Michael Chugani 褚简宁 - Asteroids｜又中又英

Global interest in asteroids (space rocks) rose after America’s space agency NASA successfully proved it could change the direction of asteroids by crashing rockets into them. The asteroid that NASA’s rocket hit was not a threat to Earth but NASA now knows it can change the direction of asteroids that could collide with Earth. Hollywood has made many movies about asteroids threatening Earth, including the 1998 science fiction movie Armageddon. In the Bible, the word　“Armageddon” means the place or time of a final battle between the forces of good and evil at the end of the world. The word can also mean a battle that can destroy Earth and humankind.

US President Joe Biden recently warned there would be Armageddon if Russian President Vladimir Putin used nuclear weapons in Ukraine. In the movie, a giant asteroid was hurtling (moving very fast) towards Earth. The collision in 18 days would destroy Earth. NASA sent a team of experts to drill a hole in the asteroid and then put a nuclear bomb in it to break it up. I recently watched a 2021 movie on Netflix called Don’t Look Up about an asteroid hitting Earth. It is a political satire black comedy with an ensemble cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep.

An ensemble cast consists of several well-known performers who play equally important parts in a movie. The word “satire” means a way of criticizing people or ideas in a funny way to make a political point. A black comedy movie is a movie that looks at the funny side of things such as death or destruction. Don’t Look Up has a tragic yet funny ending. I won’t tell you in case you want to see it.
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在美国机构太空总署证明它可以透过将火箭撞进小行星（asteroids）来改变其方向以后，掀起了全球对小行星（asteroids）的兴趣。太空总署火箭所撞击的那颗小行星（asteroid）并不对地球构成威胁，但太空总署现在知道，它可以改变那些有机会与地球相撞的小行星的轨迹。荷里活拍过许多关于小行星（asteroids）威胁地球的电影，包括一九九八年的科幻电影《绝世天劫》（Armageddon）。在圣经里， Armageddon译作「哈米吉多顿」，是指在末世末期，善良与邪恶力量终极一战的战场或时刻。这个字也可以解作足以毁灭地球和人类的战役。

美国总统祖‧拜登最近警告，若俄罗斯总统弗拉米基尔‧普京使用核武器攻击乌克兰，将会变成哈米吉多顿的决战（Armageddon）。
  在电影里，一个巨大的行星（asteroid）正在冲向（hurtling）地球。这个撞击将于十八天内毁灭地球。太空总署派出一队专家去在行星（asteroid）中钻洞，再投进核弹以炸碎它。我最近在Netflix上看到一出二零二一年的电影叫《千万别抬头》，也是关于一颗小行星（asteroid）正要撞向地球。
  这是一套政治讽刺的黑色幽默（satire black comedy）电影，巨星云集（ensemble cast），包括李安纳度迪卡比奥以及梅丽史翠普。

An ensemble cast就是电影由知名演员演出戏份大致相等的群戏。Satire是指用诙谐手法批评、讽刺一些人或想法，去带出某一政治见解。A black comedy movie就是探视死亡又或破坏之中的滑稽一面。《千万别抬头》有一个悲惨但又好笑的结局。我就不告诉你了，以防你会想观赏这出电影。中译：七刻
Michael Chugani褚简宁
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中译:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁