Do you want to know more about outer space?

Yes, definitely. I think it’s mysterious, I mean, despite all the research that’s been conducted over the last century and this century, I feel it still remains an enigma to humanity.

There’s even, apparently, space research, which if I remember correctly, was performed by the European Space Agency (ESA), and they determined that our Milky Way galaxy was pretty much in the center of the background radiation tests they performed, which to a layman, sounds pretty extraordinary, so there seems to be an infinite amount of knowledge that awaits discovery. When you really ponder the stars, it’s quite incredible really.

• mysterious 神秘的
• conduct...research 研究
• an enigma 谜团
• humanity 人类
• European Space Agency 欧洲航天局
• determined 算出
• Milky Way 银河
• galaxy 银河；银河系
• background radiation 背景辐射
• layman 外行人
• sounds 听起来
• extraordinary 非凡的
• an infinite amount of 无限的
• awaits discovery 等着发掘

Do you want to go into outer space in the future?

Well, to be honest, I’m not a space-based creature.

I mean, sure, people have gone into the furthest reaches of our atmosphere, but what lies beyond still seems like an abyss into nothingness.

I mean sure, there are photos and videos of other planets on the Internet, for instance, of the Moon and Mars, but they look like endless deserts, in fact, they kinda look like the Dry Valleys in Antarctica, at least Mars does, and I’m sure these alien landscapes are impossibly inhospitable to life, so, no, I’m not keen on the idea of visiting outer space, in part because it seems wholly impossible to me, and second, because it also seems uninhabitable.

• the furthest reaches of 到了最远端/最遥远的地方/最深远之处
• atmosphere 大气层
• abyss 深渊
• nothingness 虚无
• endless deserts 无尽的沙漠
• alien landscapes 外星地形
• inhospitable 不适合居住的
• not keen on the idea of 对……不感兴趣
• uninhabitable 无法居住的

Do you like science fiction movies?

Absolutely, yes. But I have to admit that I’ve only watched a few movies from the science fiction genre so far, for instance, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

It’s a story of the evolution of the human race and outer space. In the movie, there’s this really, well, sort of bulky long spacecraft manned by two men and a supercomputer. It’s a long movie, but every single frame is so captivating that I was hooked from the very beginning. It’s a masterpiece directed by a movie maestro, Stanley Kubrick.

There’s another science fiction film on my ‘to-watch’ list: The Three-Body Problem. It’s a film adapted from a novel, which I read last year.

《三体》的英文版翻译有多好

• genre 流派；派别
• the evolution of 进化
• the human race 人类
• bulky 庞大的
• spacecraft 宇宙飞船
• manned by 由……掌控
• captivating 迷人的
• hooked from the very beginning 一开始就迷上了
• a masterpiece 大师之作
• directed by 由……导演
• maestro 大师

Have you ever learned about outer space?

Yeah, I remember back in the science class during my primary school years, we were introduced to the nine planets in the solar system: Mercury – the smallest one among the nine, Venus, Earth of course, Mars, and there’s Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and what’s the last one? Oh, Pluto.

That was the first time I learned about outer space and the cosmos and it certainly kindled my curiosity in this field.

• Mercury 水星
• Venus 金星
• Earth 地球
• Mars 火星
• Jupiter 木星
• Saturn 土星
• Uranus 天王星
• Neptune 海王星
• Pluto 冥王星
• the cosmos 宇宙
• kindled my curiosity 点燃了我的好奇心