ThisistheVOASpecialEnglishTechnologyReport.Ifyoucouldbuildatimemachine,whatwoulditlooklike?Maybe,itshouldlooklikeatelescope.Americanscientistsarebuildingaspacetelescope,theyhope,willlookbackoverunimaginabledistancesandtimetoshowtheuniverseclosetoitsbeginning.Butthisdistantpastwillmainlybeseenininfraredlight.Visiblelightisjustoneformofradiation.Today,telescopestakepicturesusingformsoflighthiddenfromthehumaneye.TheAmericanspaceagency,NASA,isnowbuildingthelargestspacetelescopeever.TheJamesWebbSpaceTelescope,namedafterNASA’sseconddirector,willhaveamirrorseventimesthesizeoftheHubbleSpaceTelescope.Butitwillmainlystudytheuniverseininfraredlight.Weusuallyexperienceinfraredlightasheat.But,ifyouhaveeverusedaTVremotecontrol,youknowtherearemanyusesforit.Anartist'spictureofwhattheJamesWebbSpaceTelescopewilllooklikeinorbitTheJamesWebbSpaceTelescopeisacomplexengineeringproject.Itwillbehuge--aboutthesizeofapassengerjet.Anditwillhavetobesuper-cooled.Becausethetelescopestudiesinfraredheat,itsmirrormustbekeptveryclosetoabsolutezero.Thatisminustwohundredseventy-threedegreesCelsius.NASAisbuildingtheWebbtelescopeattheGoddardSpaceCenter,outsideWashingtonDC.Theagencyhopestolaunchitintwenty-fourteen.JonathanGardnerisaprojectscientistforthetelescope.Weaskedhimhowthedevicecanlookbackintime.JONATHANGARNER:“Wecanseebackintimebecauselighttakestimetogetfromtheretohere.So,aswelookfurtherandfurtheraway,ittakeslongerandlongerforthelighttogetfromwhereit’semittedtohereandwecanactuallyseebackwardsintime.The"cleanroom"wherescientistsatNASA'sGoddardSpaceCenternearWashingtonAndifyoulookfarenough,youstarttoapproachtheeventscientistsbelievegavebirthtoeverything.JONATHANGARNER:“We’relookingattheuniversewhenitwasmuchyoungerandwe’relookingbackmostofthewaytotheBigBang.”Thetelescopehasthreehighlysensitiveinfraredcameras.Butperhapsitsmostinterestingpartisthesix-point-fivemeterwidemirror.Madeoflight-weightberyllium,themirroriscoveredingold,anddividedintoeighteenlinkedparts.Thispowerfulscientificinstrumentwillbeavailabletoscientistsallovertheworld.JONATHANGARNER:“Anyastronomer,atanyuniversity,inanycountrycanwriteaproposalforwhattheywanttodowiththetelescope.”JonathanGardnersaystheJimWebbSpaceTelescopewillhelpscientistslearnhowthefirstgalaxiesformedandwhattheylookedlike.Itmayevenshowthingsscientistsneverpredicted.Andthat’stheVOASpecialEnglishTechnologyReportwrittenbyGeorgePuticandMarioRitter.WatchvideoabouttheJamesWebbSpaceTelescopeatvoaspecialenglish.com.I’mMarioRitter.I'mSusanClarkwiththeSpecialEnglishprogramWORDSANDTHEIRSTORIES.我是美国之音慢速英语词汇典故节目主持人苏珊·克拉克。TheItalianshaveanoldsaying,"Ildolcefarniente."Thewordsmeanitissweet,orenjoyable,todonothing.意大利人有句老话：“Ildolcefarniente.”意思是，无所事事很甜蜜、享受。Onweekendsandduringholidays,manyofusenjoydoingnothing.Butmostofthetimewehavetowork.And,tokeepourjobs,wemustworkhard.Ouremployerwillnotlikeitifwedonothing.周末和假期的时候，许多人喜欢无所事事。但大部分时间我们必须工作。为了保住工作，我们必须努力工作。雇主也不喜欢我们无所事事。Americanworkersoftencalltheiremployersbosses.ThewordbosscomesfromtheDutchword,baas,meaningmaster.美国人通常称雇主为老板。"boss"这个词来源于荷兰语"baas"，意思是“老板”。Sometimescompanybossesarecalledthebrass.Theyalsoaresometimescalledtopbrass,orbrasshats.有时候公司老板被称为"thebrass"，有时候也称为"topb...
