读者文摘:令人惊奇的海洋秘密(1)

It has been nearly 150 years since the publication of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,

《海底两万里》出版至今已近150年，

and scientists are still searching for the truth about many of the creatures and features of the deep.

科学家仍在搜寻关于很多生物的真相和深海的特点。

"IMMORTAL¹" JELLYFISH. Could this tiny jelly hold the secret to curing cancer?

“不朽的水母”。这种小小的果冻生物能蕴含着治疗癌症的秘密吗？

Smaller than a pinkie nail, this creature has the Benjamin Button–like ability to revert² to its polyp state,

这种生物比小拇指指甲还小，拥有本杰明纽扣般的能力，可以复原到水螅体状态，

the earliest stage of its life, when threatened with starvation or injury, earning the nick-name immortal jellyfish for how it appears to outsmart death.

在它生命的最初阶段，当受到饥饿或受伤的威胁时，它的智慧战胜了死亡，因此它获得了“不朽水母”的绰号。

Although the species, Turritopsis dohrnii, has been known about for a hundred years, researchers didn't discover this capacity until the 1990s.

尽管灯塔水母已经为人所知约一百年，但是研究人员到20世纪90年代才发现它的能力。

They are now wondering whether the jellyfish's ability to regress and regrow could help fight diseases such as cancer in humans.

他们现在想知道水母的复原和再生长的能力是否能帮助对抗比如人类的癌症等疾病。

GIANT OARFISH. These snakelike creatures are the longest bony fish on Earth—they can grow to up to 56 feet.

皇带鱼。这些蛇形生物是地球上最长的硬骨鱼——它们可以长到56英尺。

But they live at depths of around 3,300 feet, so not much is known about them.

但它们生活在大约3300英尺的深处，所以我们对它们知之甚少。

Two dead giant oarfish were found on California's shores in 2013,

2013年人们在加利福尼亚海岸发现了两条死亡的皇带鱼，

prompting scientists to study samples from their remains³ to see whether storms, starvation, or illness potentially caused their deaths.

这促使科学家研究它们遗体的样本，以考证是否暴风雨、饥饿或者疾病会导致它们死亡。

THE PURPLE ORB⁴. In 2016, researchers found a single purple blob about the size of a pool ball in an underwater canyon⁵ off California's coast.

紫色球体。2016年，研究人员在加利福尼亚海岸的水下峡谷发现了一个台球大小的紫色球体。

Stumped⁶ as to what it could be, they nick-named it Blobus purpilis. Research is ongoing⁷, but one hypothesis is that it is distantly related to snails⁸.

他们被这可能是什么难住了，给它起了个绰号叫“Blobus purpilis”。研究仍在继续，有一种假设是它和蜗牛有远亲关系。

CHALLENGER DEEP. This spot in the ocean near Guam is the deepest point on Earth—nearly 7 miles down.

挑战者深渊。这个关岛附近海洋中的地方是地球上最深的地方-有将近7英里深。

(Mount Everest is only 5.5 miles tall.) Located in the Mariana Trench⁹, Challenger Deep has been visited by just three people:

（珠穆朗玛峰只有5.5英里高。）挑战者深渊位于马里亚纳海沟，只有三个人参观过：

two oceanographers in 1960 and filmmaker James Cameron in 2012.

两位海洋学家于1960年到过那里，还有导演詹姆斯·卡梅隆在2012年到过那里。

It's completely dark and only a few degrees above freezing in the trench, and the pressure is intense: eight tons per square inch.

那里完全是黑暗的，海沟里只比冰点高几度，而且压力很大：每平方英寸8吨。

But marine¹⁰ life has managed to thrive. In fact, some researchers believe that life on Earth may have originated there.

但海洋生物却成功地在此繁衍生息。事实上，一些研究人员认为地球上的生命可能起源于那里。

1 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

2 revert   

v.恢复，复归，回到

参考例句：

• Let us revert to the earlier part of the chapter.让我们回到本章的前面部分。
• Shall we revert to the matter we talked about yesterday?我们接着昨天谈过的问题谈，好吗？

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 orb   

n.太阳；星球；v.弄圆；成球形

参考例句：

• The blue heaven,holding its one golden orb,poured down a crystal wash of warm light.蓝蓝的天空托着金色的太阳，洒下一片水晶般明亮温暖的光辉。
• It is an emanation from the distant orb of immortal light.它是从远处那个发出不灭之光的天体上放射出来的。

5 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

6 stumped   

僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说

参考例句：

• Jack huffed himself up and stumped out of the room. 杰克气喘吁吁地干完活，然后很艰难地走出房间。
• He was stumped by the questions and remained tongue-tied for a good while. 他被问得张口结舌，半天说不出话来。

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 snails   

n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think I'll try the snails for lunch—I'm feeling adventurous today. 我想我午餐要尝一下蜗牛——我今天很想冒险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most snails have shells on their backs. 大多数蜗牛背上有壳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

10 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。