A：I'm reading an interesting report on Mars.

我在看一篇很有意思的有關火星的報道。

B：Oh, what does it say? Does it say water could still exist under the surface of Mars?

上面說什么?說沒說火星地表下面可能會有水存在?

A：Absolutely! It says there is water on Mars buried beneath the surface. It's just a matter of how deep it is.

當然啦!報道中說火星的地下埋藏著水。只不過是一個深淺的問題。

B：Then could the soil on Mars somehow be fertile enough to groh simple plants?

那么火星土壤的肥沃程度夠不夠種植一些簡單的作物呢?

A：The soil would need quite a bit of fertilizer to grow anything. And it would need to be protected from the UV radiation.

火星土壤得需要很多肥料才能長東西。而且還必須防止紫外線對作物的輻射。

B：Actually, we are doing a project in school that involves landing a ship and staying on Mars for an extended period of time. Doef NASA have any type of portable habitats that could be used to stay on the planet?

其實，現(xiàn)在我們正在學校里搞一個項目，內容包括讓飛船在火星上登陸并停留相當長的時期。不知道航空航天局有沒有供人們在火星上留居的移動式房屋?

A：I'm not sure NASA has built any porteble habitats for extended stays on Mars , but they have looked at various designs.

這我不是很清楚。但是他們考察了許多設計方案。

B：One of the most exciting things about Mars is that there could have bean life on it. What are your personal opinions on the life on Mars theory?

有關火星，最激動人心的事情就是火星或許曾經有過生命。你對火星生命論有何高見?

A：Well, I'm not really an expert in this area, but my understanding is that anything is possible. It's just that it is so hard to determine what went on 4.5 billion years ago.

我不是這方面的專家，不過我的觀點是什么事情都有可能。只是想要弄清楚45億年前發(fā)生過什么事情實在是不容易。

B：But maybe there is a chance of gradually improving the surface and atmosphere of Mars so it may be inhabitable by humans.

但是，也許我們可以逐步地改善火星的土質和大氣層，使它能變得適合人類居住。

A：I'm skeptical. Mars is made of rocks containing silicon，iron, and various minerals. It also has an atmosphere of carbon dioxide. It is so different from what we have on earth, you know.

我對此表示懷疑。火星的地面是由含硅、鐵及其他礦物的巖石構成的。另外，它的大氣層的主要成分是二氧化碳。這都與地球的環(huán)境大不相同。

B：I'd still like to hope that some day we could set up a human colony there.

我還是希望有朝一日我們能在火星上建立人類的留居地。

A：But there are still other big problems we need to solve such as prolonged weightlessness, food storage, and a series of physiological effects.

那樣的話，需要解決的問題還很多。像長期失重、食物短缺等等，以及一系列的生理反應問題。