人類真的有必要花費(fèi)巨額金錢去探索外太空嗎

今天的這段對話，在討論太空旅行，
 
太空旅行需要花費(fèi)大筆金錢，你覺得真有必要嗎
 
來聽今天的講解:
 
A: So do you think we should sent people to Mars or Moon to spend all this money on space travel?
 
你認(rèn)為我們應(yīng)該花費(fèi)大筆金錢把人類送上火星或月球進(jìn)行太空旅行嗎？
 
B: Well, I think we should. Space travel can give people hope for the future, and space travel can unite people from different countries for a common goal.
 
我認(rèn)為應(yīng)該。太空旅行可以讓人類對未來充滿希望，也可以用共同的目標(biāo)讓不同國家的人團(tuán)結(jié)起來。
 
A: But do any countries work together to travel in space?
 
可是各國有在太空旅行上展開合作嗎？
 
B: Oh certainly. The International Space station has astronauts from different countries working together. And I think that a joint effort is the best way to do space missions. I think that we could go back to the Moon and learn much more by going there than we can learn if we don't go there.
 
哦當(dāng)然有了。來自不同國家的宇航員在國際空間站一起工作。我認(rèn)為共同努力是進(jìn)行太空任務(wù)的最佳方法。我們可以回到月球，我認(rèn)為與不去月球相比，去月球可以學(xué)到更多東西。
 
A: I see what you mean, but I think we could learn more and we could improve more if we can help the people on Earth. Think of everything we could learn from the children that can't get an education these days. Maybe the next Einstein is a poor little girl who doesn't have the money to go to school. If we spent more money on school or clean water and vaccines, maybe we could learn more from ourselves than from going to space and going to Mars.
 
我明白你的意思，不過我認(rèn)為幫助地球上的人能使我們學(xué)到更多、提高更多。想想我們在無法接受教育的孩子身上了解到的情況。也許下一個愛因斯坦就是沒有錢上學(xué)的貧窮女孩。如果我們在學(xué)校、清潔飲用水和疫苗上投入更多資金，也許相比去太空和去火星，我們可以從自己身上學(xué)到更多。
 
B: I agree with you that more should be spent on education, but we don't need the next Einstein if were not doing space travel. The problem is what are people with money willing to spend it on. I think that it would be nice if we could have all the rich countries spend money on education for poor people, but if you look at the numbers, the cost of one space mission is much cheaper than the things we spend money on now.
 
我同意你的觀點(diǎn)，我們應(yīng)該加大對教育的投入，但是如果我們不進(jìn)行太空旅行，那我們不需要另一個愛因斯坦。問題是富有的人想將錢花在哪里。我認(rèn)為如果所有富有國家都可以增加教育經(jīng)費(fèi)，解決窮人上學(xué)問題，那是件好事，但是如果看金額的話，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)一次太空任務(wù)的費(fèi)用遠(yuǎn)低于我們現(xiàn)在在其他事情上的花費(fèi)。
 
A: Like what?
 
比如哪些花費(fèi)？
 
B: Well, the first example that comes to mind is war. One day of war is so expensive for all the governments and the militaries that are involved. One day of war costs more money than one space mission. But war goes on and on for days.
 
我首先想到的是戰(zhàn)爭。對所有牽涉戰(zhàn)事中的國家政府和軍隊來說，一日軍費(fèi)非常昂貴。一日軍費(fèi)比太空任務(wù)的費(fèi)用要多得多。但是戰(zhàn)爭會持續(xù)很長時間。
 
A: Yeah, and years.
 
對，可能持續(xù)數(shù)年。
 
B: So, if you think about money in terms of ... sorry ... so the money for a space mission is expensive by itself, but when you compare it to other things it's actually kind of cheap.
 
所以，如果你想想那些花費(fèi)……抱歉，一次太空任務(wù)的花費(fèi)的確很多，但是當(dāng)和其他花費(fèi)相比時，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)其實(shí)太空任務(wù)并不昂貴。
 
A: I see what you're saying. You're comparing the cost of space travel to war, but I would compare the cost of space travel to the cost of, for example, getting rid of malaria. I think we could get rid of a terrible disease like malaria for as much as we would spend on a trip to Mars.
 
我明白你的觀點(diǎn)。你將太空旅行的花費(fèi)和戰(zhàn)爭花費(fèi)相比，但是我會將太空旅行的花費(fèi)和消除瘧疾相比。有去火星旅行的那筆費(fèi)用，我們可以消除瘧疾等可怕的疾病。
 
B: Getting rid of malaria or going to Mars? Well, of course I would also choose that we get rid of malaria.
 
消除瘧疾還是去火星？當(dāng)然我也會選擇消除瘧疾。
 
A: Maybe we'll have to agree to disagree.
 
也許我們可以保留不同意見。
 
B: We might have to disagree this time.
 
這次我們可以保留不同意見。
 
A: OK.
 
好。