英语听书《海底两万里》第470期 第29章 缺少空气(2)

 I led the Canadian to the room where the Nautilus's men were putting on their diving suits. 我带加拿大人到诺第留斯号的船员穿潜水衣的房子中。

I informed the captain of Ned's proposition, which was promptly¹ accepted. 我把尼德·兰的提议告诉船长，船长接受了。

The Canadian got into his underwater costume and was ready as soon as his fellow workers. 加拿大人穿上他的海中衣服，不久就跟他的工作同伴们一样准备好了。

Each of them carried on his back a Rouquayrol device that the air tanks had supplied with a generous allowance of fresh oxygen. 每人背上一个卢格罗尔的空气箱，由储藏库供应了大量的纯空气。

A considerable but necessary drain on the Nautilus's reserves. 对诺第留斯号的空气储藏库来说，这是大量的，然而是必要的支出。

As for the Ruhmkorff lamps, 至于兰可夫灯，

they were unnecessary in the midst of these brilliant waters saturated² with our electric rays. 在这满是电光的明亮海水中间是没有用的。

After Ned was dressed, I reentered the lounge, whose windows had been uncovered; 当尼德装备好了，我回到客厅，厅中的嵌板都开了，

stationed next to Conseil, 我站在康塞尔旁边，

I examined the strata³ surrounding and supporting the Nautilus. 细看那顶住诺第留斯号的周围冰层。

Some moments later, we saw a dozen crewmen set foot on the shelf of ice, 几分钟后，我们看见十多个船员下到冰地上，

among them Ned Land,easily recognized by his tall figure. 其中有尼德·兰，由于他的身材高大，很容易认出。

Captain Nemo was with them. 尼摩船长跟他门在一起。

Before digging into the ice, the captain had to obtain borings, 在进行穿凿冰墙之前，他让人先做种种探测，

to insure working in the best direction. 保证工作是向顺利方面进行。

Long bores were driven into the side walls; 很长的探测绳放人上下两面的冰墙。

but after fifteen meters, 上面到了十五米，

the instruments were still impeded⁴ by the thickness of those walls. 仍然被厚冰墙挡住，

It was futile⁵ to attack the ceiling since that surface was the Ice Bank itself, 所以从上层冰板来穿凿是不成的，

more than 400 meters high. 因为那就是四百米高的冰山本身。

Captain Nemo then bored into the lower surface. 尼摩船长于是使人探测下部冰层的厚度。

There we were separated from the sea by a ten-meter barrier. 下部有十米厚的冰板把我们跟海水隔开。

That's how thick the iceberg⁶ was. 就是这片冰场有十米厚。

From this point on, 自后就是要把冰场凿开一片，

it was an issue of cutting out a piece equal in surface area to the Nautilus's waterline. 大小等于诺第留斯号从浮标线上来计算的面积。

This meant detaching about 6,500 cubic meters, 那大约需挖掘六千五百立方米的冰，

to dig a hole through which the ship could descend⁷ below this tract⁸ of ice. 要凿开这么一个大孔，我们可以从这孔下到这冰地的下面去。

Work began immediately and was carried on with tireless tenacity⁹. 工作立即开始，以十分坚持的顽强力气来进行。

Instead of digging all around the Nautilus, which would have entailed¹⁰ even greater difficulties, 不是在诺第留斯号周围挖掘，这样可能带来更大的困难，

Captain Nemo had an immense trench¹¹ outlined on the ice, eight meters from our port quarter. 尼摩船长是另外在距船左舷八米远的地方画了一个巨大的圆圈

Then his men simultaneously¹² staked it off at several points around its circumference¹³.  他的人员就在这圆圈的周围数处同时挖掘，

Soon their picks were vigorously attacking this compact matter, 不久，铁锨很有劲的打进了坚硬的冰，

and huge chunks¹⁵ were loosened from its mass. 一块一块的冰从冰场凿开来。

These chunks weighed less than the water, and by an unusual effect of specific gravity,  由于体重的新奇作用，这些冰块没有水重，

each chunk¹⁴ took wing, as it were, to the roof of the tunnel, 它们于是飞跑到冰们顶上去了，

which thickened above by as much as it diminished below. 这样一来，下面是减薄，上面就增厚了。

But this hardly mattered so long as the lower surface kept growing thinner. 但没关系，下层的冰总是削薄了。

1 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

2 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

3 strata   

n.地层（复数）；社会阶层

参考例句：

• The older strata gradually disintegrate.较老的岩层渐渐风化。
• They represent all social strata.他们代表各个社会阶层。

4 impeded   

阻碍，妨碍，阻止( impede的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Work on the building was impeded by severe weather. 楼房的施工因天气恶劣而停了下来。
• He was impeded in his work. 他的工作受阻。

5 futile   

adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的

参考例句：

• They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败，他们全部被杀，无一幸免。
• Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。

6 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

7 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

8 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

9 tenacity   

n.坚韧

参考例句：

• Tenacity is the bridge to success.坚韧是通向成功的桥。
• The athletes displayed great tenacity throughout the contest.运动员在比赛中表现出坚韧的斗志。

10 entailed   

使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需

参考例句：

• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son. 城堡和土地限定由长子继承。
• The house and estate are entailed on the eldest daughter. 这所房子和地产限定由长女继承。

11 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。

12 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

13 circumference   

n.圆周，周长，圆周线

参考例句：

• It's a mile round the circumference of the field.运动场周长一英里。
• The diameter and the circumference of a circle correlate.圆的直径与圆周有相互关系。

14 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

15 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？