(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Shirley Griffith. And I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program People in America. Each week we tell about someone important in the history of the United States. This week we tell about astronaut Alan Shepard, who was the first American to fly in space.
MISSION CONTROL: "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four three, two, one, zero. Liftoff!"
SHEPARD:"Ah Roger, liftoff and the clock has started."
MISSION CONTROL: unintelligible.
SHEPARD: "Yes sir, reading you loud and clear. This is Freedom Seven. The fuel is go, one point two g, cabin at 14 psi, oxygen is go!"
The clock has started. With those words, Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into space. He was in a small spacecraft called Freedom Seven. It was on top of a huge rocket traveling at more than eight thousand kilometers an hour.
Fifteen minutes later, Freedom Seven came down in the Atlantic Ocean. Alan Shepard was a national hero. He had won an important victory for the United States. The date was May fifth, nineteen sixty-one. The United States and the Soviet Union were in a tense competition for world influence. And this competition was reaching even into the cold darkness of space.
In nineteen fifty-seven, the Soviet Union launched the first electronic satellite, Sputnik One. The United States successfully launched its first spacecraft less than four months later. Now the two sides were racing to see who could launch the first human space traveler.
On April twelfth, nineteen sixty-one, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin flew in space for one hundred eight minutes. He circled the Earth once. The Soviets again were winning the "space race," but not for long. Three weeks later the United States also put a man into space. He was a thirty-seven-year-old officer in the Navy -- Alan Shepard.
Alan Bartlett Shepard, Junior, was born on November eighteenth, nineteen twenty-three in East Derry, New Hampshire. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in nineteen forty-four. He married soon after his graduation. Then he served for a short time on a destroyer in the Pacific during World War Two.
In nineteen forty-seven, Alan Shepard became a pilot in the Navy. Later he became a test pilot. The life of a test pilot can be very dangerous. It helped prepare Alan Shepard for an even greater danger in the future.
The successes that the Soviet Union had with its Sputnik program caused the United States to speed up its plans for a space program. The Americans decided to launch a satellite as soon as possible. The first attempt failed. The rocket exploded during launch.
Support was growing, in Congress and among scientists, for a United States civilian space agency. Soon, Congress passed a bill creating NASA -- the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. President Eisenhower signed the bill into law.
NASA's job was to be scientific space exploration. Its major goal was sending the first Americans into space.
Within three months, the program had a name: Project Mercury. Mercury was the speedy messenger of the Greek gods. While engineers built the spacecraft, NASA looked for men to fly them.
NASA wanted military test pilots because they test fly new planes. Test pilots are trained to think quickly in dangerous situations. On April seventh, nineteen fifty-nine, the space agency announced the seven Mercury astronauts. They would be the first American space travelers. Alan Shepard was one. The others were Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Virgil Grissom, Walter Schirra and Donald Slayton.
Nine months after the project started, NASA made its first test flight of the Mercury spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Florida. In the next two years, many other tests followed, all without astronauts.
The final test flight was at the end of January, nineteen sixty-one. It carried a chimpanzee named Ham on a seven-hundred-kilometer flight over the Atlantic Ocean. Several problems developed. But Ham survived the launch and the landing in the ocean. Later, Alan Shepard often was asked how he became the first human American to fly in space. "They ran out of monkeys," he joked.
There were some concerns about the safety of the huge Redstone rocket that was to carry the spacecraft. The launch had been delayed several times while more tests were done. By the time the rocket was ready for launch, Yuri Gagarin had already gone into space for the Soviet Union.
The choice of Alan Shepard to be the first American to fly in space was announced just a few days before the launch. Flights planned for May second and May fourth had to be halted because of bad weather.
On May fifth, nineteen sixty-one, a Friday, Alan Shepard struggled once again into his Mercury capsule. The vehicle was named Freedom Seven. There was almost no room to move. Shepard waited inside for four hours. Weather was partly the cause of the delay. There were clouds that would prevent filming the launch. Also some last-minute repairs had to be made to his radio.
Shepard was tired of waiting. So he told the ground crew to hurry to solve the problems and fire the rocket. Finally, they did.
The rocket slowly began climbing. Millions of radio listeners heard a voice from the Cape Canaveral control room say: "This is it, Alan Shepard, there's no turning back. Good luck from all of us here at the Cape."
The rocket rose higher and higher. For five minutes, Alan Shepard felt the weightlessness of space. He felt himself floating.
Freedom Seven flew one hundred eighty-five kilometers high. Then it re-entered the atmosphere and the spacecraft slowed. The fifteen-minute flight ended with a soft splash into the ocean about five hundred kilometers from Cape Canaveral.
Alan Shepard reported: "Everything is A-Okay." A helicopter pulled him from the spacecraft and carried him to a waiting ship.
The flight was a complete success. Three weeks later, President John F. Kennedy declared a new goal for the United States. He called for "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" by the end of the nineteen sixties.
In July of nineteen sixty-nine that goal came true. Alan Shepard was not on that first Apollo moon flight. In fact, he almost never made it to the moon. He developed a disorder in his inner-ear.
It kept him from spaceflight for a number of years. Finally, an operation cured his problem. NASA named Shepard to command Apollo Fourteen. The flight was launched at the end of January, nineteen seventy-one. Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell were the other members of the crew.
Roosa orbited the moon while Shepard and Mitchell landed on the surface. They collected rocks and soil. Shepard also did something else. He played golf. He hit two small golf balls.
It was not easy. Shepard was dressed in a big spacesuit. He described his difficulty to Mission Control in Houston.
SHEPARD: "Houston, while you're looking that up, you might recognize what I have in my hand as the handle for the contingency sample return; it just so happens to have a genuine six iron on the bottom of it. In my left hand, I have a little white pellet that's familiar to millions of Americans. I'll drop it down. Unfortunately, the suit is so stiff, I can't do this with two hands, but I'm going to try a little sand-trap shot here."
When Shepard did hit the golf balls, they traveled "for miles and miles," as he reported, because the gravity on the moon is one-sixth of the gravity on Earth.
The only humans to walk on the moon were in the Apollo space flight program. Twelve American astronauts walked on the moon between nineteen sixty-nine and nineteen seventy-two. Alan Shepard was the fifth one.
In nineteen seventy-four, he retired from NASA and the Navy. Shepard became chairman of a building company in Houston, Texas. Later he began his own company, called Seven Fourteen Enterprises. It was named for his flights on Freedom Seven and Apollo Fourteen.
He also wrote a book with astronaut Deke Slayton about his experiences. The book is called "Moon Shot." And he led a group raising college money for science and engineering students.
Alan Shepard died on July twenty-first, nineteen ninety-eight after a two-year fight with the blood disease leukemia. He was seventy-four years old. He had been married to his wife, Louise, for fifty-three years.
Alan Shepard was the first American to fly in space. He rode into the sky on rocket fuel and the hopes and dreams of a nation.
He will always be remembered as an American hero because of those fifteen minutes in space.
重点解析
1.speed up加速
Plenty of fresh air and exercise will speed up his recovery.
充足的新鲜空气和体育锻炼将加速他的康复。
2.as soon as possible 尽快
If you have any suggestions please contact us and we will reply to you as soon as possible or to improve!
如果您有任何的建议的意见请联系我们，我们将尽快给您答复或改进！
3.at the end of在...尽头
You can see a bank at the end of the street.
在这条街的尽头你可以看见一家银行。
4.tired of厌烦
If you are tired of your life you should do something about it.
如果你厌倦了你的生活，你就应该为此做点什么。
5.end with以...结束
It seems that you ignore the fact that education should not end with graduation.
你似乎忽视了教育不应该随着毕业而结束这一事实。
6.in fact事实上
Well, in fact I only agree with you to some extent.
唔，实际上，我只是在一定程度上同愈你的观点。
参考译文
我是，雪莉·格里菲斯，我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔，这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。每周我们都会讲述一个美国历史上重要人物的故事。本周我们将讲述宇航员艾伦·谢泼德的故事，他是第一位在太空飞行的美国人。
太空航行地面指挥中心：“十，九，八，七，六，五，四，三，二，一，零。发射！”
谢泼德：“罗杰，起飞，计时已经开始。”太空航行地面指挥中心：听不清楚。
谢泼德：“好的，先生，大声清晰地读给你听。这里是自由七号宇宙飞船。燃料准备好了，1.2g，舱室压力为14psi，氧气准备好了!”
计时已经开始了。说完这句话，艾伦·谢泼德成为首位进入太空的美国人。他在一个叫做自由七号的小宇宙飞船里。它位于一枚时速超过8000公里的巨型火箭顶部。
15分钟后，自由七号降落在大西洋。艾伦·谢泼德成为了民族英雄。他为美国赢得了一场重要的胜利。此次飞船进入太空的日期是1961年5月5日。美国和苏联在争夺世界影响力方面展开了激烈的竞争。这场比赛甚至延伸到了太空寒冷黑暗的地方。
1957年，苏联发射了第一颗电子卫星斯普特尼克一号。不到四个月后，美国成功地发射了第一艘宇宙飞船。现在双方都在比赛看谁能发射第一个人类太空旅行者。
1961年4月12日，苏联宇航员尤里·加加林在太空中飞行了108分钟。他绕了地球一周。苏联人又一次赢得了“太空竞赛”的胜利，但时间并不长。三周后，美国也将一名宇航员送入太空。他是一名37岁的海军军官——艾伦·谢泼德。
小艾伦·巴特利特·谢泼德，于1923年11月18日出生在新罕布什尔州东德里。他于1944年毕业于美国海军学院。他毕业后不久就结婚了。二战期间，他在太平洋的一艘驱逐舰上短暂服役。
在1947年，艾伦·谢泼德成为一名海军飞行员。后来他成为了一名试飞员。试飞员的生命是非常危险的。它帮助艾伦·谢泼德为将来更大的危险做好准备。
苏联的斯普特尼克太空项目的成功促使美国加速发展自身的太空项目。美国人决定尽快发射一枚人造卫星。第一次尝试失败了。火箭在发射期间失败了。
国会和科学家对美国民用航天机构的支持正在增加。不久，国会通过了一项创建NASA的法案——美国国家航空和宇宙航行局。艾森豪威尔总统签署该法案成为法律。
NASA的工作是科学太空探索。它的主要目标是将第一批美国人送入太空。
三个月内，这个项目有了一个名字：水星计划。墨丘利是希腊诸神中速度极快的信使。当工程师们建造宇宙飞船时，美国国家航空和宇宙航行局在寻找能驾驶它们的人。
美国国家航空和宇宙航行局需要军事试飞员，因为他们要试飞新飞机。试飞员被训练在危险情况下快速思考。在1959年4月7日，航天局宣布了七名水星计划宇航员。他们将成为第一批美国太空旅行者。艾伦·谢泼德就是其中之一。其他几位分别是斯科特·卡彭特、戈登·库珀、约翰·格伦、维吉尔·格里森姆、沃尔特·希拉和唐纳德·斯雷顿。
该项目启动9个月后，美国宇航局在佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角对水星宇宙飞船进行了首次试飞。在接下来的两年中，美国宇航局又做了其他无人飞行测验。
最后一次试飞是在1961年1月底。它载着一只名叫哈姆的黑猩猩在大西洋上空飞行了700公里。出现了几个问题。但是哈姆幸存了下来，降落在海洋中。后来，人们问艾伦·谢泼德是如何成为在首位太空航行的美国人的。他开玩笑道：“宇航局没有猴子可用了。”
当时人们对运载宇宙飞船的巨大红石火箭的安全性存在一些担忧。发射被推迟了几次，他们又做了几次试验。当火箭准备好发射的时候，尤里·加加林已为苏联进入了太空。
艾伦·谢泼德被选为第一个飞上太空的美国人的消息是在发射前几天宣布的。由于天气恶劣，原定于5月2日和5月4日的发射计划不得不暂停。
1961年5月5日，星期五，艾伦·谢泼德再次挣扎着进入他的水星太空舱。这个太空舱被命名为“自由七号”。里面几乎没有移动的空间。谢泼德在里面等了四个小时。天气是推迟发射的部分原因。云层会阻碍发射的拍摄。此外，他的收音机还必须在最后时刻进行一些修理。
谢泼德等得不耐烦了。所以他告诉地勤人员赶快解决问题，发射火箭。最后，他们做到了。
火箭慢慢地开始爬升。数以百万计的广播听众听到卡纳维拉尔角控制室传来一个声音：“就这样，艾伦·谢泼德，没有回头路了。这里的所有人祝你好运。”
火箭越升越高，五分钟后，艾伦·谢泼德感受到了太空的失重，他感觉自己飘了起来。
自由七号太空船飞行高度185千米。然后太空船重新进入大气层，速度减慢。15分钟的飞行在距离卡纳维拉尔角约500公里的海面上结束。
艾伦·谢泼德报告说：“一切都很好。”一架直升飞机把他从宇宙飞船上拉下来，把他带到一艘等待着的船上。
这次飞行非常成功。三周后，约翰·F·肯尼迪总统宣布了美国的新目标。他呼吁在20世纪60年代末“让一个人登陆月球并安全返回地球”。
1969年7月，这个目标实现了。艾伦·谢泼德并没有参加第一次阿波罗登月飞行。事实上，他几乎从未登上过月球。他出现了内耳疾病。
这使他好几年没有进行太空飞行。最后，手术治好了他的病。美国宇航局任命谢泼德指挥阿波罗14号。飞行在1971年1月底开始。斯图尔特·卢萨和埃德加·米切尔是其他船员。
当谢泼德和米切尔降落在月球表面时，罗萨绕月球轨道飞行。他们收集了岩石和土壤。谢泼德还做了别的事。他打了高尔夫球。他打了两个小高尔夫球。
这并不容易。谢泼德穿着一件宽大的太空服。他向休斯顿的任务控制中心描述了他的困难。
谢泼德：“休斯顿，在这个样品容柄器返回的时候，你就会认出我手上拿的是个什么东西。它的底部恰好有一个真正的6号铁头球棒。在我的左手里，有一个数以百万计的美国人所熟悉的白色小球。我把它放下来。不幸的是，这套衣服太硬了，我不能用两只手击打，但我要在这里试试沙坑球击打。”
谢泼德说，当自己击打高尔夫球后，这些球“飞了很远很远”，因为月球上的重力是地球重力的六分之一。
只有阿波罗太空飞行计划的宇航员实现了月球行走。在1969年至1972年间，12名美国宇航员实现月球行走。艾伦·谢泼德是第五个。
1974年，他从NASA和海军退休。谢泼德成为德克萨斯州休斯敦一家建筑公司的董事长。后来，他成立了自己的公司，公司名为七十四企业。它是以他的自由七号和阿波罗十四航天飞行命名的。
他还和宇航员德克·斯雷顿一起写了一本书，讲述他的经历。书名为《登月》。他还领导了一个团体，为理工科学生筹集大学资金。
艾伦·谢泼德在与血液病白血病斗争了两年之后，于1998年7月21日去世。享年74岁。他和妻子露易丝结婚已经53年了。
艾伦·谢泼德是第一位在太空飞行的美国人。他坐着火箭、带着一个国家的希望和梦想飞上了天空。
凭借自己在太空的那15分钟，谢泼德将永远被作为一个美国英雄而被铭记。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
