精美英文欣赏:从冰山中获取淡水

Obtaining Fresh Water from Icebergs¹

The concept of obtaining fresh water from icebergs that are towed to populated areas and arid² regions of the world was once treated as a joke more appropriate to cartoons than real life. But now it is being considered quite seriously by many nations, especially since scientists have warned that the human race will outgrow³ its fresh water supply faster than it runs out of food.

Glaciers⁴ are a possible source of fresh water that has been overlooked until recently. Three-quarters of the Earth's fresh water supply is still tied up in glacial ice, a reservoir of untapped fresh water so immense that it could sustain all the rivers of the world for 1,000 years. Floating on the oceans every year are 7,659 trillion metric tons of ice encased in 10,000 icebergs that break away from the polar ice caps, more than ninety percent of them from Antarctica.

Huge glaciers that stretch over the shallow continental⁵ shelf give birth to icebergs throughout the year. Icebergs are not like sea ice, which is formed when the sea itself freezes, rather, they are formed entirely⁶ on land, breaking off when glaciers spread over the sea. As they drift away from the polar region, icebergs sometimes move mysteriously in a direction opposite to the wind, pulled by subsurface currents. Because they melt more slowly than smaller pieces of ice, icebergs have been known to drift as far north as 35 degrees south of the equator in the Atlantic Ocean. To corral them and steer⁷ them to parts of the world where they are needed would not be toodifficult.

The difficulty arises in other technical matters, such as the prevention of rapid melting in warmer climates and the funneling⁸ of fresh water to shore in great volume. But even if the icebergs lost half of their volume in towing, the water they could provide would be far cheaper than that produced by desalinization, or removing salt from water.

从冰山中获取淡水

把冰山拖到世界上人口稠密的地区和干旱地带，再从中获取淡水，这个想法曾一度被认为是一个笑话，更适合于卡通画，而非现实生活。 然而现在，许多国家正相当认真地考虑这件事情，特别是在科学家们发出警告之后。 科学家们认为人类将在耗尽粮食之前首先耗尽淡水资源。冰川是一个直到最近以前一直被忽视的可能的淡水源。 全球四分之三的淡水还锁在冰川的冰块中。 冰川就是一个蓄水池，其中未开发的淡水量是如此巨大，足够支持全世界的江河 1000 年。 每年有 7，659 万亿公吨冰漂流在海洋中。 它们包含在 10，000 座从极地冰帽中断裂出来的冰山中。

这些冰山的 90%以上来自南极。 一年四季里，覆盖在浅层大陆架上的巨大冰川生成了众多冰山。 冰山和海水的冰不同，后者是海水自身结冰形成的，而冰山则完全是在陆地上形成的。 当冰川伸展到海水中时，冰山就断裂下来。 当漂离极地地区时，冰山有时会在底层洋流的推动下颇为神秘地逆风移动。 由于冰山比小块的冰融化要慢，因此有的冰山在大西洋中向北飘到了赤道以南35°的地方。 把冰山蓄拦起来并拖到世界上需要它们的地方将不会太困难。 有困难的是其它的技术事宜。 比如，如何防止冰山在较暖的气候中迅速融化以及如何把大量的淡水收集到岸上去。 但是，即便在拖的过程中冰山失去了一半体积，这样做也远比从海水中脱盐取得淡水便宜。

1 icebergs   

n.冰山，流冰( iceberg的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The drift of the icebergs in the sea endangers the ships. 海上冰山的漂流危及船只的安全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The icebergs towered above them. 冰山高耸于他们上方。 来自辞典例句

2 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

3 outgrow   

vt.长大得使…不再适用；成长得不再要

参考例句：

• The little girl will outgrow her fear of pet animals.小女孩慢慢长大后就不会在怕宠物了。
• Children who walk in their sleep usually outgrow the habit.梦游的孩子通常在长大后这个习惯自然消失。

4 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）

5 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

8 funneling   

[医]成漏斗形：描述膀胱底及膀胱尿道交接区

参考例句：