A multi-million dollar spaceship hurtles towards the moon — at 60km per minute. An explosion rips through its delicate shell. The astronauts must abandon the crippled mothership 300,000km from home. Their only hope is to trust the hardware that betrayed them, in a leap of faith that will become the most famous space rescue in history. It’s April 13, 1970, and Commander Jim Lovell must get his crew back to earth. A single false move could kill them all. Less than a year ago, the space race was won in dramatic style when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon for the first time and made history. NASA has another seven moon landings planned over the next three years and today Apollo 13 is undergoing final checks before launch.
一艘價值數百萬美元的太空船,以每分鐘六十公里的速度衝向月球。一場爆炸炸穿了它脆弱的外殼。太空人必須放棄受損的母船,當時他們和地球相距三十萬公里,只能將希望寄託在曾發生問題的硬體上,這項孤注一擲的嘗試,將成為史上最有名的太空救援行動。一九七0年四月十三日,指揮官吉姆•洛威爾必須讓組員安返地球,任何錯誤都可能害死他們。不到一年前,美國很戲劇性地在太空競賽中勝出,尼爾•阿姆斯壯首次踏上月球,寫下歷史新頁。美國航太總署計畫在三年進行七次登月計畫。阿波羅十三號正在進行發射前的最後檢查。
The mission commander is Jim Lovell, a 42-year-old father of four. Lovell’s mission is to explore the lunar highlands. The landing site could be treacherous, but the prize will be a new understanding of the moon’s geology and natural resources. But as Apollo 13 prepares to leave earth, it’s clear that the public’s appetite for space exploration has waned. Space flight seems to have become almost routine. In the run up to 13’s launch, a series of technical snags barely make the headlines, but there is one malfunction that no one has discovered. During pre-flight tests, a heating element inside an oxygen tank fails, damaging some electrical insulation. Apollo 13 is hiding a potentially deadly flaw.
吉姆•洛威爾是任務指揮官,四十二歲的他有四名子女。洛威爾的任務是探勘月球的高地,降落地點可能很危險,他們將能深入瞭解月球的地質和自然資源。但阿波羅十三號準備離開地球時,人們對太空探險顯然已經興趣缺缺了。太空飛行似乎已成家常便飯。這場發射在準備期間發生過多次技術故障,但幾乎都未成為頭條新聞。有一個故障一直沒被發現。在飛行前測試時,氧氣槽內一個加熱元件故障,破壞了電線的絕緣層。阿波羅十三號潛藏著一個足以致命的缺陷。
At 1.13pm on Saturday April 11, a 36-storey high Saturn Five rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Less than three hours later, Apollo 13 is racing toward the moon at nearly 37,000km per hour, almost 10 times faster than a bullet. Alongside Lovell are his crewmen, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert. Both are crack military test pilots, but this is their first time in space. Swigert, an Air Force pilot, joined the crew only two days ago, but he knows the command module as well as anyone.
四月十一日週六下午一點十三分,三十六樓高的農神五號火箭從佛州的甘迺迪太空中心發射。不到三小時,阿波羅十三號就以近三萬七千公里的時速(幾乎比子彈快十倍)衝向月球。和洛威爾同行的組員是軍方頂尖試飛員弗萊德•海斯和傑克•斯威格特,這是他們第一次進入太空。空軍飛行員斯威格特兩天前才加入小組,但他對指揮艙非常熟悉。
Tune in tonight at 10pm to find out more about this treacherous voyage.
今晚十點敬請鎖定本節目,一同深入探索這場危險之旅。
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
It’s no secret that Japanese people have a deep affection for noodles. Like in the rest of East Asia, noodles are an important staple food, second only to rice. Japanese people have enjoyed noodles for over 1,000 years. The first noodles came from China and were introduced around 800 CE. As time passed, noodles in Japan not only became widespread but also developed some unique Japanese characteristics. The three most popular types of noodles in Japan are ramen, soba, and udon. Ramen, typically made from wheat flour, is usually thin and firm. The dough is kneaded and left to
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang As with many aspects of Japanese culture, there is etiquette to follow when you enjoy noodles. To fully experience noodles like a local on your next visit to Japan, consider these simple guidelines. First, be careful where you put your chopsticks. Don’t leave them sticking up in the broth or set them at the side of the bowl. When you have finished eating or if you’re taking a break, place them on the chopstick rest next to the bowl. Also, it is impolite to wave chopsticks around or bring them above mouth-level. Second, don’t take too