又中又英——Flying Saucers

　　Many people may not know why Mars is called the Red Planet. I did not know until I researched it years ago. It is called the Red Planet because iron minerals in the Martian soil oxidize, or rust, causing the soil and atmosphere to look red. America’s space agency NASA last week successfully landed its Perseverance Mars rover on Mars to search for ancient signs of life. The word “rover” used this way means a vehicle that is used to explore places in outer space such as Mars and the moon. When the six-wheeled robotic rover landed on Mars last week and beamed (sent) colour images of the planet’s surface to Earth, NASA scientists were awestruck. They said they felt like they were on cloud nine.
　　The word “awestruck” used this way means amazed or filled with admiration. If you are on cloud nine, it means you are extremely happy and excited. One scientist said although the rover will spend several years searching for ancient life, don’t expect it to find little green men. The expression “little green men” is often used to describe small human-like creatures with green skin from other planets. Some science fiction movies show aliens from other planets as little green men. The expression is often used to describe aliens on Mars. But, of course, Mars does not have little green men.
　　The expression became popular in the 1950s when there were reports of flying saucers. A saucer is a small plate for a teacup. Old science fiction movies made alien spaceships look like saucers. In 1955, two men in the US state of Kentucky said they saw metallic-silver human-like aliens about four feet tall. One US newspaper described the aliens as “little green men”. Other media started using the expression. It became a jokingly popular description for creatures from Mars and other planets. The NASA rover won’t find little green men on Mars but I believe aliens exist on other planets. Space is huge. Earth cannot be the only planet with life.
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　　许多人或许不知道，为何火星会叫做 「红色行星」（Red Planet）。我也不知道，直至我多年前研究了一下。它被称为「红色行星」（Red Planet），是因火星土壤中的铁质氧化，或说生锈，令其土壤和大气看起来红红的。上星期，美国太空总署的火星探测车（rover）「毅力号」成功登陆火星，尝试寻找远古生命存在的痕迹。Rover在这里是指在外太空的地方，例如火星和月球上进行探索的车。当这架六轮机械车（rover）上星期登陆火星，并传送（beamed）行星表面的彩色影像回地球时，太空总署的科学家都惊奇不已（awestruck）。他们说，他们感觉飘飘然，像飞到「九霄云外」（cloud nine）了。
　　Awestruck在这里是指十分惊奇或心生敬畏的。若你是 on cloud nine，意即你极其高兴、乐不可支。一位科学家说，虽然这辆探测车（rover）将会花上几年时间搜寻远古生命的证明，可不要期望它会找到little green men。习语“little green men”通常用来形容有着绿色皮肤、矮小的人形外星生物。一些科幻电影都会将来自其他星球的外星人塑造成小绿人（little green men）的形象。这个习语也不时用来形容来自火星的外星人。然而，火星当然没有所谓的小绿人（little green men）。
　　这个习语在一九五○年代很流行，当时有不少飞碟（flying saucers）的目击报告。A saucer就是用来托着茶杯的茶碟。旧科幻电影都会将外星太空船造得像茶碟（saucers）。一九五五年，美国肯塔基州有两个男人声称他们见到金属银色、约四呎高的人形外星生物。一份美国报章就将那些外星人形容为“little green men”，其他媒体亦开始使用这个说法。它变成了普遍对于火星或其他星球来的生物一个开玩笑的形容词。太空总署的探测车（rover）在火星上不会找到小绿人（little green men），但我相信在其他星球上确实有外星人存在。太空广大辽阔，地球不可能是唯一拥有生命的星球。中译：七刻
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中译:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁