What is the world if compared to the least visible star in the firmament ?

即使与天空中最暗弱的恒星相比，这世界又算得上什么?

The extent of encompassing time or space;firmament .

久远，深渊包括时间或空间的范围;苍穹

He then closed his eyes as children do in order that they may see in the resplendent night of their own imagination more stars than are visible in the firmament ;then he re-opened them, and stood motionless with amazement

起初他闭上眼睛，象小孩子一样，在星光皎洁的夜晚合目瞑想，想在他们自己的想象中看到比天上更多的星星，然后他又睁开眼睛，惊奇地站着。

The sky or universe as seen from Earth;the firmament .

天，天空从地球上所见之天空或宇宙;苍穹

Of or relating to the firmament ;celestial.

天国的天国的或与其有关的;天国的

By degrees the wind abated, vast gray clouds rolled towards the west, and the blue firmament appeared studded with bright stars

又过了一会儿风渐渐平息了，大片灰色的云层向西方卷去，蓝色的苍穹显露了出来，上面点缀着明亮的星星。

Knowledge,in truth,is the great sun in the firmament .Life and power are scattered with all its beams.--Daniel Webster

知识的确是天空中硕大无比的太阳。它的光辉撒下生命和力量。--韦伯斯特

||1:This outsized contribution to the Rosetta mission is now typical of Britain’s place in the firmament of satellite construction.||2:About one-quarter of the world’s commercial communication satellites are built in Britain and 40% of the world’s small satellites.||3:Most of those are built by Airbus’s Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), the world leader in the field.||4:It has launched 43 satellites since it was started by an academic at Surrey University, Sir Martin Sweeting.||5:The whole space sector directly employs 35,000 people, and the supply-chain accounts for thousands more jobs.||6:London-based Inmarsat is one of the world’s largest satellite operators, specialising in mobile telephony.||7:The space sector has a turnover of about ￡11 billion a year.

||1:在罗塞塔任务中的突出贡献是英国如今已成为卫星建造领域领头羊的典型表现。||2:世界上大约有四分之一的商用通讯卫星是英国制造，小型卫星的比重则为40％。||3:并且大多数卫星都是由隶属于空客集团的萨里卫星技术有限公司（SSTL）负责生产。||4:SSTL掌握了世界领先的卫星尖端技术，自从萨里大学的教授马丁·斯维廷爵士开启卫星发射活动以来，SSTL已经成功发射了43枚人造卫星。||5:其下属的空间部直接领导的员工就有35000人，而且其相关的供应链产业也创造了几千个工作岗位。||6:以伦敦为中心的国际海事卫星组织（Inmarsat）是世界上最大的卫星基地之一，专攻移动电话制造。||7:空间部每年大约能创造110亿英镑的营业额。

After the government expanded college attendance in 1999, women began to prop up more than half the educational firmament :

1999年，政府扩大了大学入学率后，女性开始支撑起一半以上的教育业：

for it would more than triple the number of man-made objects in the firmament

因为这将使天空中的人造物体数量增加两倍多

They are awakening to a world in which their planet, though still the biggest in the Canadian firmament , is being eclipsed.

但一觉醒来，他们发现在加拿大的这片苍穹下，他们的星球（多伦多）虽然仍是最大的一颗行星，但正在进入蚀亏状态，黯然失色。

But the giddying gyrations generated by global markets last week suggest the mob mentality is alive and kicking in the investment firmament .

但最近全球市场令人眼花缭乱的来回波动表明，在投资领域，从众心理（mobmentality）普遍存在。

The most luminous object in the Republican firmament is Mr McCain’s former running-mate.

共和党苍穹下最闪耀的一颗星体则数麦凯恩先生的前任竞选伙伴。

Many people have spent time outdoors under a dark sky, watching for “shooting stars” to streak across the firmament .

很多人都曾在夜晚来到户外，仰望天空，企盼流星划过天际。

As he is only “one of” your stars, it sounds as if you will be left with better behaved ones in your firmament once his light is put out.

既然他只是你的明星员工“之一”，那么听上去好像一旦他的光辉熄灭，你的天空中还会剩下那些表现更好的“明星”。

The Earth turns, the objects move along the firmament , all followed by the camera.

随着地球转动，拍摄目标会随之而动，这些都会为相机所追踪。

Another gaping hole in the card-carrying firmament is among those who do not have bank accounts, especially new immigrants and the poor.

信用卡的使用领域另外的空隙是那些没有银行帐号的人，特别是新移民和贫穷人士。

Yesterday thou wert soaring far in the firmament , and singing in the radiance of the morn; today thy wings are folded and thy song silent.

也许昨天你曾飞翔天空，歌唱赞美；今天你的翅膀下垂，歌声全止了。

In the green firmament of a slough, galaxies of duckweed are stirred by slow moving waters.

在这绿色沼泽的世界里，水中的浮萍像银河系一般在缓缓流动的水中转动着。

Perhaps that is because the brightest stars in the evangelical firmament are these days in the political, not the religious business.

这或许是因为在福音教的天空中，最耀眼的明星是那些参与政治事务，而非宗教事务的人。

the firmament

太空

starry sky = firmament

晴夜空，星夜