VOA标准英语2011--Cavers Explore Mysterious Hidden Wonders

Cavers Explore Mysterious Hidden Wonders

Caves have a subconscious¹ hold on our imaginations - for our ancestors, they were not just shelter from the elements but also symbols of the womb, gateways² to the underworld, places of wonder and mystery.
Not so mysterious today, but still full of wonder, caves and caverns³ continue to draw the adventurous⁴, the curious and the scientific.
There are millions of caves around the world, on every continent, in every country. They are home to some of the strangest creatures on earth - eyeless spiders, hydrogen-eating bacteria, worms that glow and other organisms yet to be discovered.
Hidden dangers
Fred Luiszer, a cave scientist at the University of Colorado in Boulder⁵, says that even space scientists are interested in life underground. "If they find life on other moons and other planets, life will probably be very similar to what we're finding in caves."
Penn State/Dan Jones
Snottite is a rare form of gooey, dangling⁶, toxic⁷ bacteria that looks like mucus.
In dark passageways which researchers work diligently⁸ to keep uncontaminated, scientists have discovered microbes that show promise as cancer fighters. But some cave life can be deadly.
A sulphur cave in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is home to a rare form of gooey, dangling, toxic bacteria. Their colonies look like mucus and, according to Luiszer, they got their scientific name from the slang term for what drips out of your nose - snot.
"They are called snottites," he says. "I mean, when you look at one of them in the cave, it looks just like snot. I'm not kidding you."
Snottites thrive on sulphur fumes⁹, and excrete battery acid, so the cave is a hazard for the occasional amateur who ignores warning signs and ventures in.
"You pass out immediately, and if you stayed in that environment for probably, I'm guessing more than an hour or two, it would kill you," says Luiszer.
So far, rescuers have saved the handful of people who have fainted in the sulphur cave.
Cave dwellers¹⁰
Not all cave dwellers are microbial. In Colorado, scientists recently discovered a tiny red, blind, pseudo-scorpion. Bears also love caves and so do bats. In fact, cavers must be careful not to disturb bat colonies.
"Bats are hibernating¹¹ creatures and if you wake them up in the wintertime," says Mark Masyln, a Colorado geologist¹² and caving expert, "they go outside and their food source, insects, is not available and they die off. Which is why on commercial tours, you won't see many bats."
Caves with large bat colonies are closed to the public for another reason. A mysterious, deadly disease called white nose syndrome¹³ has killed more than 400,000 bats in the United States since 2006. Once a colony is infected, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warns that often, over 90 percent of the bats die.
So far, the disease is concentrated in the northeastern U.S. To reduce its spread, wildlife experts have asked cavers to avoid caverns which are not already frequented by tourists or caving groups.
But scientists like Maslyn are trained to keep their gear uncontaminated by white nose syndrome and sometimes they're permitted to go off the beaten path. Wearing boots and a caving helmet, he strides past the tour group in Colorado Springs' Cave of the Winds, and enters a hidden cave that he helped discover.
With a headlamp as his only light, Maslyn unseals an environmental door to reveal what he calls an easy entrance tunnel - half a meter wide - the size of a dinner platter. The reward for squeezing through is a muddy cave containing a dazzling, spiky¹⁴ crystal flower that's taller than a man.
It's a beaded anthodite bush. In decades past, Maslyn says, cavers used to carry anthodites away.
To protect these treasures, Masyln follows the caver's motto: "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time."
Culture of stewardship¹⁵
That culture of stewardship is emphasized now, even at commercial caves, like Glenwood Caverns. 
It starts even before a tour leader brings her group into the cave, when she warns them not to touch anything inside. As another protective measure, the tunnel leading into the caverns starts with a door that seals in the cave's natural coolness and humidity and keeps out the hot, dry Colorado air. The guide opens the door for the group, and then shuts it behind them.
And a dozen meters down the tunnel, she leads them through another.
"To keep the water inside," she tells them. "That's why we have so many doors."
In some parts of the cave, the humidity tops 90 percent, making rock and mineral formations glisten¹⁶. Some look like giant strips of bacon, giant soda¹⁷ straws, and popcorn¹⁸. Stalactites hang high overhead, bathed in what has made them slowly grow over eons of time: water drops.
"If you're going to be hit by a water droplet¹⁹ like that one, it's a sign of good luck," the tour guide says. "And we call that the fairy kisses or the cave kisses. And you're going to be lucky for the rest of the day."
With luck, and stewardship, future generations will also enjoy the wonders of caves and the fairy kisses they have to offer.

1 subconscious   

n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的)

参考例句：

• Nail biting is often a subconscious reaction to tension.咬指甲通常是紧张时的下意识反映。
• My answer seemed to come from the subconscious.我的回答似乎出自下意识。

2 gateways   

n.网关( gateway的名词复数 )；门径；方法；大门口

参考例句：

• Police bullets raked the gateways car. 警察的子弹对着门口的汽车扫射。 来自辞典例句
• No Internet gateways are needed for the programs operation. 该软件的操作不需要互联网网关的支持。 来自互联网

3 caverns   

大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Within were dark caverns; what was inside them, no one could see. 里面是一个黑洞，这里面有什么东西，谁也望不见。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• UNDERGROUND Under water grottos, caverns Filled with apes That eat figs. 在水帘洞里，挤满了猿争吃无花果。

4 adventurous   

adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的　

参考例句：

• I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle.我很羨慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。
• He was predestined to lead an adventurous life.他注定要过冒险的生活。

5 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

6 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

7 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。

8 diligently   

ad.industriously;carefully

参考例句：

• He applied himself diligently to learning French. 他孜孜不倦地学法语。
• He had studied diligently at college. 他在大学里勤奋学习。

9 fumes   

n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体

参考例句：

• The health of our children is being endangered by exhaust fumes. 我们孩子们的健康正受到排放出的废气的损害。
• Exhaust fumes are bad for your health. 废气对健康有害。

10 dwellers   

n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 hibernating   

（某些动物）冬眠，蛰伏( hibernate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The hibernating animals reduce movement to far below the ordinary level. 冬眠的动物把活动量大大减少到低于一般的水平。
• People find hibernating animals asleep. 人们发现冬眠动物处于休眠状态。

12 geologist   

n.地质学家

参考例句：

• The geologist found many uncovered fossils in the valley.在那山谷里，地质学家发现了许多裸露的化石。
• He was a geologist,rated by his cronies as the best in the business.他是一位地质学家，被他的老朋友们看做是这门行当中最好的一位。

13 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

14 spiky   

adj.长而尖的，大钉似的

参考例句：

• Your hairbrush is too spiky for me.你的发刷，我觉得太尖了。
• The spiky handwriting on the airmail envelope from London was obviously hers.发自伦敦的航空信封上的尖长字迹分明是她的。

15 stewardship   

n. n. 管理工作；管事人的职位及职责

参考例句：

• The organization certainly prospered under his stewardship. 不可否认，这个组织在他的管理下兴旺了起来。
• Last, but certainly not least, are the issues of stewardship and ethics. 最后，但当然不是微不足道的，是工作和道德规范的问题。

16 glisten   

vi.（光洁或湿润表面等）闪闪发光，闪闪发亮

参考例句：

• Dewdrops glisten in the morning sun.露珠在晨光下闪闪发光。
• His sunken eyes glistened with delight.他凹陷的眼睛闪现出喜悦的光芒。

17 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

18 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。

19 droplet   

n.小滴，飞沫

参考例句：

• The rate of droplet growth under different conditions can be evaluated.可以计算在不同条件下的云滴增长率。
• The test results showed that increasing droplet size was associated with better stability.试验结果表明，增加液滴尺寸将使稳定性提高。