纽约时报 沉寂100多年的“坚忍号”沉船被发现(3)

 

    The story is ongoing¹: As natural resources dwindle², global powers are racing³ to mine new frontiers of the jungles, the oceans, the Arctic north.

    故事还在继续：随着自然资源的减少，全球大国正在竞相开采丛林、海洋和北极北部的新领域。

    Antarctica, the world’s last true wilderness⁴, is protected by a treaty, signed by 42 countries, that imposed a ban on resource extraction from the continent, except for scientific research purposes.

    南极洲是世界上最后一片真正的荒野，受到42个国家签署的一项条约的保护，该条约禁止从南极洲开采资源，除非是为了科学研究目的。

    But nations are jockeying for access to Antarctic fishing, mining and oil reserves.

    但各国都在争夺南极的渔业、矿业和石油储备。

    Even if the treaty remains⁵ in place, all is not well at the bottom of the planet.

    即使条约继续生效，地球底部也并非一切都好。

    When Shackleton and his men voyaged to Antarctica, they entered a frozen world.

    当沙克尔顿和他的船员航行到南极洲时，他们进入了一个冰冻的世界。

    Pictures of Endurance, taken by the expedition’s photographer, Frank Hurley, show the great ship iced into place, high and dry on the ocean’s wintry wastes.

    探险队的摄影师弗兰克·赫尔利拍摄的“坚忍号”号的照片显示，这艘巨轮被冰封在原地，在海洋的冬季荒地上高耸着、保持船身干燥。

    The images are iconic; they are also documents of a landscape that is vanishing quickly.

    这些图像是标志性的; 它们也是一种正在迅速消失的景观文件。

    The Great White South is thawing⁶ out.

    南极的冰雪正在融化。

    Once, the ice that covered the Weddell Sea made underwater exploration impractical⁷, but in recent months the thickness of that ice has been at some of the lowest levels ever recorded.

    曾经，威德尔海的冰层使得水下勘探变得不切实际，但最近几个月，冰层的厚度达到了有记录以来的最低水平。

    The discovery of Endurance was aided by climate change.

    “坚忍号”的发现得益于气候变化。

    Other old things are emerging from under ice as the planet heats.

    随着地球变暖，其他古老的东西也从冰下冒了出来。

    Researchers are discovering vestiges⁸ of lost worlds, preserved by the now-impermanent permafrost, from tools and weapons of early human societies to the corpses⁹ of mammoths and wolves that once roamed the Siberian steppe.

    从早期人类社会的工具和武器，到曾经在西伯利亚大草原上游荡的猛犸象和狼的尸体，研究人员正在发现被现在的永久冻土层保存下来的消失世界的遗迹。

    Scientists worry that ancient pathogens may be unleashed¹⁰ along with them — that our next pandemic might be a disease that felled our ancient ancestors.

    科学家们担心，远古的病原体可能会随之释放——我们的下一次疫情可能是一种曾使我们远古祖先灭绝的疾病。

    Graver still is the vast quantity of carbon, trapped in undecayed plant matter for thousands of years, that is released into the atmosphere as permafrost thaws¹¹, creating a feedback loop: temperatures rise, soil melts, gases disperse¹², temperatures rise further.

    更严重的是，大量的碳被困在未腐烂的植物物质中数千年，随着永冻层融化，它们被释放到大气中，形成一个反馈回路: 温度上升，冻层土壤融化，气体扩散，温度进一步上升。

    In Shackleton’s time, the hardiest¹³ adventurers — those strivers to the uttermost — made journeys to the poles.

    在沙克尔顿的时代，坚韧不拔的冒险家——他们不断奋斗、毫不松懈——踏上了南极之旅。

    Now, as glaciers¹⁴ dissolve and sea levels rise, the poles may, in effect, journey to us, swamping our shores.

    现在，随着冰川融化和海平面上升，两极实际上可能会向我们移动，淹没我们的海岸。

    When we watch the video of Endurance, we are seeing an artifact of the past, but is it also a portent¹⁵ of the future on our ailing¹⁶ planet?

    当我们观看“坚忍号”的视频时，我们看到的是过去的产物，但这也是我们这个境况不佳的星球上未来的预兆吗？

    To keep this ship afloat may take a heroic effort.

    让这艘船保持航行状态需要付出巨大的努力。

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 dwindle   

v.逐渐变小（或减少）

参考例句：

• The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred.工厂雇员总数已经从4,000多人减少到几百人。
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority.他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。

3 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

4 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 thawing   

n.熔化，融化v.（气候）解冻( thaw的现在分词 )；（态度、感情等）缓和；（冰、雪及冷冻食物）溶化；软化

参考例句：

• The ice is thawing. 冰在融化。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• It had been snowing and thawing and the streets were sloppy. 天一直在下雪，雪又一直在融化，街上泥泞不堪。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

7 impractical   

adj.不现实的，不实用的，不切实际的

参考例句：

• He was hopelessly impractical when it came to planning new projects.一到规划新项目，他就完全没有了实际操作的能力。
• An entirely rigid system is impractical.一套完全死板的体制是不实际的。

8 vestiges   

残余部分( vestige的名词复数 )； 遗迹； 痕迹； 毫不

参考例句：

• the last vestiges of the old colonial regime 旧殖民制度最后的残余
• These upright stones are the vestiges of some ancient religion. 这些竖立的石头是某种古代宗教的遗迹。

9 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

10 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 thaws   

n.（足以解冻的）暖和天气( thaw的名词复数 )；（敌对国家之间）关系缓和v.（气候）解冻( thaw的第三人称单数 )；（态度、感情等）缓和；（冰、雪及冷冻食物）溶化；软化

参考例句：

• The sun at noon thaws the ice on the road. 中午的阳光很快把路上的冰融化了。 来自辞典例句
• It thaws in March here. 在此地化雪的季节是三月。 来自辞典例句

12 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

13 hardiest   

能吃苦耐劳的，坚强的( hardy的最高级 )； （植物等）耐寒的

参考例句：

• This trip will season even the hardiest traveller. 这个旅行会让最坚硬的旅行者适应。

14 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）

15 portent   

n.预兆；恶兆；怪事

参考例句：

• I see it as a portent of things to come.我把它看作是将要到来的事物的前兆。
• As for her engagement with Adam,I would say the portents are gloomy.至于她和亚当的婚约，我看兆头不妙。

16 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。