今日导读
近日，美国政府提出要在 2020 年前完成太空军的组建计划。如果该计划得以实现，太空军将成为美国历史上的第六个军种。对此，外界惊呼美国或通过打造“星球大战 2.0 版”来实现“统治太空”的宏伟计划。组建太空军的提议并非一帆风顺，美国国防部长马蒂斯去年就曾公开批评这项提议。然而今年 8 月以来，马蒂斯本人对该提议的态度有了 180 度的转变。美国高层对于该计划最初的顾虑是什么？又是什么促成了他们态度的转变？今天，就让我们跟着雪梨老师一起来看看《华盛顿邮报》对太空军的深度报道吧！
带着问题听讲解
Q1: 新闻的大标题暗含了哪些信息？
Q2: 美国为什么要建立太空军？
Q3: 英文中的类比修辞有什么作用？
新闻正文
Pentagon is moving toward establishing Trump's Space Force
美国国防部酝酿建立特朗普的太空军
The Pentagon is moving toward fulfilling President Donald Trump's request to establish a Space Force, in what would be the first new branch of the military in more than 70 years.
美国国防部正在采取行动履行唐纳德·特朗普总统的命令，组建一支太空军。如果组建成功，太空军将会是美国 70 多年来的第一支新军种。
In a speech at the Pentagon Thursday at 11:15 a.m., Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to lay out the administration's plan. The Pentagon is also expected to release a Congressionally-mandated report on the issue.
美国副总统麦克·彭斯安排于周四上午 11 点 15 分在五角大楼阐述政府关于组建太空军的计划。国防部也预期会发布一份由国会授权撰写的关于该计划的报告。
But the calls for a separate military branch have been met with strong reluctance in some parts of the Pentagon amid concerns that it doesn't need the burdens of a new bureaucracy. The move could significantly reorganize the military and potentially strip the Air Force of some of its key responsibilities.
然而，建立一支独立军种的呼吁受到了国防部一些官员的强烈反对，他们担心这个新的官僚组织会成为国防部的负担。组建太空军这一举动会在很大程度上改变军队结构，还可能剥夺空军的一些关键职责。
Congressional approval would be needed to stand up an entirely new military branch. A Space Force, dedicated to space the way the Navy is to the sea, would be the first new military service since the Air Force was created in 1947. But Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that creating a new combatant command for space, such as one that governs the Pentagon's Special Operations "is certainly one thing that we can establish."
一个全新军种的成立需要国会的同意。就像海军致力于海洋安全一样，太空军将致力于外太空的安全。太空军将会是继 1947 年美国设立空军以来的第一支军队。对此美国国防部长吉姆·马蒂斯表示，组建一个像掌管国防部特种任务的作战司令部那样的指挥太空作战的司令部，是“我们力所能及的一件事情。”
Military leaders have said repeatedly that modern warfare depends on space. The Pentagon and intelligence community has a host of sensitive satellites that perform all sorts of vital national security tasks, such as missile warning, precision-guided munitions, military communications, intelligence.
军方领导多次重申，现代战争取胜的关键在于太空。美国国防部和情报系统拥有许多机密卫星，它们被用于导弹预警、精确制导武器、军队通讯以及情报等各种重要的国家安全任务。
————— 文章来源 / 华盛顿邮报
重点词汇
Pentagon /ˈpentəɡɑːn/
n. 五角大楼（指美国国防部）
fulfil/fʊlˈfɪl/
v. 履行（诺言等）; 执行（命令等）
e.g.
You should fulfil your promise once you made it.
lay out
阐述；讲解；策划
e.g.
lay out an idea
lay out inspirations
mandated/ˈmændeɪtɪd/
adj. 获得授权的
reluctance/rɪˈlʌktəns/
n. 不情愿；勉强
e.g.
He admits he's wrong with reluctance.
He is reluctant to admit he's wrong.
bureaucracy/bjʊˈrɑːkrəsi/
n. 官僚体制；官僚主义
e.g.
Bureaucracies can tend to stifle enterprise and initiative.
strip sb. of sth.
剥夺；取消
e.g.
The criminal was stripped of his political right for life.
combatant/kəmˈbætnt/
n. 参战者；战斗人员
munition/mjuːˈnɪʃn/
n. 军需品；武器
