万物简史 第339期:孤独的行星(4)

 　　In the days of diving suits—the sort that were connected to the surface by long hoses, 在使用潜水衣——即用长管子连接水面的那种装备——的年代，

　　divers¹ sometimes experienced a dreaded² phenomenon known as "the squeeze." 潜水员有时候会经历一种可怕的现象，名叫“挤压”。

　　This occurred when the surface pumps failed, leading to a catastrophic loss of pressure in the suit. 这种情况发生在水面气泵失灵，造成潜水衣灾难性地失压的时候。

　　The air would leave the suit with such violence that the hapless diver would be, all too literally³, sucked up into the helmet and hosepipe. 空气会猛地离开潜水衣，倒霉的潜水员真的会被吸进面具和管子。

　　When hauled to the surface, "all that is left in the suit are his bones and some rags of flesh," 等到被拖出水面，“衣服里剩下的几乎只有他的骨头和一点血肉模糊的东西。”

　　the biologist J. B. S. Haldane wrote in 1947, adding for the benefit of doubters, "This has happened." 生物学家J.B.S霍尔丹在1947年写到，唯恐有人不信，他接着说，“这种事真的发生过。”

　　(Incidentally, the original diving helmet, designed in 1823 by an Englishman named Charles Deane, was intended not for diving but for fire-fighting. （顺便说一句，原先的潜水面具是1823年由一位名叫查尔斯·迪恩的英国人设计的，并不用于潜水，而是用于救火。

　　It was called a "smoke helmet," but being made of metal it was hot and cumbersome⁴ and, as Deane soon discovered, 它被称之为“救火防毒面具”。但是，这种面具是金属做的，用起来又灼人又累赘。

　　firefighters had no particular eagerness to enter burning structures in any form of attire⁵,  迪恩很快发现，消防员不大愿意穿任何服饰进入着了火的建筑物，

　　but most especially not in something that heated up like a kettle and made them clumsy into the bargain. 尤其不愿意戴那种既烫得像水壶，又很不灵活的玩意儿。

　　In an attempt to save his investment, Deane tried it underwater and found it was ideal for salvage⁶ work.) 为了挽救他的投资，迪恩在水下试了试，发现用于海上救助工作倒是很理想。）

　　The real terror of the deep, however, is the bends, 然而，在大海深处真正可怕的是得弯腰病（减压病），

　　not so much because they are unpleasant, though of course they are, as because they are so much more likely. 倒不是因为这种病不舒服（虽然不舒服是肯定的），而是因为发生的可能性要大得多。

　　The air we breathe is 80 percent nitrogen. 我们呼吸的空气里有80%是氮。

　　Put the human body under pressure, and that nitrogen is transformed into tiny bubbles that migrate into the blood and tissues.  要是将人体置于压力之下，那个氮会变成小气泡，在血液和组织里到处移动。

1 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

2 dreaded   

adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
• He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 cumbersome   

adj.笨重的，不便携带的

参考例句：

• Although the machine looks cumbersome,it is actually easy to use.尽管这台机器看上去很笨重，操作起来却很容易。
• The furniture is too cumbersome to move.家具太笨，搬起来很不方便。

5 attire   

v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装

参考例句：

• He had no intention of changing his mode of attire.他无意改变着装方式。
• Her attention was attracted by his peculiar attire.他那奇特的服装引起了她的注意。

6 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。