美国国家公共电台 NPR Massive Iceberg Makes A Stop Off Newfoundland Coast

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

The town of Ferryland in Newfoundland, Canada, has a visitor that seems to be staying for a while. It is a massive iceberg¹ that floated south and ran aground just off the coast. And when I say massive, I mean, this thing is huge. It dwarfs² the houses in town, and that is just the part that's visible. Now, Maxine Dunne can see this iceberg from the bed and breakfast she runs with her husband.

MAXINE DUNNE: We've seen some pretty large icebergs³ over the years. We're located at the end of Iceberg Alley⁴. But this is, I would say, certainly the highest iceberg that we've ever seen.

GREENE: Did you say Iceberg Alley? This is, like...

M. DUNNE: Yes.

GREENE: ...An area where icebergs come and go all the time?

M. DUNNE: Absolutely. Usually in the month of April and May and mid-June, we see a fair number of icebergs.

GREENE: But this one, you're saying, is a monster.

M. DUNNE: Oh, yes. They're estimating it's approximately 150 feet above water. So you can imagine what's below water.

GREENE: Because this is just the tip of the iceberg, not to (laughter) use a cliche⁵ but...

M. DUNNE: That's the tip of the iceberg (laughter).

GREENE: How close is it really to you?

M. DUNNE: Oh, my goodness. How many feet from our window would you say it is, Charlie? I'm - my husband's right here in the background.

GREENE: Oh, yeah, yeah, no problem.

CHARLIE DUNNE: It's roughly a kilometer from the house.

M. DUNNE: Roughly one kilometer from our house.

C. DUNNE: About a half mile.

M. DUNNE: Yeah, it's about a half a mile. It's right there.

GREENE: My goodness. So is this all people are talking about in town?

M. DUNNE: (Laughter) Yes. Well, I mean, we're getting a lot of visitors. Most of our visitors, at this point, are from various parts of the island. You know, it's a little early for outside tourists yet. But at this point...

GREENE: So this sounds like it's a fun thing. No one is worried. Because I don't know anything about icebergs. I just didn't know if there was some risk that this big thing...

M. DUNNE: You know...

GREENE: ...Could start floating towards you or something.

M. DUNNE: (Laughter) No. Well, as long as you stay, like, you know, clear from it - if you're out in a boat, you don't want to go too close. There's always the risk it could roll, and that's dangerous or little pieces could break off. But it's - they're quite beautiful. There's - icebergs are absolutely beautiful. But they are a concern for the shipping⁶ industry and the crab⁷ fishermen.

Now, my husband is an inshore crab fisherman. He fishes with his three brothers and his nephew-in-law, and they go approximately 25 miles offshore⁸. So, you know, they have to post lookouts⁹, and they have to exhibit a lot of caution when you have a number of icebergs in the area.

GREENE: When you say rolled, I mean, you mean it's, like, the bottom of the iceberg is hitting the ocean floor and you're seeing some of the ocean floor come up to the surface or what?

M. DUNNE: Yeah. If the top part becomes heavier than the part that's under water, sometimes the top part will roll to the bottom and the lighter¹⁰ part will come to the top.

GREENE: My goodness, the thing actually turns upside down.

M. DUNNE: Absolutely. That's what it means, turns upside down.

GREENE: God. If that happened with this big one, that would be quite a thing to capture.

M. DUNNE: It certainly would (laughter).

GREENE: Keep your cameras ready.

M. DUNNE: (Laughter) Absolutely.

GREENE: Well, Maxine Dunne, tell your husband, Charlie, thank you to him. And a special thanks to you for taking the time. And keep an eye on that iceberg. If it starts rolling, I'm hoping to see some video of it.

M. DUNNE: You're certainly welcome. You're certainly welcome. It was my pleasure.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CAPELIN TIME")

THE DUNNE FAMILY: (Singing) Oh, take me home when it's capelin time again.

GREENE: All right, this is cool. In addition to running an inn, Maxine and Charlie Dunne are also musicians. No songs about icebergs, but they do have one about a fisherman longing¹¹ for capelin season in Newfoundland. Capelin are these small fish, and it's an early summer tradition to scoop¹² them up from the beach.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CAPELIN TIME")

THE DUNNE FAMILY: (Singing) And here again, the lonely...

1 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。

2 dwarfs   

n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句

3 icebergs   

n.冰山，流冰( iceberg的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The drift of the icebergs in the sea endangers the ships. 海上冰山的漂流危及船只的安全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The icebergs towered above them. 冰山高耸于他们上方。 来自辞典例句

4 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

5 cliche   

n./a.陈词滥调(的)；老生常谈(的)；陈腐的

参考例句：

• You should always try to avoid the use of cliche. 你应该尽量避免使用陈词滥调。
• The old cliche is certainly true:the bigger car do mean bigger profits.有句老话倒的确说得不假:车大利大。

6 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

7 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

8 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

9 lookouts   

n.寻找（ 某人/某物）( lookout的名词复数 )；是某人（自己）的问题；警戒；瞭望台

参考例句：

• Lookouts were spotted all along the coast. 沿海岸都布置了监视哨。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Lookouts and leadsmen in bulky life jackets stumbled and slipped after him. 监视哨和测深员穿着饱鼓鼓的救生衣，跌跌撞撞地跟在他后面。 来自辞典例句

10 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

11 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

12 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。