万物简史 第396期:浩瀚的海洋(15)

 　　There are still no submersibles that can go anywhere near the depth of the Mariana Trench¹ 现在假然没有能下沉到接近马里亚纳海沟深度的探海艇。

　　and only five, including Alvin, that can reach the depths of the "abyssal plain"—the deep ocean floor—that covers more than half the planet's surface. 只有5条，包括“阿尔文”号在内。能够抵达覆盖半个多地球表面的“深海平原”——深处的海床。

　　A typical submersible costs about $25,000 a day to operate, 一条普通的探海艇的运作费高达每天25000美元，

　　so they are hardly dropped into the water on a whim², still less put to sea in the hope that they will randomly³ stumble on something of interest. 因此几乎不会随便沉人海里，更不会到海里去瞎碰瞎撞，指望能碰上撞上什么有意思的东西。

　　It's rather as if our firsthand experience of the surface world were based on the work of five guys exploring on garden tractors after dark. 我们对于地球表面的第一手经验，就好像是建立在五个家伙夜间开着拖拉机进行的探索工作的基础上的。

　　According to Robert Kunzig, humans may have scrutinized⁴ "perhaps a millionth or a billionth of the sea's darkness. Maybe less. Maybe much less." 罗伯特·孔齐希说，人类也许只是察看了“大海暗处的百万分之一，或十亿分之一也许更少。也许少得多。”

　　But oceanographers are nothing if not industrious⁵, and they have made several, important discoveries with their limited resources 但是，海洋学家们兢兢业业，以有限的资源取得了几项重要的发现，

　　including, in 1977, one of the most important and startling biological discoveries of the twentieth century. 包括20世纪一项最重大的生物学发现。

　　In that year Alvin found teeming⁶ colonies of large organisms living on and around deep-sea vents⁷ off the Galapagos Islands, 1977年，“阿尔文”号发现大群大群的大生物生活在加拉帕戈斯群岛附近的深海喷气孔上和周围，

　　tube worms over ten feet long, clams⁸ a foot wide, shrimps⁹ and mussels in profusion¹⁰, wriggling¹¹ spaghetti worms. 3米长的多毛虫，30厘米宽的蛤蜊，大量的虾和蚌，蠕动的管状虫。

　　They all owed their existence to vast colonies of bacteria that were deriving¹² their energy and sustenance¹³ from hydrogen sulfides, 他们都认为，这些生物的存在要归因于大群大群的细菌；这些细菌又从硫化氢，

　　compounds profoundly toxic¹⁴ to surface creatures—that were pouring steadily¹⁵ from the vents. 对地面生物毒性极大的化合物——获取它们所需要的能量和营养，而硫化氢正源源不断地从喷气孔里冒出来。

1 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

2 whim   

n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想

参考例句：

• I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。
• He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。

3 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

4 scrutinized   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The jeweler scrutinized the diamond for flaws. 宝石商人仔细察看钻石有无瑕庇 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Together we scrutinized the twelve lemon cakes from the delicatessen shop. 我们一起把甜食店里买来的十二块柠檬蛋糕细细打量了一番。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比

5 industrious   

adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的

参考例句：

• If the tiller is industrious,the farmland is productive.人勤地不懒。
• She was an industrious and willing worker.她是个勤劳肯干的员工。

6 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

7 vents   

（气体、液体等进出的）孔、口( vent的名词复数 )； （鸟、鱼、爬行动物或小哺乳动物的）肛门； 大衣等的)衩口； 开衩

参考例句：

• He always vents his anger on the dog. 他总是拿狗出气。
• The Dandelion Patch is the least developed of the four active vents. “蒲公英区”在这四个活裂口中是发育最差的一个。

8 clams   

n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The restaurant's specialities are fried clams. 这个餐厅的特色菜是炸蚌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We dug clams in the flats et low tide. 退潮时我们在浅滩挖蛤蜊。 来自辞典例句

9 shrimps   

n.虾，小虾( shrimp的名词复数 )；矮小的人

参考例句：

• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood. 小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I'm going to have shrimps for my tea. 傍晚的便餐我要吃点虾。 来自辞典例句

10 profusion   

n.挥霍；丰富

参考例句：

• He is liberal to profusion.他挥霍无度。
• The leaves are falling in profusion.落叶纷纷。

11 wriggling   

v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕

参考例句：

• The baby was wriggling around on my lap. 婴儿在我大腿上扭来扭去。
• Something that looks like a gray snake is wriggling out. 有一种看来象是灰蛇的东西蠕动着出来了。 来自辞典例句

12 deriving   

v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• I anticipate deriving much instruction from the lecture. 我期望从这演讲中获得很多教益。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He anticipated his deriving much instruction from the lecture. 他期望从这次演讲中得到很多教益。 来自辞典例句

13 sustenance   

n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• The urban homeless are often in desperate need of sustenance.城市里无家可归的人极其需要食物来维持生命。

14 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

15 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。