goodwill¹ tour by the three apollo 11 astronauts. A moon rock given to the Dutch prime minister by Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969 has turned out to be a fake." width="460" border="0" src="/upimg/090912/4_011951_1.jpg" />
A piece of moon rock was given during a goodwill tour by the three apollo 11 astronauts. A moon rock given to the Dutch prime minister by Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969 has turned out to be a fake.

A moon rock given to the Dutch prime minister by Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969 has turned out to be a fake.

Curators at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, where the rock has attracted tens of thousands of visitors each year, discovered that the "lunar rock", valued at £308,000, was in fact petrified² wood.

Xandra van Gelder, who oversaw³ the investigation⁴, said the museum would continue to keep the stone as a curiosity.

The rock was given to Willem Drees, a former Dutch leader, during a global tour by Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin following their moon mission 50 years ago.

J. William Middendorf, the former American ambassador to the Netherlands, made the presentation to Mr Drees and the rock was then donated to the Rijksmuseum after his death in 1988.

"I do remember that Drees was very interested in the little piece of stone. But that it's not real, I don't know anything about that," Mr Middendorf said.

Nasa gave moon rocks to more than 100 countries following lunar missions in 1969 and the 1970s.

The United States Embassy in The Hague is carrying out an investigation into the affair.

Researchers from Amsterdam's Free University were able to tell at a glance that the rock was unlikely to be from the moon, a conclusion that was borne out by tests.

"It's a nondescript, pretty-much-worthless stone," said Frank Beunk, a geologist⁵ involved in the investigation.

“阿波罗11号”的宇航员于1969年赠送给荷兰首相的月球石居然是假的。

这块石头现保存在阿姆斯特丹国立博物馆，每年吸引数十万游客。该馆馆长发现，这块价值号称30.8万英镑的“月亮石”实际上是块石化木。

负责调查监督的桑德拉•凡•盖尔德说，博物馆会继续将这块石头当作珍品保存。

50年前，尼尔•阿姆斯特朗、迈克尔•柯林斯和爱德文•“巴茨”•奥尔德林在完成登月使命后进行了一次全球之旅，并在访问荷兰时将这块石头赠送给了荷兰前首相威廉•德雷斯。

时任美国驻荷兰大使J•威廉•米登多夫将这块石头赠送给了德雷斯，1988年德雷斯去世之后，这块石头就被捐献给了荷兰国立博物馆。

米登多夫说：“我记得德雷斯对这块小石头非常感兴趣。但是至于这块石头是假的一事，我完全不知情。”

在1969年和20世纪70年代的几次登月后，美国宇航局向100多个国家赠送了月球石。

美国驻海牙大使馆正在对此事进行调查。

阿姆斯特丹自由大学的研究人员称，他们一眼便能看出这块石头不可能来自月球，这一结论已通过测试证实。

参与这次调查的地质学家弗兰克•比昂克说：“这只是一块普通的、没什么价值的石头。”

Vocabulary:

petrified:被石化的

curiosity:珍品

bear out: to prove right or justified⁶; confirm 证实，证明（Facts will bear out the statement. 事实将证实这项陈述。）

nondescript:having no interesting or unusual features or qualities 无特征的；平庸的；毫无个性的