孤独。：英语精读讲义

Hey, Vsauce.

嘿，Vsauce。

Michael here

我是迈克尔，

and I am back in New York City

我又回到了纽约市。

and today we're going to talk

今天我们要聊聊

about loneliness.

孤独。

But first,

不过，先说件事，

I just learned this yesterday,

这是我昨天才知道的：

Bear Grylls,

贝尔·格里尔斯，

the host of Man vs. Wild,

《荒野求生》的主持人，

has three sons

有三个儿子。

and I'm not kidding,

我可没开玩笑，

their names are

他们的名字分别是

Jesse, Huckleberry, and Marmaduke.

杰西、哈克贝利和马默杜克。

Well, here's another name for you.

好，再给你一个名字。

Michael Collins,

迈克尔·柯林斯。

not the Irish revolutionary leader, 語法

不是那位爱尔兰革命领袖，

but Michael Collins the NASA astronaut.

而是NASA宇航员迈克尔·柯林斯。

This guy was part of the Apollo 11 crew, 短語搭配

他是阿波罗11号任务的机组成员，

meaning that he was part of the team that went to, landed on the moon, 表達脈絡

也就是说，他所在的团队飞往月球并成功着陆，

and became the first people to walk on the moon.

成为首批在月球上行走的人类。

Except, you might not know Michael Collins's

不过，你可能对迈克尔·柯林斯这个

name as well because he did not get to walk on the moon. 短語搭配

名字没那么熟悉，因为他并没能在月球上行走。

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked around,

尼尔·阿姆斯特朗和巴兹·奥尔德林在月面四处行走，

but Michael Collins had to stay orbiting the moon 語法

但迈克尔·柯林斯却不得不继续绕月飞行，

in the command module to link up with them later. 短語動詞

留在指令舱里，等之后再与他们会合。

Well, this is where things get lonely. 表達脈絡

好，孤独就是从这里开始的。

People realized that Michael Collins,

人们意识到，迈克尔·柯林斯

there in the command module orbiting the moon alone,

独自待在绕月飞行的指令舱里，

was in a quite unique position.

正处于一个相当独特的境地。

When he circled around the far side of the moon,

当他绕到月球背面，

the side that faced away from Earth, 短語動詞

也就是背对地球的那一面时，

he lost all radio contact with Earth and with Armstrong and Aldrin. 短語搭配

他与地球、阿姆斯特朗和奥尔德林的一切无线电联系都中断了。

For about the 48 minutes that Michael Collins was orbiting around the other end of the moon,

在迈克尔·柯林斯绕行月球另一侧的约48分钟里，

he was quite literally the most lonely 語法

从字面意义上说，他是

a human being has ever been.

人类有史以来最孤独的人。

He was the furthest from any other humans

他当时离其他任何人都无比遥远，

that any human has ever been since the very beginning of mankind.

比人类诞生以来任何人曾经离得都更远。

If you haven't yet seen Veritasium's video about how far away the moon is from Earth, 語法

如果你还没看过Veritasium那期讲月球离地球有多远的视频，

you should definitely check it out. 短語動詞

一定要去看看。

But the whole point is that we tend to think the moon is much closer than it really is 講解

关键在于，我们往往觉得月球比实际近得多，

because most illustrations we see put the two objects quite close because it's easier.

因为为了方便，我们看到的大多数示意图都会把这两个天体画得很近。

But to scale, 用詞

但如果严格按照比例，

this is how far away the moon is.

月球其实有这么远。

We actually measure the distance to the moon quite frequently

事实上，我们经常测量地球到月球的距离，

using reflectors that were left on the moon.

方法是利用留在月球上的反射器。

That's right.

没错。

They're just sitting there all alone on the surface of the moon

它们就那样孤零零地待在月球表面，

waiting for us to shoot lasers at them.

等着我们向它们发射激光。

By looking at how long it took the light to return to us, 語法

通过观察光线返回我们这里花了多长时间，

we can calculate quite accurately how far away the moon is.

我们就能相当精确地算出月球有多远。

And we've been doing this for a while 短語搭配

这项测量我们已经做了很久，

and one of the most bizarre things we've learned 語法

而我们发现的最不可思议的事情之一，

is that the moon is actually

就是月球实际上

spiraling away from Earth quite slowly. 短語動詞

正在相当缓慢地以螺旋轨迹远离地球。

Every year,

每年，

the moon is about 38 mm

月球都会再远离地球约38毫米，

further away than it was the year before. 語法

也就是比前一年远了这么多。

38 mm is about 1 and 1/2 in.

38毫米约等于1.5英寸。

Those reflectors are not the only thing we left on the

那些反射器并不是我们留在

moon. We actually left a lot of man-made stuff,

月球上的唯一物品。事实上，我们还留下了大量人造物品，

a lot of junk there.

那里堆着不少垃圾。

There is an entire Wikipedia article just listing

维基百科甚至有一整篇条目，专门列出

the big stuff we left behind. 短語動詞

我们遗留在那里的大型物品。

But there are man-made objects that are even further away from the Earth than the Moon.

但有些人造物体离地球比月球还要远。

In fact, 表達脈絡

事实上，

there are four things that humans have built

人类制造的物体中有四个

that have traveled so far away from Earth, 語法

已经飞到了离地球极其遥远的地方，

they are no longer within our solar system.

甚至不再位于我们的太阳系内。

Voyager 1 is actually the furthest man-made object from Earth ever.

旅行者1号其实是有史以来离地球最远的人造物体。

And aboard, NASA included a gold-plated record that contained information about humanity 文化背景

NASA还在探测器上放了一张镀金唱片，里面收录了有关人类的信息，

just in case anything out there found them. 短語搭配

以防宇宙中有什么东西发现它们。

You can read all about everything that NASA put on the disc

想了解NASA放进唱片的全部内容，

by following a link in this video's description.

可以点击本视频简介中的链接。

But the item that has always resonated with me 習語

不过，其中一直最能触动我的，

is a song they chose.

是他们选中的一首歌。

They put lots and lots of audio on the disc, 短語搭配

他们在唱片里收录了大量声音，

but one song in particular was chosen 短語搭配

但其中有一首歌是特意选来

to represent to whoever or whatever found it, 語法

向任何发现唱片的人或其他存在，

the human emotion of loneliness.

传达人类的孤独感。

The song is by Blind Willie Johnson and it's called

这首歌出自盲人威利·约翰逊，名叫

Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground. 語法

《黑夜沉沉，大地冰凉》。

There are no lyrics, 表達脈絡

它没有歌词，

just humming.

只有哼唱声。

You can listen to it

你可以去听听，

by following a link in this video's description.

链接就在本视频的简介中。

And as you listen,

聆听时，

think about the weight of that meaning. 習語

请想一想这层含义的分量。

This song was picked to represent

这首歌被选中，是为了向

to aliens what loneliness is. 語法

外星生命传达什么是孤独。

Blind Willie Johnson himself wasn't blind his whole life. 語法

盲人威利·约翰逊并不是一辈子都双目失明。

He was blinded as a child

他小时候双目失明，

when his stepmother threw lye in his face.

因为继母把碱液泼到了他的脸上。

And he died of malarial fever

后来，他死于疟疾引发的高烧，

after his home burned down and he had nowhere else to live 講解

当时他的家被烧毁，又无处可住，

but on wet newspaper.

只能栖身在湿报纸上。

But now,

但如今，

his song is way out there 用詞

他的歌正在遥远的地方，

in interstellar space representing us.

在星际空间中代表着我们。

Thanks for watching.

感谢观看。