长短并不能 衡量它所带来的影响。
applies:v.适用;申请;运用;专心;(apply的第三人称单数) in general:总之,通常;一般而言; duration:n.持续时间;期间; impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响;
One weekend, one conversation -- hell, one glance -- can change everything. 一个周末,一段对话—— 甚至只是一个凝视—— 就可以改变一切。
Cherish those moments of deep connection with other people, with the natural world, and make them a priority . 珍惜与他人、与自然世界产生 深刻联系的瞬间, 并适当重视它们。
Cherish:v.珍爱;怀有(感情等);抱有(希望等); priority:n.优先;优先权;[数]优先次序;优先考虑的事;
Yes, I chase eclipses. 是的,我追逐日食。
You might chase something else. 你也许会追逐其他东西。
But it's not about the 174 seconds. 但是这不只关乎174秒,
It's about how they change the years that come after. 这关乎它们会如何改变 不远的将来。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）