The meaning of this sentence and its relationship with others?

[sky753]

Hello Everyone,

I am making efforts to translate an English paragraph into Chinese. However,I am obstructed by one of the sentence. I can't catch its meaning ,neither can I find out its relationship with others.

Here is the paragraph.

We may ask ourselves if we are ready psychologically, to accept the possibility of life elsewhere. We must recognize that what we are doing is simply part of the trend that began with Copernocus and Galileo, who first showed us that Earth is not the certer of the Universe. That , and later discoveries that our galaxy is one of billions --with countless possibilities for life--indicates that we are part of something truly grand,in every sense of that word.

What is the relationship of the underlined with the rest and what is its meaning? And what is the meaning of the phrase "in every sense of that word?"

Thanks and best Regards

[BobK]

Originally Posted by sky753

Hello Everyone,

I am making efforts to translate an English paragraph into Chinese. However,I am obstructed by one of the sentence. I can't catch its meaning ,neither can I find out its relationship with others.

Here is the paragraph.

We may ask ourselves if we are ready psychologically, to accept the possibility of life elsewhere. We must recognize that what we are doing is simply part of the trend that began with Copernocus and Galileo, who first showed us that Earth is not the certer of the Universe. That , and later discoveries that our galaxy is one of billions --with countless possibilities for life--indicates that we are part of something truly grand,in every sense of that word.

What is the relationship of the underlined with the rest and what is its meaning? And what is the meaning of the phrase "in every sense of that word?"

Thanks and best Regards

I think 'That', in the last sentence, refers only to the most recent subordinate clause - 'that Earth is not the center of the Universe'.

'in every sense of the word' refers to possible senses of grand: 'we are part of something not only grand in extent (a universe billions of light-years across, and growing), but also grand in conception, grand in implications, grand in possibilities, ... [grand in every possible way].'

b

[sky753]

Originally Posted by BobK

I think 'That', in the last sentence, refers only to the most recent subordinate clause - 'that Earth is not the center of the Universe'.

'in every sense of the word' refers to possible senses of grand: 'we are part of something not only grand in extent (a universe billions of light-years across, and growing), but also grand in conception, grand in implications, grand in possibilities, ... [grand in every possible way].'

b

Thank you very much for your explanation! I have caught the general idea of the paragraph!

I have three questions here related to the paragraph!

First, Does "word" in every sense of the word refer to grand?

Secondly, what is the meaning of the word "sense"

And thirdly, Pronoun are used more in English than In chinese? Pronouns like this, that , it they ,them etc . are sometimes headache for us. We usually don't know what the pronoun refer to from the context? Are there any rules for us to identify pronoun?

Thanks and best regards