欧美文化博览 走进墨西哥(3)

When a quake registers as at least 6.0, it activates¹ a site of monitoring station. When at least two stations are activated², they relay a signal to Mexico city, automatically triggering an alarm. In Mexico city, distance equals time. The city salvation³ lies in grade school Algebra⁴ and it's already worked.

当一次地震的震级至少为6.0时，一处监测站就会被激活。当两处监测站被激活时，这就向墨西哥城传递一个信号,那就是自动触发警报。在墨西哥城,距离等于时间。城市的救赎在阿尔奇巴小学已经开始并且已经奏效。

September 14th, 1995, 8:04am, from the Pacific, a fierce quake founders⁵ a shore. In 13 seconds, it registers on station 11, four seconds later, on station 12. A quake measured 7.3 on the Richter scale and it's moving toward Mexico city at 12 times the speed of the world's fastest commerical jet. But the SAS alert beats the quake to the city by 72 seconds. Not one resident is killed.

1995年9月14日早上8:04，来自太平洋的猛烈地震登陆。在13秒内，11号监测站被激活,4秒之后是12号监测站。该地震被测量为里氏7.3级,它朝墨西哥城进发，其速度比世界上最快的商业飞机还快12倍。但SAS地震警报显示地震来到城市72秒，居然没有一个居民死亡。

When the alarm sounds, a carefully celerograph movement begins. Buildings empty, subways shut down. To avoid fires, power is cut and gas lines are closed. Rescue workers scramble⁶. But Mexico city's entire civil defence depends on the thin red line of sentinels, the earthquake sensors⁸ on the coast. If they fail, a quake would hit with no warning at all.

当报警响起,一场精心准备的疏散运动开始。建筑腾空、地铁关闭。为了避免火灾，电力被切断，天然气被关闭。救援人员开始行动。但墨西哥城市的整个民防就取决于这根细细的红线哨兵，即海岸的地震传感器。如果它们失败，一个地震会在城市茫然无知的情况下袭来。

To prevent failures, the sensors are routinely inspected. Today, it's a sensor⁷ at the Saint Peter station near Acapulco. For Rovato Islas, just getting there, is shaky.

为了防止失败，传感器经常要接受常规检查。现在，这是位于Acapulco火车站旁的一个传感器。对于刚刚建在那里的Rovato Islas，还有点靠不住。

1 activates   

使活动，起动，触发( activate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Activates the window and displays it in its current size and position. 激活窗口，保持当前的大小及位置不变。
• Pulling out the alarm switch activates alarm and pushing it deactivates it. 闹钟的开和关是通过拔出和按入闹铃开关实现的。

2 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

3 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

4 algebra   

n.代数学

参考例句：

• He was not good at algebra in middle school.他中学时不擅长代数。
• The boy can't figure out the algebra problems.这个男孩做不出这道代数题。

5 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

6 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

7 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

8 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句