【英语时差8，16】生活在冰川时代

 Global warming is a real problem, but would you believe that we are actually living in an ice age right now? Yael and Don discuss it.   Y: Brrr! Thanks for lunch Don, but it's a little cold to be walking back to the office.

D: Well, it is winter.

Y: Actually, it's an ice age.

D: Oh, c'mon. It's not that cold.

Y: No, I'm serious, we're in the middle of an ice age.

D: The last ice age ended 20,000 years ago.

Y: That's what most people think, but actually we're just in a relatively¹ warm period during the current ice age.

D: I don't know. It gets pretty warm here during the summer. It's hard to believe we're experiencing an ice age when it's 95 degrees outside.

Y: But it's true. See, ice ages have occurred for roughly two-hundred of the past six- hundred million years, with each ice age lasting² up to ten million years at a stretch. During an ice age the polar regions of the earth are cold, there's a big temperature difference between the equator and the poles, and at times ice sheets cover huge chunks³ of the earth's land mass.

D: Ok, we've got the first two, but I don't see ice covering most of the world.

Y: That's because, like I said, there can be large fluctuations⁴ in temperature during an ice age. During the current ice age glaciers⁵ have advanced and retreated over twenty times. We're living during one of the warmer periods when the glaciers have retreated.

D: So at some point the glaciers will advance again and we'll be covered in ice.

Y: Right.

D: I'd better invest in some good boots.

Y: I wouldn't worry about it quite yet, Don. But there's one thing we can do right now.

D: What?

Y: Get inside!  

1 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

2 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

3 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

4 fluctuations   

波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table. 他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• There were so many unpredictable fluctuations on the Stock Exchange. 股票市场瞬息万变。

5 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）