Trouble with the Hubble美文欣賞
Trouble with the Hubble哈勃望遠鏡的困境
The Hubble telescope was launched into space by NASA on April 20,1990 at a cost of over a billion dollars. Right from the start there was trouble with the Hubble. The pictures it sent us were very disappointing because its main mirror was faulty! NASA is now going to put the telescope right, so it will soon be sending up four astronauts to repair it. The shuttle Endeavour will be taking the astronauts to the Hubble. A robot-arm from the Endeavour will grab the telescope and hold it while the astronauts make the necessary repairs. Of course, the Hubble is above the earth's atmosphere, so it will soon be sending us the clearest pictures of the stars and distant galaxies that we have ever seen. The Hubble will tell us a great deal about the age and size of the universe. By the time you read this, the Hubble's eagle eye will have sent us thousands and thousands of wonderful pictures.
參考譯文
哈勃望遠鏡於1990年4月20日由國家航空航天局發射升空，耗資10多億美元。從最開始哈勃望遠鏡就有問題。它傳送給我們的圖像很令人失望，因為它的主要鏡子有誤差。國家航天局準備糾正這一錯誤，為此將把4名宇航員送入太空修復望遠鏡。“奮進”號航天飛機將把宇航員送上哈勃。當宇航員進行必要的修復工作時，“奮進”號上的一隻機器手將抓住望遠鏡並托住它。當然，哈勃位於地球的大氣層之外，因此，它很快就會給我們傳送我們所見到過的、有關行星和遠距離星系的最清晰的照片。哈勃將告訴我們有關宇宙的'年齡和大小的許多事情。等到你讀到這篇文章時，敏鋭的哈勃望遠鏡已經為我們送來了成千上萬張精彩的照片。
Hubble n. 哈勃
telescope n. 望遠鏡
launch v. 發射
space n. 空間
NASA n.(National Aeronautics and Space Administration) 國家航空和航天局
billion n. 10億
faulty adj. 有錯誤的
astronaut n. 宇航員
shuttle n. 航天飛機
Endeavour n. “奮進”號
robot-arm n. 機器手
grab v. 抓
atmosphere n. 大氣層
distant adj. 遙遠的
galaxy n. 星系
universe n. 宇宙
eagle eye 鷹眼
Hubble will tell us a great deal about the age and size of the universe.
a great deal
a great deal後面如果要跟名詞，必須加介詞of，即a great deal of，，，
注意：a great deal of只能修飾不可數名詞。
a great deal可以不加名詞，這個時候它就被用作副詞了。
例如：I've learnt a great deal from this book.
從這本書上我學到了很多。
另外，a great deal of 也可説成a good deal of。
the time you read this, the Hubble's eagle eye will have sent us thousands and thousands of wonderful pictures.
will have sent us將來完成時
表示到將來某個時間為止勢必會完成或預計要完成的動作，由“will [shall] have 過去分詞”構成。如：
When we get there，she’ll have gone to work. 我們到那裏時她會已上班去了。
On Monday he’ll have been in Britain for three years. 到星期一，他在英國就滿三年了。
