Unit-6-A-World-of-Mystery新编大学英语第二版第一册课文翻译

Unit

6

A

World

of

MysteryTheBermudaTriangle[1]On5thDecember1945,Flight19,whichconsistedoffiveUSNavyplanes,tookofffromFortLauderdale,Floridainfineweather.Therewasatotaloffourteenmenonboardtheplanes.Theplaneswereingoodcondition;theyhadthebestequipmentonboardincludingcompassesandradios,andtheyalsocarriedliferafts.Theplanescouldfloatonwaterforninetyseconds.Oneandahalfhoursafterthetake-off,aradiomessagefromoneoftheplaneswasheardatthecontroltoweratFortLauderdale.[2]"Idon'tknowwhereweare."[3]Afterthattheplanescouldnolongerspeaktothecontroltower,buttheycouldspeaktoandheareachother,andthecontroltowercouldhearthem.[4]"Themagneticcompassisgoingcrazy."[5]"We'recompletelylost."[6]Noothermessageswereheardafterthat.Nobodyelseheardfromtheplanesorsawthemagain.Threehundredplanesandmanyboatssearchedthearea,butnotonetraceofFlight19wasfound.Thenoneoftheplanesthatwassenttolookforthemalsodisappearedcompletely.[7]TheseplaneshaddisappearedinaverymysteriouspartoftheworldinthewesternAtlanticOceanwherelotsofstrangeeventshavetakenplace.Themysterystartedlongbefore1945,andsincethatyearmanyothershipsandplaneshavealsodisappearedinthisarea.ItiscalledtheBermudaTriangle.Itisalarge,triangularareaoftheoceanwiththeislandof[8]Planesandshipsdisappearinotherpartsoftheworld,buttherearemoredisappearancesintheTrianglethaninotherareas.Foryearsnowscientistsandothershavebeenpuzzledbythismystery.Therehavebeenmanyattemptstoexplainwhypeople,planesandshipsdisappearinsuchhighnumbershere.[9]Onewriter,JohnSpencer,believesthattheshipsandplaneshavebeencarriedofffromtheseaandskybyflyingsaucersorUFOsfromanotherplanet.Sincetherearemillionsofotherplanetsintheuniverse,Spencerbelievestheremustbeotherintelligentcreaturessomewhereintheuniverse.Thesecreaturesareinterestedincollectinghumansandtheirequipmentsothattheycanexaminethemcarefully.[10]Anothertheoryisthatthegeographyoftheareaisresponsibleforthedisappearancesoftheshipsandplanes.Bermudaliesonanearthquakebelt.Underwaterearthquakesresultinlargewavesappearingsuddenly.Thesewavesaresobigthattheycanbreakashipintopieces.Intheair,asimilarthingcanhappentoairplanesbecauseofsuddenstrongwinds.[11]AswithFlight19,manyboatsandplaneshavereportedthattheirmagneticcompassesstopworkingproperlyintheBermudaTriangle.Normallyamagneticcompasspointstowardsmagneticnorth.However,theBermudaTriangleisoneofthetwoplacesonEarthinwhichacompasspointstowardstruenorth.Therefore,thereissomethingstrangeaboutthemagneticpropertiesofthearea.[12]Manypeoplehavefoundtheseexplanationsdifficulttobelieve.However,themostrecenttheoryhasascientificbasisandismorebelievable.ThediscoveryofmethanegasontheseaflooroftheBermudaTrianglestartedascientist,Dr.Mclver,thinkingaboutanexplanationforthemysteries.Sometimeslargeamountsofthegasescapefromtheseafloorandriseintotheair.Thiscouldproducelargewavesonthesurfacewhichwouldmakeashipsink.Whenthegasmixeswithair,itcouldalsocauseaship'senginetostoporitcouldstartafire.Similarly,asthemixturerisesintotheair,itcouldcauseanairplane'senginetostoporexplode.Theexplosionswouldbreakashiporaplaneintotinypieces.[13]ThislatesttheoryhasyettobeprovedbutseemstoofferabetterexplanationastowhyFlight19andalltheotherplanes,shipsandpeoplehavedisappearedintheBermudaTriangle.百慕大三角11945年12月5日，佛罗里达州的劳德代尔堡，天气晴好，由5架美国海军飞机组成的第19飞行小队从这儿起飞。机上共有14名机组人员。飞机状态(状况)良好：机上装有当时最好的设备，包括罗盘和无线电设备，还携带有救生筏。飞机可以在水上漂浮90秒钟。飞机起飞90分钟后，劳德代尔堡的指挥塔台听到了从其中一架飞机传来的无线电信息。2“我不知道我们现在所处的位置。’3这之后飞机再也无法和指挥塔台通话，但是飞机之间可以通话，而且指挥塔台也能听到他们的谈话。4“磁罗盘简直疯了。”5“我们完全迷失了方向。”6这之后没有收到其他任何信息。再也没有其他任何人收到过这些飞机的消息或看到过它们。300架飞机和许多船只搜索了该地区，但没有找到第19飞行小队的任何踪迹。而且其中一架被派去搜寻的飞机也彻底失踪了。7这些飞机是在西大西洋上一个非常神秘的地方失踪的，在这里已经发生了许多奇怪的事件。这种神秘现象在1945年之前很久就已出现，而且自那一年以来，又有许多其他lifesomewhereintheuniverse.[4]Butisitintelligentlife,thekindoflifethatcouldbuildspaceshipsandpayusavisit?[5]HereonEarththerehavebeenbillionsofspecies,butonlyoneofthemhasturnedouttobeintelligentenoughtodeveloptechnologyandflyintospace.Andevenwe'renotparticularlyintelligent:thehumanracewillprobablyblowitselfuplongbeforeitlearnshowtovisitotherpartsofthegalaxy.[6]Butlet'ssupposethatthereareadvancedcivilizationshereinourowngalaxy,whohavedevelopedfast-movingflyingsaucers.WouldtheyvisittheEarth?[7]Firstweneedtoask:whyshouldtheywantto?Themostlikelyansweristhattheirownsunisattheendofitslife,andtheyneedtofindsomewhereelsetolive.[8]Andthenextquestionis:whyhere?ThediagramshowsthepartoftheMilkyWaywhichprobablyhasthelargestnumberofhabitableplanets.Theoldestones(andthereforeoneswhicharemostlikelytohaveadvancedformsoflife)areintheshadedarea.We'retowardstheedge(markedX).[9]IfIwereanalienlookingforanewhome,IthinkIwouldtryafewmillionofmyneighboringplanetsbeforebotheringtotravelahundredthousandtrillionmilestovisittheEarth,inajourneythatwouldtakeatleast200,000years.[10]ButwhataboutallthoseUFOsightingsthatarereportedeveryyear?Well,mostofthemareplanes.Andwhatevertheothersare,they'renotflyingsaucers.Ifyouwereavisitingalienwithincrediblypowerfultechnology,whatwouldyoudo:hideyourselfawayandkeepquiet,orlandandtakeovertheEarth?Iknowwhatmyanswerwouldbe.[11]Ifthereareotherformsoflifeelsewhereintheuniverse(andI'msurethereare),that'sexactlywheretheyare—elsewhere.地球之外有生命吗?1众所周知，地球具有生命所需要的一切条件，这也是我们在地球上得以生存的原因。但是40亿年之前，当地球形成的时候，出现生命的可能性有多大呢?据生物学家说，可能性相当小，就和你能连续5个星期获得全国彩票大奖的概率差不多。所以我们能够在地球上有今天是相当幸运的。2在其他地方产生生命的可能性有多大呢——比如，在我们自己的星系中?银河系约有4000亿个恒星。其中有一些(或许大多数)有行星围绕着它们运行，很可能其中有好几百万甚至几十亿个行星能够维持生命。因此，看来确有可能在同一个星系中居住着其他一些彩票中奖者。3而且如果你想到，银河系之外还有数不清的其他星系，其中有好些要比银河系大得多，那么，显而易见，在宇宙的其他地方肯定存在着其他形式的生命。4但也是智慧生命吗，是那种能够建造宇宙飞船来访问我们的生命吗?5在地球上曾经有几十亿个物种存在，但是结果只有一个物种有足够的智慧来发展技术并飞人太空。而且即便我们人类也不能算特别聪明：人类在学会怎样到达银河系的其他地方之前，很可能早已自我毁灭了。6不过我们还是假设，在我们的银河系中有高级文明，他们已经开发了快速的飞碟。他们会来访问地球吗?7首先我们要问：他们为什么想要造访地球?最可能的答案是他们所拥有的恒星行将灭亡，他们必须找到其他居住的地方。8下一个问题是：为什么选择地球?下图显示了银河系中适合于生命居住的行星，这部分可能是这类行星最集中的部分。阴影部分是最古老的行星(因而也就是最有可能具有高级生命的行星)。我们(地球)靠近边缘(用X表示这一位置)。9如果我是寻找新家的外星人，我想我会先尝试邻近的几百万个行星，然后才会费劲飞行10亿亿英里来造访地球，因为这一旅程至少需要花上20万年。10然而，所有那些每年报道的目击UFO的事件又是怎么回事呢?其实，它们中多数是飞机。至于其余的情况，不论它们是什么，都不是飞碟。假如你是拥有超凡技术的星外来客，你会怎么做：是躲起来不吭声，还是登陆并占领地球?我知道我会选择哪个答案。11假如宇宙中地球之外真有其他形式的生命存在(我敢肯定有)，那便是它们目前所在之处——地球之外。TheMysteryoftheFranklinExpedition[1]Manyyearsago,explorerswantedtofindawaybyseafromEuropetoChina.In1845,JohnFranklinleftEnglandwith134mentolookforaroutethroughtheArctic.[2]Franklin'sshipshadeverythingtheyneeded.Theyhadenoughfoodintinsforthreeyearsandthousandsoflitersoflemonjuicetostopdisease.Theyalsohadtwolibrarieswith3,000books,excellentmaps,scientificinstruments,musicalinstrumentandanewinvention:acamera.[3]FranklinandhismenleftEnglandonMay19th,1845,andtheysailedwithoutproblemsacrosstheAtlantictowardsCanada.WhenFranklinarrivedatBaffinBayinJuly1845,thingsweregoingverywellfortheexpedition.OnJuly26,somesailorssawFranklin'sshipswhentheywereenteringthebay.ThatwasthelasttimethatanyonesawFranklinandhismenalive.[4]Then,inAugust1850somesailorsfoundthefirstsignsoftheFranklinExpeditionwhiletheyweresearchingonDevonIsland:someoldfoodtins,somepapers,and,somethingverystrange,thegravesofthreemen.ThemenalldiedinJanuary1846whileFranklinwaswaitinginBaffinBayfortheicetomelt.Butwhydidtheydie?Whathappenedtothem?Andwhereweretheshipsandalltheothersailors?ThemysteryoftheFranklinExpeditionwasgrowingstronger...A.Thelastmessage[5]JaneFranklinwasJohnFranklin'swife.Shewantedtoknowexactlywhathadhappenedtoherhusband.InJuly1857,shesentanexpeditiontotheArctic.Ayearlater,onanislandinBaffinBay,theydiscoveredoneofFranklin'ssailors.Hewaslyinginaboatattheedgeofthesea—dead.[6]Nearthedeadman,theyfoundasmallstonehouse.Insidethehousetheyfoundanote.ItwasthelastmessagefromtheFranklinExpedition.B.April25th1848WearrivedhereinSeptember1846—nineteenmonthsago.Ourshipsaretrappedintheiceandwecannotmove.Themenaredying—25menarealreadydead.CaptainJohnFranklindiedonJune11th1847.Welefttheshipstwodaysago.Ouronlychancenowistowalk.[7]So,FranklinandhismendiedintheArctic—threeyearsaftertheyleftEngland.Withoutanyfood,theironlychancewastowalktotheirdeathsintheice.TheFranklinmysterywassolved.[8]Butwasitsolved?Whyweretheresomanysailorsdyingwhentheylefttheships?Franklinhadexcellentmapsofthearea.Whydidhetakethewrongroute?Therewerestillquestionstobeanswered...C.Mysterysolved?D.1984,140yearslater[9]Dr.OwenBeattiewasascientistatauniversityinCanada.HewantedtoknowwhysomanymendiedontheFranklinExpedition.[10]Dr.Beattiebeganbythinkingaboutthefirstmenwhodiedontheexpedition.Theywereallyoungandtheydiedafteronlysixmonthsatsea.Twentymoremendiedthenextyear.Therewassomethingverystrangeaboutthisandtherewasonlyonewaytodiscoverwhatitwas.[11]In1984,Dr.BeattiewenttoBaffinBaywithateamofscientists.There,theyopenedthegravesofthethreeFranklinsailors.Becauseoftheextremecoldandice,thebodieswereinperfectcondition.Beattietooksmallsamplesofhairandskinandthenputthebodiesbackintothegraves.[12]Backattheuniversity,Beattiemadeanincrediblediscovery.Fromthehairandskin,hefoundthatthethreemendiedfromleadpoisoning.Theyhadnearly100timesmoreleadintheirbodiesthannormal.[13]Butwheredidtheleadcomefrom?BeattielookedcloselyatsomeofFranklin'sfoodtinsandfoundtheanswer.Inthosedays,tinswereclosedwithlead.Usually,thiswasnotabigproblem,butthesetinswerenotmadecorrectly.Leadwasinsidethetins.Itwasnottheiceandcoldthatkilledthemen.Itwasthe8,000tinsoffoodthattheywereeating.[14]Leadalsoaffectsthebrain.Itmakesitdifficulttothinkclearly.WecannowunderstandwhyJohnFranklinmadesomanypoordecisions.富兰克林探险之谜1许多年前，探险家们想要找到从欧洲到中国的海上通道。1845年，约翰·富兰克林带着134人离开英格兰前往寻找穿过北极的线路。2富兰克林的船队装备一应俱全。他们带有足够食用3年的罐头食品和数千升可抵御疾病的柠檬汁。他们还有两个图书室，备有3,000册书籍、精美地图、科学仪器、乐器和一项新发明：照相机。3富兰克林一行于1845年5月19日从英格兰出发。他们一帆风