VOA标准英语2010年-Explorer Retains Deep Dive Record Afte

Still exploring after 50 years, Donald Walsh is shown here at the North Pole.

Donald Walsh grew up near San Francisco in the 1930s. Among his earliest memories is the mega-construction project he saw from his home in the Berkeley hills.

"Namely, the Golden Gate Bridge," he says. "And I used to watch the ships go out over the horizon. I was seven or eight years old and from that age on I really got keen at going to the sea and knowing about the ocean."

 Early dream

Walsh graduated from the U.S. Naval¹ Academy in 1954. A chance assignment in 1958 led him to the Trieste.

He tested the free-diving self-propelled submersible — one of only two in existence at the time — on increasingly deep dives off the California coast.  He was told of a plan to take the bathyscaphe to the deepest part of the ocean, roughly 11,500 meters or deeper than Mt. Everest is high.

US NHHC
The Trieste right before her dive to 35,800 feet in the Challenger Trench² in the Pacific Ocean near Guam.

"That really got my attention because I knew I was going to be a part of it," says Walsh.

The Trieste is now on permanent display at the Naval Museum in Washington. The bathyscaphe is over 16 meters long, and its gasoline-filled flotation chamber³'s deck, rails, and conning⁴ tower make it look a bit like a submarine.

"Basically, it's an underwater balloon. You've got two parts to it: You've got the balloon here — which is this long cylindrical⁶ object — and that's filled with a lighter-than-water substance, which is aviation gasoline," Walsh explains. "Oil floats on water, and so you get the buoyancy or lift. Then, beneath the balloon you have a cabin for the fragile humans."

History-making dive

That cabin is a 14-ton spherical⁷ steel capsule only two meters in diameter, with a single, half-meter-wide circular plastic window for viewing. There is just enough room for two people. Walsh was joined on Trieste's historic dive by co-pilot Swiss scientist Jacques Piccard — whose father, Auguste Piccard, had designed the craft. 

Lt. Don Walsh (left) and Jacques Piccard (center) in cramped⁸ quarters inside Trieste's chamber on January 23, 1960.

On Jan. 23, 1960, the two men took the Trieste to the deepest point in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench, a ravine called Challenger Deep.  

The success of that mission opened the door for deep sea exploration.

Walsh grabbed an opportunity that others would later follow. "We do see bits of our DNA⁹ all over in today's underwater vehicles, both manned and unmanned, because [of] the things that we developed.  Remember, everything we did was a first, not because we were pioneers or inventors, but it is literally¹⁰, necessity is the mother of invention. We needed something, we had to invent it."

 

Donald Walsh in front of the Russian Mir Submersible after diving to the World War II German battleship Bismarck.

Distinguised career

Over his long naval career, Walsh served in both the Korean and Vietnam wars, commanded a submarine and worked as a policy advisor¹¹ and assistant to the secretary of the Navy.

When he retired¹² from the Navy in 1975, he accepted a position at the University of Southern California where he founded and directed the Institute for Marine⁵ and Coastal¹³ Studies and was a professor of ocean engineering.

Walsh spent eight years in academia.  The retired Navy captain continued to pursue his passions as a scuba¹⁴ diver, private pilot and explorer, participating in dozens ocean dives and expeditions to the polar regions. 

 

Don Walsh is given the Hubbard Medal by National Geographic¹⁵.

Still exploring

Exploration, he says, has been central to his life.

"Exploration is curiosity acted upon," Walsh says. "People can look at things and be curious about them, but if you are an explorer you want to know why and how and maybe develop an experiment to test the hypothesis."  He says in his life, "It [has] always being able to look around the next corer and see what's going on." 

Still vibrant¹⁶ at 78, Walsh lives on the Oregon coast and runs his own consulting business.

He was in Washington recently to pick up two  awards — the Navy Distinguished¹⁷ Public Service Medal and the Hubbard Award from National Geographic, the Society's highest honor given for distinction in exploration, discovery and research.

No human has returned to the deepest part of the ocean, although remotely operated vehicles have.

Walsh applauds those advances in technology, but laments¹⁸ that most of the world's deep oceans remain unexplored and that only a handful of vessels¹⁹ — manned or unmanned — exist to do the job.
 

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 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。

3 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

4 conning   

v.诈骗，哄骗( con的现在分词 )；指挥操舵( conn的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He climbed into the conning tower, his eyes haunted and sickly bright. 他爬上司令塔，两眼象见鬼似的亮得近乎病态。 来自辞典例句
• As for Mady, she enriched her record by conning you. 对马德琳来说，这次骗了你，又可在她的光荣历史上多了一笔。 来自辞典例句

5 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 cylindrical   

adj.圆筒形的

参考例句：

• huge cylindrical gas tanks 巨大的圆柱形贮气罐
• Beer cans are cylindrical. 啤酒罐子是圆筒形的。

7 spherical   

adj.球形的；球面的

参考例句：

• The Earth is a nearly spherical planet.地球是一个近似球体的行星。
• Many engineers shy away from spherical projection methods.许多工程师对球面投影法有畏难情绪。

8 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

9 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

12 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

13 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

14 scuba   

n.水中呼吸器

参考例句：

• I first got hooked on scuba diving when I was twelve.12岁时我开始迷上了带水中呼吸器潜水。
• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。

15 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

16 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

17 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

18 laments   

n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the poem he laments the destruction of the countryside. 在那首诗里他对乡村遭到的破坏流露出悲哀。
• In this book he laments the slight interest shown in his writings. 在该书中他慨叹人们对他的著作兴趣微弱。 来自辞典例句

19 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》