2017年考研英语一阅读 Text 2 原文翻译及答案解析

"The ancient Hawaiians were astronomers," wrote Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last reigning monarch, in 1897. Star watchers were among the most esteemed members of Hawaiian society. Sadly, all is not well with astronomy in Hawaii today. Protests have erupted over construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), a giant observatory that promises to revolutionize humanity's view of the cosmos.

"古夏威夷人是天文学家，"夏威夷末代女王莉莉乌卡拉尼在1897年写道。观星者曾是夏威夷社会中最受尊敬的成员之一。遗憾的是，如今夏威夷的天文学状况并不乐观。关于建造三十米望远镜（TMT）的抗议活动爆发了，这座巨型天文台有望彻底改变人类对宇宙的看法。

At issue is the TMT's planned location on Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano worshiped by some Hawaiians as the piko, that connects the Hawaiian Islands to the heavens. But Mauna Kea is also home to some of the world's most powerful telescopes. Rested in the Pacific Ocean, Mauna Kea's peak rises above the bulk of our planet's dense atmosphere, where conditions allow telescopes to obtain images of unsurpassed clarity.

争议焦点是TMT计划建在莫纳克亚山上，这座休眠火山被一些夏威夷人视为连接夏威夷群岛与天空的"piko"（脐带）。但莫纳克亚山也是一些世界最强大望远镜的所在地。它坐落在太平洋中，山峰高耸于地球大部分稠密大气层之上，那里的条件使望远镜能获得无与伦比的清晰图像。

Opposition to telescopes on Mauna Kea is nothing new. A small but vocal group of Hawaiians and environmentalists have long viewed their presence as disrespect for sacred land and a painful reminder of the occupation of what was once a sovereign nation.

反对在莫纳克亚山上建造望远镜并非新鲜事。一小群但声音洪亮的夏威夷人和环保主义者长期以来认为，这些望远镜的存在是对神圣土地的不尊重，也是对曾经是一个主权国家被占领的痛苦提醒。

Some blame for the current controversy belongs to astronomers. In their eagerness to build bigger telescopes, they forgot that science is not the only way of understanding the world. They did not always prioritize the protection of Mauna Kea's fragile ecosystems or its holiness to the island's inhabitants. Hawaiian culture is not a relic of the past; it is a living culture undergoing a renaissance today.

当前争议的部分责任在于天文学家。他们急于建造更大的望远镜，忘记了科学并非理解世界的唯一方式。他们并不总是优先保护莫纳克亚山脆弱的生态系统或其对岛民的神圣性。夏威夷文化不是过去的遗迹；它是一种正在经历复兴的活态文化。

Yet science has a cultural history, too, with roots going back to the dawn of civilization. The same curiosity to find what lies beyond the horizon that first brought early Polynesians to Hawaii's shores inspires astronomers today to explore the heavens. Calls to disassemble all telescopes on Mauna Kea or to ban future development there ignore the reality that astronomy and Hawaiian culture both seek to answer big questions about who we are, where we come from and where we are going. Perhaps that is why we explore the starry skies, as if answering a primal calling to know ourselves and our true ancestral homes.

然而，科学也有其文化历史，其根源可追溯至文明黎明。最初吸引早期波利尼西亚人来到夏威夷海岸、寻找地平线之外事物的好奇心，如今也激励着天文学家探索天空。呼吁拆卸莫纳克亚山上的所有望远镜或禁止未来开发，忽略了天文学和夏威夷文化都试图回答关于我们是谁、从哪里来、到哪里去等重大问题的现实。也许这就是我们探索星空的原因，仿佛是在回应一种了解自己和真正祖先家园的原始召唤。

The astronomy community is making compromises to change its use of Mauna Kea. The TMT site was chosen to minimize the telescope's visibility around the island and to avoid archaeological and environmental impact. To limit the number of telescopes on Mauna Kea, old ones will be removed at the end of their lifetimes and their sites returned to a natural state. There is no reason why everyone cannot be welcomed on Mauna Kea to embrace their cultural heritage and to study the stars.

天文学界正在做出妥协，以改变其对莫纳克亚山的使用方式。TMT的选址旨在最小化望远镜在岛屿周围的可见度，并避免考古和环境影响。为了限制莫纳克亚山上的望远镜数量，旧望远镜将在使用寿命结束时被移除，其场地恢复到自然状态。没有理由不让每个人都能在莫纳克亚山上受到欢迎，拥抱他们的文化遗产并研究星辰。

-5-

-5-