An ICBM is a missile — a weapon that flies a very long way by itself, with no person inside. The letters stand for intercontinental ballistic missile. “Intercontinental” means it can travel from one continent to another, thousands of kilometres. “Ballistic” means that after the engines push it up, it mostly follows a high curve through the sky and then comes down, like a thrown stone, only vastly farther and faster.

An ICBM is a missileICBM是一種飛彈—— a weapon that flies a very long way by itself, with no person inside一種能自己飛很遠、裡面沒有人操縱的武器。 The letters stand for intercontinental ballistic missile這幾個字母代表intercontinental ballistic missile（洲際彈道飛彈）。 "Intercontinental" means it can travel from one continent to another, thousands of kilometres.「Intercontinental」的意思是它能從一個大陸飛到另一個大陸，距離長達數千公里。 "Ballistic" means that after the engines push it up, it mostly follows a high curve through the sky and then comes down「Ballistic」的意思是引擎把它推上去之後，它大致會沿著空中的高弧線飛行，然後再落下來， like a thrown stone, only vastly farther and faster就像丟出去的石頭一樣，只是距離遠得多、速度也快得多。

Countries keep ICBMs as a military threat. You will hear the word in news, history, and talk about war, not at the dinner table.

Countries keep ICBMs as a military threat各國保有ICBM，是作為一種軍事威嚇。 You will hear the word in news, history, and talk about war你會在新聞、歷史，以及談論戰爭的場合聽到這個詞， not at the dinner table而不是在餐桌上。

People say the letters: “I-C-B-M.” It is a cold, technical word.

People say the letters人們會一個字母一個字母唸出來： "I-C-B-M."「I-C-B-M」。 It is a cold, technical word這是一個冷冰冰、很技術性的詞。

Though actually, in casual speech some people just say “long-range missile” and mean roughly the same idea; ICBM is the precise name for this very long-distance type.

Though actually不過其實， in casual speech some people just say "long-range missile" and mean roughly the same idea在比較隨意的說法裡，有些人就只說「long-range missile（長程飛彈）」，意思差不多； ICBM is the precise name for this very long-distance typeICBM則是這種超長距離飛彈類型的精確名稱。