"You do not need to be a rocket scientist." Americans hear these words often. People say them in schools, offices and factories. Broadcasters on radio and television use them.
"You do not need to be a rocket scientist." 美国人经常听到这句话。人们在学校、办公室和工厂经常这样说,电台和电视台也经常用到。
This is how you might hear the words used.
以下是你可能听到的一些对话。
Workers in an office are afraid to try to use their new computer system. Their employer tells them not to be foolish. "You do not need to be a rocket scientist to learn this," he says.
Or, high school students cannot seem to understand something their teacher is explaining. "Come on," she says. "You do not need to be a rocket scientist to understand this."
Or, a company that makes soap is trying to sell its product on television. "You do not need to be a rocket scientist to see that our soap cleans better," the company says.
These words send a strong message. They say that you do not need to be extremely intelligent to understand something.
这些话传递出一个强烈信息。他们说的是,你不必非常聪明就能理解某些事物。
How did the expression begin?
这种说法是怎么来的呢?
No one seems to know for sure. But an official of the American space agency, NASA, says the expression just grew. It grew, he says, because rocket scientists probably are the most intelligent people around.
Some people might be considered more intelligent than rocket scientists. For example, a person who speaks and reads fifteen languages, or a medical doctor who operates on the brain.
有些人可能被认为比火箭科学家更加聪明。例如,会说15种语言的人,或脑科手术医生。
Still, many people would agree that there is something special about scientists who build rockets. Maybe it has to do with the mystery of space travel.
尽管如此,很多人认同制造火箭的科学家有些与众不同的地方。也许它与太空旅行的神秘有关。
Moving pictures from before World War Two showed a man named Buck Rogers landing on the planet Mars. He was a hero who could defeat any enemy from outer space.
The rocket scientist is a different kind of hero. He or she makes space travel possible.
火箭科学家是另一种类型的英雄。他(她)们使太空旅行成为可能。
Rocket scientists, however, can have problems just like anyone else.
然而,火箭科学家也像其他人一样会遇到问题。
A Washington rocket scientist tells about a launch that was postponed many, many times. Finally, everything seemed right. Mechanical failures had been repaired. The weather was good.
华盛顿一位火箭科学家谈到一次推迟了很多次的发射。最终似乎万事就绪,机械故障已被修复,天气也很好。
The scientists had planned that part of the rocket would fall into the ocean after the launch. All ships and boats within many kilometers of the danger area had been warned. But in the last few seconds a small boat entered the area. Once again, the launch was postponed.
When the work goes well, most rocket scientists enjoy their jobs. One scientist said, "As a child I loved to build rockets. Now I am grown. I still love to build rockets. And now I get paid for it."