精美英文欣赏:尼斯湖水怪 The Loch Ness Monster(下)

In the beginning it only conducted research for a few weeks in a year, but eventually the Bureau established mobile camera stations.

开始时，一年中只有几周做调查，但是最终调查局建设成移动相机站。

Searches were conducted using hot-air-balloons and infrared¹ night time cameras, sonar scanners and submarines.

研究时采用热气球和红外线摄像头，声纳扫描和潜水艇。

Dr. Roy Mackal, a Loch Ness researcher, has suggested a large mammal like a primitive² whale.

罗伊·马卡，尼斯湖研究员，他认为怪物是一种类似原始鲸的大型的哺乳动物。

Others suggest a long necked seal or giant otter³. A few suggest an over-grown eel⁴.

另一些人认为它是长颈的海豹或者是巨大的水獭。还有一些人说是杂草丛生鳗鱼。

Probably the most famous picture of the Loch Ness monster was the "surgeon's photo" supposedly taken by Colonel Robert Wilson.

最著名的尼斯湖水怪的照片很可能是上校罗伯特·威尔逊拍的“外科医生的照片”。

This photo was acknowledged as a fake, though, by Christain Spurling, who helped build the model monster that was photographed.

尽管是克里斯琴·斯普林曾帮助构建了被拍到的怪物模型，但是这张照片被认为是假的。

He admitted the trick shortly before he died at age 90, in 1993.

他承认这是个恶作剧，不久后，1993年他去世了，享年90岁。

Efforts have continued to find the monster. A great deal of information was discovered about the Loch, but they have yet to produce any concrete evidence of a monster.

人们继续努力探寻怪物。有关尼斯的大量信息被发现，但是它们不足以证明怪物确确实实是存在的。

Skeptics argue that the water in the Loch is too cold for a reptile⁵ like the Plesiosaur.

怀疑者认为，尼斯湖的水太冷了不适合蛇颈龙这类的爬行动物生存。

They also argue an air breathing animal, like a whale or seal, would spend much more time on the surface than the creature seems to and would be spotted⁶ more often.

他们还认为一个诸如鲸鱼或者海豹这样靠空气呼吸的动物，比起那些经常出没的动物来说更难找到，需要花更多的时间。

Some scientists have wondered if the sightings might be caused by a underwater wave which is known to sometimes occur in deep, long, cold lakes, like Loch Ness.

一些科学家猜想，怪物的景象是否因为水下的破浪造成的，众所周知，这是类似尼斯湖这样又深又长，并且冷的湖里常会出现的。

Such a wave might push debris⁷ to the surface that might look like a strange animal.

这样的海浪可能会拍打到碎片的表面，让它看起来像个奇怪的动物。

1 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

2 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

3 otter   

n.水獭

参考例句：

• The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说，竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
• She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。

4 eel   

n.鳗鲡

参考例句：

• He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鳗叉捕鳗鱼。
• In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.苏州有一家饭馆，他们那里的招牌菜是鳗鱼面。

5 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

6 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

7 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。