Neil Armstrong's partner on the Apollo 11 mission, Buzz Aldrin

Background: 尼爾·阿姆斯特郎 (Neil Armstrong) 是 1969 年第一位登上月球的宇航員。當時有無數人聽到了他從月球上發回的的廣播講話錄音。其中就包括了下面這句話 It’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind. 這句話成為了名言，不過有些人說，句子有語法錯誤。現在一項新的研究對此進行了重新考證。

Questions: 請在聽下面錄音的時候試著回答這些問題。這是一個用來幫助你提高聽力技能的練習。

1. What was Neil Armstrong’s grammatical error?

2. Does Neil Armstrong think that he made an error?

3. According to the new research, did Neil Armstrong really make an error?

4. Did Neil Armstrong’s error ruin his speech from the moon?

Neil Armstrong's Words 尼爾·阿姆斯特朗的話

Neil Armstrong:

"It's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind."

Or should that have been, "One small step for a man"?

Neil Armstrong has always said that he thought that that's what he said and maybe the vital 'a' got lost in a crackle of static.

Now researchers analysing recently released digitally-enhanced recordings of the entire Apollo 11 mission have confirmed that he did not say the word 'a'.

But a linguistic analysis of the way in which he spoke suggested that he intended to say 'a' and that the first words spoken on the moon were spontaneous and not memorised from a written script.

The researchers also argue that although the expression was not strictly correct its rhythm and symmetry poetically capture the sense and mood of one of humanity's most epic moments.

GLOSSARY 詞匯表 (收聽發音, 請單擊英語單詞)

Answers

1. What was Neil Armstrong’s grammatical error?

Many people think he should have said, "One small step for a man…"

2. Does Neil Armstrong think that he made an error?

No, Neil Armstrong thought he said 'a' and that it got lost in static.

3. According to the new research, did Neil Armstrong really make an error?

Yes, researchers have confirmed that he did not say 'a'.

4. Did Neil Armstrong’s error ruin his speech from the moon?

No. Although it was not strictly correct, what Neil Armstrong said has greater rhythm and symmetry.