问答题 Direction:
In this section there is a passage in English. Translate the five sentences underlined into Chinese and write your translation on ANSWER SHEET 2.
The smooth landing of the shuttle (航天飞机) Discovery ended a flight that was successful in almost every respect but one: the dislodging of a big chunk of foam, like the one that doomed the Columbia. This flight was supposed to vault the shuttle fleet back into space after a prolonged grounding for repairs. But given the repeat of the very problem that two years of retooling was supposed to resolve, the verdict is necessarily mixed. (1) {{U}}Once again, the space agency has been forced to put off the flight until it can find a solution to the problem, and no one seems willing to guess how long that may take.{{/U}}
The discovery astronauts performed superbly during their two-week mission, and the shuttle looked better than ever in some respects. (2) {{U}}Space officials were justifiably happy that so much had gone well, despite daily worries over possible risks. The flight clearly achieved its prime objectives.{{/U}}
The astronauts transferred tons of cargo to the international space station, which has been limping along overhead with a reduced crew and limited supplies carried up on smaller Russian spacecraft. (3) {{U}}They replaced a broken device, repaired another and carted away a load of rubbish that had been left on the station, showing the shuttle can bring full loads back down from space.{{/U}}
This was the most scrutinized shuttle flight ever, with the vehicle undergoing close inspection while still in orbit. (4) {{U}}New sensing and photographic equipment to took for potentially dangerous damage to the sensitive external skin proved valuable.{{/U}} A new back flip maneuver allowed station astronauts to photograph the shuttle's underbelly, and an extra-long robotic arm enabled astronauts to see parts of the shuttle that were previously out of sight.
{{U}}The flood of image and the openness in discussing its uncertainties about potential hazards{{/U}} {{U}}sometimes, made it appear that the shuttle was about to fall apart. In the end the damage was clearly tolerable.{{/U}} A much-touted spacewalk to repair the shuttle's skin—the first of its kind—moved an astronaut close enough to pluck out some protruding material with his hand. Preliminary evidence indicates that Discovery has far fewer nicks and gouges than shuttles on previous flights, perhaps showing that improvements to reduce the shedding of debris from the external fuel tank have had some success.
【正确答案】随着发现号航天飞机的平稳着陆,一次飞行结束了。这次飞行从每个方面来看几乎都非常成功,除了一点:一大块泡沫塑料脱落了。哥伦比亚号航天飞机的失事就是由于这样的原因造成的。这次重回太空的飞行本应该在延期了的着陆维修之后,但是如果在两年的机械重组后应该解决的问题重复出现,那么结果必然会变得不确定。在找到解决问题的方案之前,航天机构被迫再次推迟飞行,似乎没人愿意猜测这一推迟可能会持续多长时间。 发现号上的宇航员在执行为期两周的任务中表现出色,航天飞机在某些方面比以往还大有改观。尽管每天都担心可能出现险情,但这么多的工作进展顺利,航天局的官员完全有理由为此感到高兴。这次飞行无疑实现了主要目标。 宇航员们向国际空间站运送了许多物品,一直以来,国际空间站都是靠减少宇航员和由较小的俄罗斯太空船所运送的有限供应来勉强维持。他们更换了一个故障设备,恢复了另一个,并且运走了一批遗留在空间站的垃圾,这表明航天飞机能够从太空满载而归。 这是航天飞机在轨道运行同时进行近距离观察的一次飞行,也是观察最细致的一次。一些新的传感和摄影设备被用来探寻敏感的机体外壳上潜在的损伤,这些设备被证明颇有价值。一种新的翻转式技术使空间站的宇航员能够拍摄到航天飞机的下部,加长的机器人手臂使航天员能够看到以前看不到的航天飞机的零件。 大量的图片和对其潜在危险不确定性的公开讨论,有时给人感觉好像航天飞机快要散架似的。但最终结果表明,这种损伤显然在可容忍的范围内。备受赞誉的首次修理机身外壳的太空行走,能使宇航员离得非常近,可以用手拔掉突出的东西。初步证据表明,发现号上的伤痕比以前的航天飞机都少得多,这也许表明在减少从外部燃料仓脱落碎片方面获得了一些成功。
【答案解析】