中英文本

Which was it, then? Surface transmission or aerosols? Should we be more afraid of contaminated elevator buttons or people breathing near us? Did scientists even know?
那么何者为真？是接触传播还是气溶胶传播？是受污染的电梯按钮或是在身旁呼吸的人更令人担心？科学家真的知道吗？
The shift in advice about masks spooked me, I must admit. Not because of the new advice itself -- I was more than happy to wear a mask if the experts said I should -- but because of the ominous meta message I sensed beneath it: Scientists were figuring this thing out on the fly. The most earnest pronouncements from the world's smartest experts suddenly sounded like little more than well-meant educated guesses.
我必须承认，关于口罩的建议大转弯令我焦虑不安。不是因为这个建议本身，假如专家说要戴口罩，我很乐意这么做，而是因为我感觉到它背后预兆的元信息：科学家是在摸索中得出这个结果的。世界上最聪明的专家用最认真的态度做出的宣告，顿时听起来不过是出于好意的合理猜测。

As this devastating year draws to its raggedy close, it's worth taking a moment to wonder what the long-term effect will be of watching scientists bob and weave on their way to a better understanding of the coronavirus and how to thwart the disease it causes, COVID-19 -- all out in public and all at breakneck speed. Even for a science geek like me, it has been unsettling to watch them debate, disagree, pivot, and reassess. I've been wishing instead that some lab-coated hero would just swoop in and make it go away. I was a baby in 1955 when Jonas Salk introduced his polio vaccine and vanquished a dread disease; ever after, my mother spoke his name with reverence.
随着这灾难的一年进入残破不堪的尾声，现在值得花些时间思考，科学家为了更了解新冠病毒和阻止它所引发的COVID-19，一路上以惊险的速度左闪右躲穿梭前行，这一切看在公众眼中会有什么长期影响。即使像我这种科学宅，看见科学家相互争论、意见不合、改变立场与重新评估，也会感到不安。我宁愿有个穿着实验衣的英雄突然现身终结疫情。1955年我还在襁褓中时，乔纳斯·沙克就是这样推出他研发的小儿麻痹症疫苗，消灭了这可怕的疾病；此后，我母亲提到他的名字时总是无比崇敬。
As scientists hustle to deliver us from a terrifying, seemingly intractable plague, there could be another happy ending -- one that involves not just survival but also wisdom. If we learn any big takeaway from this doleful experience, I hope it's not that our fellow human beings are myopic fools but that the scientific process can be trusted to get us through an existential crisis.
随着科学家拼命努力把我们从恐怖又棘手的疫情中拯救出来，还是有可能再一次出现好结局：在这个结局中，我们不仅能够存活，可能还多了智慧。如果我们能从这个悲惨的经验中学到任何重要的事，我希望是科学过程值得我们信赖，能带我们度过生存危机。

重点讲解

1.figure... out 把...琢磨出来
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.
并不是非得一个绝顶聪明的人才能琢磨出来。

2.draws to close 接近尾声
As 2009 draws to a close, more signs show that China has weathered the global financial crisis and is on its way to even more robust growth.
2009年已经接近尾声，越来越多的迹象显示中国渡过了全球金融危机，而且增长的势头愈发强劲。

3.out in public 公众的视野之中
Could Congress have demanded that all negotiations play out in public?
国会能把所有的协议磋商都置于公众的视野之下吗？