万物简史 第318期:美丽而危险(1)

 　　15 Dangerous Beauty 第十五章 美丽而危险

　　In the 1960s, while studying the volcanic¹ history of Yellowstone National Park, 20世纪60年代，美国地质勘测局的鲍勃·克里斯琴森在研究黄石国家公园火山史的时候，

　　Bob Christiansen of the United States Geological Survey became puzzled about something that, oddly, had not troubled anyone before: 对一件事感到迷惑不解：而且，说来也怪，以前竟然没有人为这件事费过神：

　　he couldn't find the park's volcano. 他找不到这个公园的火山。

　　It had been known for a long time that Yellowstone was volcanic in nature—that's what accounted for all its geysers and other steamy features 很久以来，大家已经知道，黄石公园是火山形成的——因此有那么多喷泉和其他散发蒸汽的地貌。

　　and the one thing about volcanoes is that they are generally pretty conspicuous². 火山有个特点，即：一般来说比较明显。

　　But Christiansen couldn't find the Yellowstone volcano anywhere. 但是，克里斯琴森哪里也找不到黄石公园的火山，

　　In particular what he couldn't find was a structure known as a caldera. 他尤其找不到一种名叫破火山口的结构。

　　Most of us, when we think of volcanoes, think of the classic cone³ shapes of a Fuji or Kilimanjaro, 一提到火山，大多数人马上会联想到富士山或乞力马扎罗山那样典型的火山锥。

　　which are created when erupting magma accumulates in a symmetrical mound⁴. 那是由喷出的岩浆堆积而成的一个对称的小山冈。

　　These can form remarkably⁵ quickly. 火山锥形成的速度可能相当快。

　　In 1943, at Paricutin in Mexico, a farmer was startled to see smoke rising from a patch on his land. 1943年，墨西哥帕里库廷的一个农夫吃惊地看到自己的一块地里冒起了烟。

　　In one week he was the bemused owner of a cone five hundred feet high. 一个星期以后，他做梦似的已经成了一个152米高的火山锥的主人。

　　Within two years it had topped out at almost fourteen hundred feet and was more than half a mile across. 不到两年，它的高度达到了430米，直径800多米。

　　Altogether there are some ten thousand of these intrusively⁶ visible volcanoes on Earth, all but a few hundred of them extinct. 地球上总共有大约1万座这种一目了然的火山，其中只有几百座是活火山。

　　But there is a second, less celebrated⁷ type of volcano that doesn't involve mountain building. 但是，还有一种不大有名、并不造山的火山。

1 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

2 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

3 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。

4 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

5 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

6 intrusively   

adv.干扰地，侵入地

参考例句：

• Sarcasm: The last refuge of modest people when the privacy of their soul is intrusively invaded. ByFjodorDostojewski（费奥多尔·陀思妥耶夫斯基，俄罗斯著名作家）。 来自互联网

7 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。