英语听力：探索发现 2012-04-18 荒野求生:冰岛—3

 But as quickly as it came, the storm lifts. And it gives me a brief chance to get my bearings. What we’ve got here is an ice cave. And caves can give you protection.

 

The problem is this cornice all the way up there and how I’m gonna get over this, over this lip and all the way down to there. It’s a 60-foot drop to the bottom and the overhanging ledges¹ can collapse² easily. Probably my best way of doing this is just to traverse along this snow bank and I need to be careful. If you see down there, it looks like a leaf. It might well be a cliff dropping straight off that. You’ve got to be really careful doing this without crampons and without an ice axe³ or rope. It just means that you’ve got to be very certain of every foothold that you take. I start edging across. 

 

The team is standing⁴ by in case I slip. But even so, I’ve got to be so careful here. I’m out of the icy bit of this now. And it’s just a last hold shoot down into the cave. I love this, mates. 

 

This isn’t a cave. It’s actually a funnel⁵. You can say so. It’s open in the bottom. But these things are formed. What happens is melt water comes down the glacier⁶. And because water is warmer than the ice, it creates this. It’s like tunnels running under the glacier. When they get bigger, they grow into this sort of thing. I don’t want to hang around, hang around in this. See a lot of that? It is blue ice as well. And that’s the older sort of ice and it’s also the most dangerous. It’s most likely to crack. 

 

Blue ice is as hard as steel but it’s also as brittle⁷ as glass. And because glaciers⁸ are constantly moving, collapse is a common. Now you see, look, you follow this up, and actually you see a bit of it where it’s flaked⁹ off. And you imagine what else you’re gonna do if it drops on top of you. Last year, a climber was in an ice cave just like this. And 150-ton slab¹⁰ sheared¹¹ off. He stood no chance to survive.

1 ledges   

n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台

参考例句：

• seabirds nesting on rocky ledges 海鸟在岩架上筑巢
• A rusty ironrod projected mournfully from one of the window ledges. 一个窗架上突出一根生锈的铁棒，真是满目凄凉。 来自辞典例句

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

6 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

7 brittle   

adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的

参考例句：

• The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
• She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。

8 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

9 flaked   

精疲力竭的，失去知觉的，睡去的

参考例句：

• They can see how its colours have faded and where paint has flaked. 他们能看到颜色消退的情况以及油漆剥落的地方。
• The river from end to end was flaked with coal fleets. 这条河上从头到尾处处都漂着一队一队的煤船。

10 slab   

n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上

参考例句：

• This heavy slab of oak now stood between the bomb and Hitler.这时笨重的橡木厚板就横在炸弹和希特勒之间了。
• The monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab.这座纪念碑由两根垂直的柱体构成，它们共同支撑着一块平板。

11 sheared   

v.剪羊毛( shear的过去式和过去分词 )；切断；剪切

参考例句：

• A jet plane sheared the blue sky. 一架喷气式飞机划破蓝空。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The pedal had sheared off at the pivot. 踏板在枢轴处断裂了。 来自辞典例句