万物简史 第329期:美丽而危险(12)

 　　Once it is in place, the idea is that three people, 计划问世以后，打算这么做：3个人，

　　Christiansen in Menlo Park, California, Professor Robert B. Smith at the University of Utah, and Doss in the park, 加利福尼亚门洛公园的克里斯琴森、犹他大学的罗伯特·B·史密斯和公园的多斯，

　　would assess the degree of danger of any potential cataclysm¹ and advise the park superintendent². 将评估潜在大灾难的危险程度，然后向公园主管提出建议。

　　The superintendent would take the decision whether to evacuate³ the park. 主管将作出是否应当撤离公园的决定。

　　As for surrounding areas, there are no plans.  至于周围地区，他们没有计划。

　　If Yellowstone were going to blow in a really big way, you would be on your own once you left the park gates. 一旦出了公园大门，你不得不自己救自己——要是黄石火山真的大爆发的话，这个计划解决不了什么大问题。

　　Of course it may be tens of thousands of years before that day comes. 当然，也许要过几千几万年以后那一天才会到来。

　　Doss thinks such a day may not come at all. 多斯认为这样的一天根本不会到来。

　　"Just because there was a pattern in the past doesn't mean that it still holds true," he says. “这是因为，过去有个模式，并不意味着那个模式依然适用于今天，”他说，

　　"There is some evidence to suggest that the pattern may be a series of catastrophic explosions, then a long period of quiet. “有迹象表明，那个模式也许是一系列灾难性的喷发，接着是漫长的平静时期。

　　We may be in that now. 我们现在也许就处在这个平静时期。

　　The evidence now is that most of the magma chamber⁴ is cooling and crystallizing. 目前的迹象表明，大部分岩浆房正在冷却，变成晶体。

　　It is releasing its volatiles; you need to trap volatiles for an explosive eruption⁵." 它在释放火气，你得把火气憋在心里才能来一次大爆发。”

　　In the meantime there are plenty of other dangers in and around Yellowstone, 与此同时，黄石公园及其周围地区还存在许多别的危险。

　　as was made devastatingly⁶ evident on the night of August 17, 1959, at a place called Hebgen Lake just outside the park. 这一点在1959年8月17日夜里变得特别明显。事情发生在赫布根湖地区，就在公园外面。

　　At twenty minutes to midnight on that date, Hebgen Lake suffered a catastrophic quake. 那天午夜零点前20分钟，赫布根湖遭受了一次灾难性的地震。

　　It was magnitude 7.5, not vast as earthquakes go, but so abrupt⁷ and wrenching⁸ that it collapsed⁹ an entire mountainside. 震级为7.5级。就地震而言，它的影响面不大，但是来得突然，来得猛烈，震塌了整个山坡。

　　It was the height of the summer season, 事情发生在夏季旅游旺季。

　　though fortunately not so many people went to Yellowstone in those days as now. 幸亏，那个年代不像现在那样有许多人前往黄石公园。

1 cataclysm   

n.洪水，剧变，大灾难

参考例句：

• The extinct volcano's eruption would mean a cataclysm for the city.死火山又重新喷发，对这座城市来说意味着大难临头。
• The cataclysm flooded the entire valley.洪水淹没了整个山谷。

2 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

3 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

4 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

5 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。

6 devastatingly   

adv. 破坏性地，毁灭性地，极其

参考例句：

• She was utterly feminine and devastatingly attractive in an unstudied way. 她温存无比，魅力四射而又绝不矫揉造作。
• I refuted him devastatingly from point to point. 我对他逐项痛加驳斥。

7 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

8 wrenching   

n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛

参考例句：

• China has been through a wrenching series of changes and experiments. 中国经历了一系列艰苦的变革和试验。 来自辞典例句
• A cold gust swept across her exposed breast, wrenching her back to reality. 一股寒气打击她的敞开的胸膛，把她从梦幻的境地中带了回来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。