刘洋：中国首位女航天员
作者：
来源：《新高考·高一英语》2012年第09期

        神九发射，中国“神女”刘洋飞天更是引起国内外媒体的极大关注，全世界多家媒体均以“中国将首次送女航天员上太空”为题报道此次载人航天发射。作为继前苏联和美国宇航员之后第三个飞向太空的女性代表，刘洋的影响力确实不同一般。

        L iu Yang， 33， made history on June 16 when she became China’s first female astronaut to blast off into outer space—following in the footsteps of the first female Soviet astronaut in 1963 and the first female American astronaut in 1983.

        Though Liu began astronaut training only two years ago， she has become a Chinese media sensation； her launch brought about a great deal of coverage not seen since the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

        Liu comes from central China’s Henan Province. She started looking toward the sky after high school， when one of her teachers advised her to attend an aviation school.

        Joining the People’s Liberation Army（PLA） Air Force in 1997， Liu became an experienced pilot after flying safely for 1，680 hours. She was promoted to deputy head of a PLA flight unit before being selected to be an astronaut in May 2010. She is now an Air Force major.

        After two years of training， which improved her astronautic skills and ability to fit the space environment， Liu excelled in testing and was selected in March this year to board the Shenzhou⁃9.

        “When I was a pilot， I flew in the sky. Now that I am an astronaut， I will fly in space. This will be a much higher and farther flight，” Liu said before her launch.

        Liu has been described by her colleagues as outgoing and capable. Since joining the military， she has received medals for her public speaking， winning first place in a military speech contest in 2010.

        She has also impressed others as a quick learner. Being trained as an astronaut since 2010， she devoted the first year to basic academic and physical training， only starting to train in aerospace a year ago. Before the start of the Shenzhou⁃9 mission， she had finished all scheduled training courses.

        Jing Haipeng， commander of the mission， was impressed by the swiftness and decisiveness Liu has shown during training sessions. He highly praised the calm manner she displayed in dealing with emergencies.

        However， the difficulty and hardship of her training has not deprived her of life’s pleasures. Liu loves reading， novels in particular. She is also a great cook.

        “I am grateful to the motherland and the people. I feel honored to fly into space on behalf of hundreds of millions of female Chinese citizens，” Liu said at a press conference.

        In future space missions， China will continue to send female astronauts into space， an official responsible for selecting and training astronauts said.

        Link： Brief Introduction to Shenzhou⁃9

        Shenzhou⁃9 was a manned spacecraft flight of China’s Shenzhou program， launched on 16 June， 2012. Shenzhou⁃9 was the second spacecraft and first manned spacecraft to dock with the Tiangong⁃1 space station， which took place on June 18. The Shenzhou⁃9 spacecraft landed on June 29 in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The mission’s crew included Jing Haipeng， Liu Wang and Liu Yang， the first Chinese female astronaut. The next planned mission is Shenzhou⁃10， intended for launch in 2013.

        blast off 点火起飞；发射升空

        例如：The rocket is due to blast off at three o’clock. 火箭预计3点钟发射升空。

        follow in the footsteps of

        跟随……的脚步

        例如：In trying to establish a global brand， HTC is following in the footsteps of another Taiwanese company， Acer Inc. 为了成为一个全球化品牌，HTC跟随着另一家台湾公司——宏基公司——的脚步。

        sensation n. 感觉；轰动；感动

        例如：The new book has created a great sensation. 这本新书引起了巨大轰动。

        aviation n. 航空

        major n. 少校

        devote... to... 致力于……，

        将……专用于……

        例如：Lang Lang is hoping to take time off from concerts and devote himself to teaching. 郎朗希望能从音乐会上抽出时间，致力于教学。

        The national TV channels devoted up to 80% of air time to the Games. 国家电视台将80%的时间用来转播奥运会。

        mission n. 使命

        swiftness n. 迅速，敏捷；快

        decisiveness n. 果断

        emergency n. 紧急情况

        deprive sb. of...

        剥夺某人……；使某人失去……

        例如：The Internet society， like a goldfish bowl， may deprive everyone of privacy. 如今的网络世界，如同透明鱼缸般，会使所有人都失去隐私。

        in particular 尤其，特别

        例如：Do you like any pop music in particular？你有特别喜欢的流行音乐吗？

刘洋：中国首位女航天员