TED演讲：我为什么划船横渡太平洋(6)

 　　So, how do you top rowing across the Atlantic? 你怎么才能超越横渡大西洋？

　　Well, naturally, you decide to row across the Pacific. 很自然，你会决定横渡太平洋。

　　Well, I thought the Atlantic was big, but the Pacific is really, really big.  我知道大西洋很大，但是太平洋是非常非常大。

　　I think we tend to do it a little bit of a disservice in our usual maps.  我认为我们应该对平常的地图做一点小小的改动。

　　I don't know for sure that the Brits invented this particular view of the world,  我不确定是不是英国人发明了这个看世界的特别角度，

　　but I suspect we might have done so: we are right in the middle,  但是我推测是我们发明的，因为我们处在中间的位置，

　　and we've cut the Pacific in half and flung it to the far corners of the world.  我们把太平洋一分为二，而且把它放在了天涯海角。

　　Whereas if you look in Google Earth, this is how the Pacific looks. It pretty much covers half the planet.  如果你用Google Earth的话，你会看到太平洋是这副模样，它差不多覆盖了半个地球。

　　You can just see a little bit of North America up here and a sliver¹ of Australia down there.  你能够在它的上面看到一点北美洲，在下面也可以看到澳大利亚的一个边。

　　It is really big -- 65 million square miles -- and to row in a straight line across it would be about 8,000 miles.  它确实太大了，6500万平方英里，就算是直线横渡太平洋也得有8000英里。

　　Unfortunately, ocean rowboats very rarely go in a straight line.  不幸的是，划船渡洋很少能走直线。

　　By the time I get to Australia, if I get to Australia, I will have rowed probably nine or 10,000 miles in all. 在我达到澳大利亚前，我是说如果我顺利地达到澳大利亚，我大概一共要划9000到1万英里。

　　So, because nobody in their straight mind would row straight past Hawaii without dropping in,  所有的正常人都会考虑在划船经过夏威夷的时候顺便停留一下，

　　I decided² to cut this very big undertaking³ into three segments. The first attempt didn't go so well.  于是我决定把这个大航程分成三个阶段进行。我的第一次尝进行得并不顺利。

　　In 2007, I did a rather involuntary capsize drill three times in 24 hours. A bit like being in a washing machine.  2007年，我有一次在24小时内3次被卷入了足以令我翻船的漩涡当中。感觉有点像掉进了洗衣机里。

　　Boat got a bit dinged up, so did I. I blogged about it.  我的船受到了一点损坏，我也受了点轻伤。我把这段经历写在了博客里。

　　Unfortunately, somebody with a bit of a hero complex decided that this damsel was in distress⁴ and needed saving.  一些有英雄情结的人认为我身处困境，并且需要帮助。

　　The first I knew about this was when the Coast Guard plane turned up overhead.  当海岸警卫队的飞机在我头上盘旋的时候，我才知道这些。

　　I tried to tell them to go away. We had a bit of a battle of wills.  我请他们离开，我们交涉了一段时间。

　　I lost and got airlifted. Awful, really awful. 然后我服从了他们，被接到飞机上，简直太糟糕了。

　　It was one of the worst feelings of my life, as I was lifted up on that winch line into the helicopter 那是我一生中心情最差的时候，我被用吊绳运送到了直升飞机里，

　　and looked down at my trusty little boat rolling around in the 20 foot waves and wondering if I would ever see her again. 我朝下面看了看与我并肩作战的小船，正在20英尺高的海浪里摇摆，我不知道还能不能再看见它。

　　So I had to launch a very expensive salvage⁵ operation and then wait another nine months before I could get back out onto the ocean again. 我不得不开展了花费甚高的抢救行动，然后又等待了漫长的九个月，我才又可以卷土重来开始我的横渡之旅。

1 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

4 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

5 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。