精美英文欣赏:沉船中的宝藏

Treasure in Sunken Ships

Of the tens of thousands of ships on the oceanbottom, only a handful, less than 1 percent, containnegotiable treasure, such as gold and jewels. Mostgive us a different priceless treasure -- history. Asunken ship lies in trust, preserved in the airlessenvironment of the sea and those in deep water areespecially well protected. No dry land sites anywhere -- except perhaps Egyptian tombs--are ina better state of preservation¹ than a vessel² deep in the ocean.A sunken ship,therefore, can bea rare window through which a moment in time is glimpsed.

This is not to imply that sunken ships are always found intact. Most ships break up on the waydown, hit the bottom at about 100 miles per hour, and become a chaotic³, confusing jumble⁴. I recall the chagrin⁵ of a novice⁶ diver who, after surfacing from an underwater tour of a 400-foot ship, asked his diving buddy⁷, "Where was the wreck⁸?" It takes experience to actually knowa sunken ship when one sees it.But no matter what its condition on the way down,a shipdeteriorates much more slowly as it sinks deeper into protective layers of sand and mud. Ancient vessels⁹ have been found in remarkably¹⁰ good condition. In 1977 a group of marinearchaeologists excavating¹¹ a 900-year-old wreck recovered engraved¹² glassware. Greek coins, bronze kettles, and amazingly, Greek jars containing seeds, almonds, and lentils -- even a platewith chicken bones.

沉船中的宝藏

在数以万计的海底沉船中，只有极少数，不到百分之一的沉船上有可流通的财富，如黄金和珠宝。 多数沉船提供给我们的是另一种无价的财富--历史。 沉船被海洋中没有空气的环境保管起来，躺在深水中的船只被保存得尤其完好。 大概除了埃及金字塔外，陆地上没有哪些遗迹比深海沉船保存得更完好了。 因此，每一只沉船便成为我们探视历史的一扇难得的窗户。 但这并不是说沉船被发现时都完好无损。 大多数船只在下沉过程中就已破碎，并以每小时 100 英里的速度撞击海底，因此成为乱糟糟的一团。 我至今仍记得一位潜水新手造访一艘400 英尺长的海底沉船后浮出水面时的懊丧神情。他问他的潜水伙伴："沉船在哪儿?" 看到沉船时能知道这是一只沉船是需要经验的。 但不管船在下沉时状况如何，当它下沉到海底具有保护作用的泥沙层后，船体的朽烂速度比在陆地上要慢得多。人们曾在海底发现过保存异常完好的古船。 1977 年，一群海洋考古学家们在发掘一只有900年历史的沉船时，找到了雕花玻璃器皿、希腊硬币、青铜水壶，并令人吃惊地发现一些盛有种子、杏仁和扁豆等东西的希腊罐子，甚至找到一个盛有鸡骨的盘子。

1 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

2 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

3 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

4 jumble   

vt.使混乱，混杂；n.混乱；杂乱的一堆

参考例句：

• Even the furniture remained the same jumble that it had always been.甚至家具还是象过去一样杂乱无章。
• The things in the drawer were all in a jumble.抽屉里的东西很杂乱。

5 chagrin   

n.懊恼；气愤；委屈

参考例句：

• His increasingly visible chagrin sets up a vicious circle.他的明显的不满引起了一种恶性循环。
• Much to his chagrin,he did not win the race.使他大为懊恼的是他赛跑没获胜。

6 novice   

adj.新手的，生手的

参考例句：

• As a novice writer,this is something I'm interested in.作为初涉写作的人，我对此很感兴趣。
• She realized that she was a novice.她知道自己初出茅庐。

7 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

8 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

9 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

11 excavating   

v.挖掘( excavate的现在分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• A bulldozer was employed for excavating the foundations of the building. 推土机用来给楼房挖地基。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs. 一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。 来自辞典例句

12 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》