China zooms in with world’s biggest radio telescope
中国建成世界最大射电望远镜
广州科技翻译公司：这部人造的碗型望远镜坐落在贵州省的山区，它将用来探索太空，寻找有关宇宙起源的线索和智能生物的迹象。
China has completed construction of the world’s largest radio telescope — a man-made bowl cut into the mountains of southern Guizhou province which will scan the heavens for clues as to the origins of the universe and signs of intelligent life.
中国已建成世界上最大的射电望远镜。这部人造的碗型望远镜坐落在中国南部贵州省的山区。它将用来探索太空，寻找有关宇宙起源的线索和智能生物的迹象。广州科技翻译公司。
The Rmb1.2bn ($180m) telescope took five years to build and has an aperture of 500m, allowing it to scour more of the skies than the previous holder of the largest telescope crown, the 300m Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico.
这部耗时5年建成的望远镜，造价为12亿元人民币（约合1.8亿美元），口径达500米。这让它跟此前世界最大望远镜桂冠的持有者、波多黎各300米口径的阿雷西博(Arecibo)射电望远镜相比，可以探索更广阔的太空。
Decades of high-powered growth have given China the means to invest in “prestige” sciences such as astronomy that are normally the preserve of the world’s richest nations. President Xi Jinping has called for China to become a space power and the country hopes to land a man on the moon by 2036.
几十年的高速增长，使中国获得了投资于天文学等“尖端”学科的财力。通常情况下，这些学科都是世界上富裕国家的独占领域。中国国家主席习近平号召中国成为太空大国，中国希望到2036年实现载人登月。广州科技翻译公司。
The 500m Aperture Spherical Telescope (Fast) advances China’s growing scientific ambitions — but at a cost: destruction of a village in the mountain basin and the displacement of more than 9,000 more people living within 5km of the site.
500米口径球面望远镜(Fast)把中国不断膨胀的科学抱负向前推得更远，但这是有代价的：山间盆地里的一个村庄被毁掉了，该村方圆5公里范围内的9000多居民进行了迁移。
The last giant reflector panel was hoisted into place on Sunday, according to official news agency Xinhua, and scientists will now start debugging the telescope and running trials before beginning operations in September.
官方新华社报道称，周日最后一块巨大的反射面板安装完毕，科学家现在将开始进行射电望远镜的调试和试观测。该望远镜将于9月正式投入使用。广州科技翻译公司。
“The project has the potential to search for more strange objects to better understand the origin of the universe and boost the global hunt for extraterrestrial life,” said Zheng Xiaonian, deputy head of the National Astronomical Observation under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, according to Xinhua.
新华社报道称，郑晓年表示，“该望远镜将可能搜寻到更多的奇异天体，从而能更好地探索宇宙起源，推动对地外文明的探索。”
Local government officials said the project would perform another valuable, if more terrestrial function — providing the struggling Guizhou region with more tourism revenues. An astronomy theme park has been planned nearby and authorities are accelerating a local highway expansion.
当地政府官员们表示，该望远镜将执行另一项宝贵的（可以说更世俗的）职能，即为落后的贵州地区提供更多旅游收入。在望远镜地址附近，一座天文学主题公园已计划修建，而当局也开始加快当地的公路建设。
Nan Rending, Fast’s chief scientist and general engineer, told CCTV news in February that the telescope would give China an edge in exploring the vastness of the universe. “The larger aperture will be able to detect fainter objects in space,” he said. “We can learn about the origins, evolution of celestial bodies through the electromagnetic signals received.”
今年2月，Fast的首席科学家兼总工程师南仁东对中央电视台(CCTV)表示，这台望远镜将使中国在探索浩瀚宇宙方面获得一种优势。“望远镜的口径越大，就越能探测到太空中较暗的物体，”他说。“我们可以通过接收到的电磁信号，了解到天体的起源和演化情况。”
Additional reporting by Ma Fangjing
马芳婧(Ma Fangjing)补充报道
