32．Journey To The Bottoms Of The Pacific Ocean

32．Journey  To  The  Bottoms  Of  The  Pacific  OceanThe journey two naval¹ officers made some time ago to the very deepest pointon  the  earth  makes  us  realize  how  much  of  the  world  still  remains  to  beexplored. The two men went down seven miles to the bottoms of the PacificOcean inside a small steel ball called a 'bathyscaphe'(1) to find out ifthere  are  any  ocean  currents(2)  or  signs  of  life.  Above  the  ball  therewas  a  special  tank  full  of  petrolwhich was slowly emptied(3) into the water to make the bathyscaphe heavyenough  to  complete  its  journey.
　　It was necessary to set out early, so that the bathyscaphe would come tothe surface in daylight, and so be easily found by the mother ship(4) whichwould be waiting for it. The divers² began preparations at dawn and  soonafterwards,  when  all  was  ready,  the  steel  ball  disappeared  under  thesurface  of  the  water.
　　The  divers  felt  as  if  they  were  going  down  steps  as  they  passed  throughwarm and cold layers of water(5). In time(6), the temperature dropped tofreezing-point and the men shivered³ inside the ball. They kept in touchwith  the  mother  ship  by  telephone  describing  how  they  felt.  Then,  at  adepth  of  3,000  feet,  the  telephone  stopped  working  and  they  were  quitecut off from the outside world. All went well until some four hours laterat 30,000 feet, the men were startled⁴ by a loud, cracking noise: even thesmallest hole in the ball would have meant instant death. Luckily, though,it  was  only  one  of  the  outer  windows  that  had  broken.  Soon  afterwards,the bathyscaphe touched the soft ocean floor raising a big cloud of 'dust'
　　made  up  of  small,  dead  sea-creatures.  Here,  powerful  lights  lit  up  thedark water and the men were surprised to see fish swimming just above themquite  untroubled  by  the  enormous  water-pressure.  But  they  did  not  dareto leave the lights on for long, as the heat from them made the water boil.
　　Quite unexpectedly⁵, the telephone began working again and the faint butclear  voices  of  the  officers  were  heard  on  the  mother  ship  seven  milesaway.  After  a  stay  of  thirty  minutes  the  men  began  their  journey  up,arriving three hours later, cold and wet through, but none the worse(7)for  theirexperience.

1 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

2 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

3 shivered   

（因寒冷，害怕等）颤抖，哆嗦( shiver的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We shivered in the damp of the forest. 我们因树林里的湿气而打寒颤。
• She shivered involuntarily as he approached her. 他离她越来越近，她不由自主地颤抖起来。

4 startled   

adj.受惊吓的v.使惊跳，使大吃一惊( startle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A crowd of 2000 was startled near the end of the concert. 2000名观众在音乐会将近结束时大吃一惊。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Startled by the sudden whistle of the train, the horse broke away. 火车突然鸣笛，那匹马受惊脱逃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 unexpectedly   

adv.未料到地，意外地；竟；居然；骤然

参考例句：

• The volcano unexpectedly blew up early in the morning. 火山一早突然爆发了。
• I had just put the dinner on when Jim walked in unexpectedly. 我刚把晚饭摆上桌，吉姆突然走进来。