英语听书《海底两万里》第171期 第12章 一切都用电(4)

 　　Sodium¹?

　　钠吗？

　　Yes, sir. Mixed with mercury, it forms an amalgam² that takes the place of zinc³ in Bunsen cells.

　　是的，先生。钠跟汞混合，成为一种合金，代替本生电池中所需要的锌。

　　The mercury is never depleted⁴. Only the sodium is consumed, and the sea itself gives me that.

　　汞是不会损失的，只有钠才要消耗，但海水本身供给我所需要的钠。

　　Beyond this, I'll mention that sodium batteries have been found to generate the greater energy, and their electro-motor strength is twice that of zinc batteries.

　　此外我还可以告诉您，钠电池应当是最强的，它的电动力比锌电池要强好几倍。

　　Captain, I fully⁵ understand the excellence⁶ of sodium under the conditions in which you're placed.

　　船长， 我很明白您在这种情形中获得钠的优越性。

　　The sea contains it. Fine. But it still has to be produced, in short, extracted.

　　海水中含有钠6对。不过还要把它制出来，就是说，要把它提出来。

　　And how do you accomplish this?

　　您是怎样做的呢？

　　Obviously your batteries could do the extracting; but if I'm not mistaken, the consumption of sodium needed by your electric equipment would be greater than the quantity you'd extract.

　　当然您的电池可以做这种工作，不过，如果我没有说错，电动机器消耗的钠的数量，恐怕要超过提出来的钠的数量。

　　It would come about, then, that in the process of producing your sodium, you'd use up more than you'd make!

　　那么结果您为生产而消费的钠。实际上比您所能生产的钠数量要多！

　　Accordingly, professor, I don't extract it with batteries; quite simply, I utilize⁷ the heat of coal from the earth.

　　教授，我并不用电池提取，我简单地用陆地上煤炭的热力就是了。

1 sodium   

n.（化）钠

参考例句：

• Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
• Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。

2 amalgam   

n.混合物；汞合金

参考例句：

• To counter this myth,we explained that we're really an amalgam of little guys.为了打破这个神话，我们解释说，我们确实是由一群小小的老百姓所组成的混合体。
• American literature is to our eyes a curious amalgam of familiar and strange.我们认为，美国文学把我们所熟悉的和陌生的东西奇妙地结合起来了。

3 zinc   

n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• Zinc is used to protect other metals from corrosion.锌被用来保护其他金属不受腐蚀。

4 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

7 utilize   

vt.使用，利用

参考例句：

• The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
• You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。