unit7_硕士英语综合教程_课文翻译.docVIP

Unit 7 Exploration is an important survival strategy in evolution. 探索是进化过程中一个重要的生存策略。 The migration of expansive species depends on exploring their immediate or distant surroundings for new food sources or safe habitats; it can also come as a result of population pressures or environmental changes. 数量不断扩张的物种的迁移有赖于对临近或遥远的新的食物来源或安全的栖息地进行探索，这是人口压力或是环境变化的结果。 The human species has added another reason for exploration, namely curiosity. This intellectual urge to explore the unknown led the great European explorers to the Americas, Australia and Antarctica between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. 而人类还增加了另外一个探索的原因，即好奇心。这种对未知事物进行探索的思想冲动引领着伟大的欧洲探险家们在15世纪到17世纪之间来到了美洲，澳大利亚和南极洲。 Inquisitiveness about nature is also the driving force behind humans exploring the polar caps, climbing mountain peaks and diving into the abysses of the oceans. 对大自然的好奇心同样也是人类探索极地冰冠，攀登山峰和潜入海底背后的驱动力。 Now, the ultimate frontier to explore in the twenty-first century is space. Astronomical observations and satellites have already yielded immense knowledge about our solar system and the universe beyond. 现在二十一世纪探索的最终前沿便是太空。天文观测和人造卫星已经为我们提供了关于太阳系内外的宇宙的丰富知识。 But these technologies can provide only a limited picture of what is out there; eventually humans themselves will have to travel to other planets to investigate them in more intimate detail. 但是这些技术只能提供一些有限的概况，让我们知道那里都有些什么。最终人类还是要亲自前往其他星球以进行更详细的研究。 Tremendous advances in rocket and spaceship technologies during the past 50 years, driven mainly by national security considerations, the need for better communication or a desire to observe environmental changes and human activity on the ground, have made it possible to send humans into near-Earth orbit and to the Moon. 过去五十年间国家安全方面的考虑促使火箭和飞船技术取得了巨大进步。现在，人类已经能够进入近地轨道和月球以便能够更好地实现通讯效果或是观察环境变化以及地面人类活动。 Conceivably, these advances will eventually make it possible to transport astronauts to other planets, and Mars in particular.可以想象，这些进展将最终能将宇航员送至其他星球，尤其是火星。 But there are significant differences bet