纪录片《火星任务》 第39期 没有生命迹象

It had always been thought

过去人们认为

that this strange red colour

这种奇怪的红色

was a result of pollution,

是污染造成的

that the water had been tainted¹ by iron

罗马时期上游开凿了矿井

and other metals washed downstream from the mines

人们以为矿井中的铁和其他金属

that have existed here since Roman times.

污染了河水

Well, I can't see anything obviously alive,

我看不到任何明显的活物

and there's clearly no fish swimming around in here.

显然没有鱼在这里面游来游去

There are no visible signs of life.

没有明显的生命迹象

And the Rio Tinto's waters hold another secret,

力拓河水还有另一个秘密

which made people think there was no hope

这个秘密让人们认为

of even the tiniest life forms ever existing here.

最微小的生命也无法在这里存活

So, I've got a pH meter here,

这是一个酸碱度检测仪

and I'm going to test the acidity²

我要测量一下

of the water in the Rio Tinto at this place here.

这里力拓河水的酸碱度

Now, a normal river, a healthy river,

一条普通 健康的河

would be pH7 - that's neutral.

河水的pH值是7 呈中性

And, obviously, the lower the number,

显然 数字越小

the greater the acidity is.

酸性越强

1 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 acidity   

n.酸度，酸性

参考例句：

• This plant prefers alkaline soil,though it will readily tolerate some acidity.这种植物在酸性土壤中也能生存，但硷性土壤更加适宜。
• Gastric acidity would not prevent the organism from passing into the gut.胃的酸度不能防止细菌进入肠道。