万物简史 第315期:地下的烈火(23)

 　　The luckiest person on that day was a graduate student named Harry¹ Glicken. 那一天最走运的要算是一位名叫哈里·格利肯的研究生。

　　He had been manning an observation post 5.7 miles from the mountain, 他是离火山9公里处一个观察所的工作人员，

　　but he had a college placement interview on May 18 in California, and so had left the site the day before the eruption². 但5月18日在加利福尼亚有个大学编班面试，因此在火山爆发前一天离开了现场。

　　His place was taken by David Johnston. 他的位置由戴维·约翰斯顿接替。

　　Johnston was the first to report the volcano exploding; moments later he was dead. 约翰斯顿是第一个报告火山爆发的人，不一会儿，他就死了。

　　His body was never found. 他的尸体永远无法找到。

　　Glicken's luck, alas³, was temporary. 哎呀，格利肯也好运不长，

　　Eleven years later he was one of forty-three scientists and journalists fatally caught up in a lethal⁴ outpouring of superheated ash, gases, and molten rock, 11年以后，在日本的云仙岳火山，在又一次报道不准的火山爆发中，43名科学家和记者被喷出的过热的灰烬、气体和熔岩，

　　what is known as a pyroclastic flow—at Mount Unzen in Japan when yet another volcano was catastrophically misread. 即所谓的火成碎屑流——吞没，格利肯是其中之一。

　　Volcanologists may or may not be the worst scientists in the world at making predictions, 火山学家也许是世界上最不善于作出预言的人，也许不是。

　　but they are without question the worst in the world at realizing how bad their predictions are. 但是，他们肯定是最不善于发现自己的预言是多么糟糕的人。

　　Less than two years after the Unzen catastrophe⁵ another group of volcano watchers, led by Stanley Williams of the University of Arizona, 云仙岳灾难发生后不到两年，在亚利桑那大学的斯坦利·威廉斯的率领之下，

　　descended⁶ into the rim⁷ of an active volcano called Galeras in Colombia. 另一组火山观测员走进哥伦比亚一座名叫加莱拉斯火山的活火山口。

　　Despite the deaths of recent years, only two of the sixteen members of Williams's party wore safety helmets or other protective gear. 尽管近来不断死人，威廉斯小组的16名成员只有两人戴了安全帽或别的防护装备。

　　The volcano erupted, killing⁸ six of the scientists, along with three tourists who had followed them, 火山喷发了，造成6名科学家死亡，加上3名跟在后面的游客，

　　and seriously injuring several others, including Williams himself. 其他几人受了重伤，包括威廉斯本人。

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

3 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

4 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

5 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

6 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

7 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。