国家地理 融化的北极正使一场新的冷战升温(1)

Late on a gray November afternoon Marvin Atqittuq, a newly elected patrol commander in the Arctic community of Gjoa Haven¹, stood on the frozen sea outside town and called his troops in for a meeting. A frigid² wind flicked³ snow in from the south, and it was about 20 below zero, cold but not that cold for the Arctic. The company of some 20 Inuit men and a few women gathered around with rifles slung⁴ over their shoulders, dressed in hand-sewn jackets of caribou⁵ hide or pants made of polar bear fur or wearing the usual store-bought stuff, which was far less warm but namuktuk, good enough for now.

11月某个天色灰暗的午后，北极地区约阿港镇新选出的巡逻指挥官马文·艾奇图克站在镇外冰冻的海面上，呼喊他的部队前来集合。南方吹来的寒风带来阵阵飘雪，气温约为摄氏零下30度，虽然冷但在北极地区还不算太冷。由大约20名因纽特男子和几名妇女组成的连队集合在一起，他们肩上挂着步枪，身上穿着手工缝制的北美驯鹿毛皮夹克和北极熊毛皮裤子，或一般店家卖的虽不及毛皮暖和但“namuktuk”的衣物--意思是目前够用。

Atqittuq pulled on a pair of sealskin gloves and outlined the plan for the day. The group was part of the Canadian Rangers⁶, a reserve component⁷ of Canada's armed forces, and Atqittuq would now lead them on his first mission as their commander: a weeklong patrol by snowmobile down the treeless coast of King William Island. There would be GPS training, military-style target practice, search-and-rescue scenarios⁸, and plenty of hunting and ice fishing.

艾奇图克戴上海豹皮手套，简要说明当天的计划。这群人隶属加拿大巡逻民兵，为加拿大后备部队的一支。艾奇图克现在首次以指挥官身分带领他们执行任务。他们将骑着雪地摩托车，沿着威廉国王岛上没有树木的海岸线进行为期一周的巡逻。期间将进行GPS训练、军式打靶练习、搜索救援模拟演练，也会经常打猎和冰钓。

1 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

2 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

3 flicked   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• She flicked the dust off her collar. 她轻轻弹掉了衣领上的灰尘。
• I idly picked up a magazine and flicked through it. 我漫不经心地拿起一本杂志翻看着。

4 slung   

抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往

参考例句：

• He slung the bag over his shoulder. 他把包一甩，挎在肩上。
• He stood up and slung his gun over his shoulder. 他站起来把枪往肩上一背。

5 caribou   

n.北美驯鹿

参考例句：

• Afar off he heard the squawking of caribou calves.他听到远处有一群小驯鹿尖叫的声音。
• The Eskimos played soccer on ice and used balls filled with caribou hair and grass.爱斯基摩人在冰上踢球，他们用的是驯鹿的毛发和草填充成的球。

6 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

7 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

8 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓