万物简史 第330期:美丽而危险(13)

 　　Eighty million tons of rock, moving at more than one hundred miles an hour, just fell off the mountain, 8000万吨岩石以每小时160公里的速度从山上崩塌下来，

　　traveling with such force and momentum¹ that the leading edge of the landslide² ran four hundred feet up a mountain on the other side of the valley. 其力量和动量是如此之大，前缘竟然冲到了峡谷对面一座山的120米高处。

　　Along its path lay part of the Rock Creek³ Campground. 罗克溪露营园有一部分就在岩石的必经之地。

　　Twenty-eight campers were killed, nineteen of them buried too deep ever to be found again. 28名露营者死亡，其中19名被埋得太深，再也没有找到。

　　The devastation⁴ was swift but heartbreakingly fickle⁵. 灾难发生得又快又难预测。

　　Three brothers, sleeping in one tent, were spared. 有兄弟3人同睡一个帐篷，倒是幸免于难。

　　Their parents, sleeping in another tent beside them, were swept away and never seen again. 他们的父母睡在旁边的另一个帐篷，却被冲得无影无踪。

　　A big earthquake—and I mean big—will happen sometime, Doss told me. "You can count on that.  “大地震——我的意思是大的地震——迟早会发生，”多斯对我说，“我可以向你保证。

　　This is a big fault zone for earthquakes." 这儿是个大断层地带，地震很多。”

　　Despite the Hebgen Lake quake and the other known risks, Yellowstone didn't get permanent seismometers until the 1970s. 尽管发生了赫布根湖地震以及别的危险，直到20世纪70年代，黄石公园才配置了永久性的地震表。

　　If you needed a way to appreciate the grandeur⁶ and inexorable nature of geologic⁷ processes, 若要欣赏地质过程的威力和无情，你肯定挑得出比蒂顿山脉更糟糕的例子。

　　you could do worse than to consider the Tetons, the sumptuously⁸ jagged range that stands just to the south of Yellowstone National Park. 蒂顿山脉位于黄石国家公园以南，峭壁嶙峋，非常险峻。

　　Nine million years ago, the Tetons didn't exist. 900万年以前，蒂顿山脉并不存在。

　　The land around Jackson Hole was just a high grassy⁹ plain. 杰克逊大坑周围的土地本是一片杂草丛生的高地平原。

　　But then a forty-mile-long fault opened within the Earth, 但是，后来地球内部出现了一处64公里长的断层，

　　and since then, about once every nine hundred years, the Tetons experience a really big earthquake, enough to jerk them another six feet higher. 自那以后，大约每隔900年蒂顿山脉就要经历一次大地震，其威力之大足以使它再升高2米。

　　It is these repeated jerks over eons that have raised them to their present majestic¹⁰ heights of seven thousand feet. 由于千万年来这样反复地往上颤动，如今它的高度已经达到雄伟的2000米。

1 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

2 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

3 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

4 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 fickle   

adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的

参考例句：

• Fluctuating prices usually base on a fickle public's demand.物价的波动往往是由于群众需求的不稳定而引起的。
• The weather is so fickle in summer.夏日的天气如此多变。

6 grandeur   

n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华

参考例句：

• The grandeur of the Great Wall is unmatched.长城的壮观是独一无二的。
• These ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place.这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。

7 geologic   

adj.地质的

参考例句：

• The Red Sea is a geologic continuation of the valley.红海就是一个峡谷在地质上的继续发展。
• Delineation of channels is the first step of geologic evaluation.勾划河道的轮廓是地质解译的第一步。

8 sumptuously   

奢侈地，豪华地

参考例句：

• The hall was sumptuously decorated. 大厅装饰得富丽堂皇。
• This government building is sumptuously appointed. 这座政府办公大楼布置得极为豪华。

9 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

10 majestic   

adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的

参考例句：

• In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
• He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。