英语听力：自然百科 徒步南非之德拉肯斯堡山脉 The Drakensberg—13

 This is the halfway¹ point of my walk today. It's been three hours since I started it out, some ideal spot for rest. I'm finally in the upper Berg.-So this is where people do in origins.

-Yes.

-Now I wish it's today though.

I've come to realize this isn't just walk up one mountain. There are lots of intriguingly² named peaks and mini features along the way.

 

-Julia, that area. That you look over there. It's called Munuali.

-Munuali.

-It means Zulu. It means finger.

-That's the finger range.

-Yes.

These simple but literal³ names sound up nicely. Ahead of me, I can make up the peaks of three puddings, another abrupt⁴ name. Can't quite decide but they are less badges⁵ or dumplings. Which langage for use for these mountain names also seems to be the cause of some debate. Cathedral Peak is no different. In Zulu, it's zikalishone, named after the son of a fierce chief, who came here to escape an assassionation plot. There are now calls to get rid of the English names and use the traditional titles instead.

As my walk climbs higher, a different issue begins to emerge⁶. There might be blue skies, but there are also t* sized changing conditions. When Zee makes one of our egular weather checks, we begin to realize those signs are right and high up from us the weather is beginning to change.

-Zee's just had the news there are more storms on the way. We're two-and-half hours' away from Cathedral Peak from this point, so we can get there, but we wouldn't make it back. We would be caught in more frightening lightning, which is not an option, so the agonizing⁷ madding decision is we have to turn around and go back down again. 

1 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

2 intriguingly   

参考例句：

• Intriguingly, she gave to the music a developed although oddly malleable personality. 最神奇的是，她的音乐具有成熟却又很奇怪地极富可塑性。 来自互联网
• Intriguingly, the patients brains were riddled with tangles, but not amyloid plaques. 有趣的是，患者的大脑中充满了各缠结，但并没有粉斑。 来自互联网

3 literal   

adj.照字面的，原义的，逐字的

参考例句：

• This word should not be taken in its literal sense.这个词不能按本义去理解。
• He made a literal interpretation.他逐字解释。

4 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。

5 badges   

n.徽章( badge的名词复数 )；象征；证章；[美国俚语]警察

参考例句：

• Mayors wear chains round their necks as badges of office. 市长们戴着象征职位的项链。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The badges come in twenty different colors and shapes. 这种徽章有20种不同的颜色和形状。 来自辞典例句

6 emerge   

vi.（从水中等）出来，出现，浮现，形成

参考例句：

• The baby's head was starting to emerge from the womb.婴儿的头开始从母亲的子宮中露出来。
• It's still hard to tell who will emerge victorious.鹿死谁手尚难逆料。

7 agonizing   

adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式)

参考例句：

• I spent days agonizing over whether to take the job or not. 我用了好些天苦苦思考是否接受这个工作。
• his father's agonizing death 他父亲极度痛苦的死