时差N小时 再见芝加哥

Don:Yael, I'm going to take some vacation time so I can visit Chicago before it sinks and disappears.

唐:雅艾尔,我要休假,这样我就能在芝加哥下沉，消失之前去这个地方看看了。

I mean, I'd like to see the Sears Tower and eat some deep-dish pizza before it goes.

我想看看西尔斯大厦，还要吃一些加厚比萨饼。

Yael:Relax, Don. Although Chicago is sinking, we're only talking one millimeter a year—

雅艾尔:冷静点,唐。虽然芝加哥正在下沉,但我们所讲的是一年一毫米的速度。

Don:But that's four inches in a century!

唐:但一个世纪就是4英寸！

Yael:But only until the land in North America brings itself back into equilibrium¹.

雅艾尔:但只要北美的土地恢复平衡后就会好了。

Don:What do you mean?

唐:此话怎讲?

Yael:Well, when glaciers² covered Canada and the northern Great Lakes tens of thousands of years ago, their weight pushed down on the Earth's surface and caused it to sag³.

雅艾尔:嗯,数万年前冰川覆盖加拿大和北方的大湖时,其体积造成地球表面下沉。

And this pressure forced the Earth's mantle⁴, the layer of hot, plastic rock that's located beneath the Earth's crust, to give way and ooze⁵ out and sideways.

而这种压力迫使地球地壳中的热层地幔层的塑性岩石垮掉并移到一边。

Don:Oh! It's like the Earth is a giant waterbed.

唐:哦!这就像地球是一个巨大的水床。

When you lie down on it, the surface of the mattress⁶ under you sinks, forcing the water into other parts of the mattress.

当你躺下,床垫的表面随你下沉而迫使水到床垫的其他部分。

Yael:You have a water bed?

雅艾尔:你有张水床?

Don:But of course.

唐:当然。

Yael:Anyway. In the twelve thousand years since the glaciers receded⁷, the Earth's crust has been slowly returning to its original shape.

雅艾尔:不管怎样。在一万二千年,自从冰川消退后,地壳开始逐渐恢复到原来的形状。

So the land in Canada and the northern Great Lakes is slowly rising, while the rest of North America is slowly sinking, like a seesaw⁸, enabling the mantle to flow back north.

所以加拿大和北部五大湖的土地慢慢上升,而北美的其他地方在慢慢下沉,这就像个跷跷板,使地幔向北移动。

And as the Lake Michigan floor north of Green Bay rises, all that water sloshes south towards Chicago.

而随着密西根湖楼格林贝北部的上升,水也朝向芝加哥南部。

Don:Kind of like tilting⁹ a bathtub.

唐:有点像倾斜的浴缸。

Yael:Yep.

雅艾尔:是的。

Don:Hmm! So even if I don't have to rush out for pizza, it does sound like an issue from a Great Lakes management perspective.

唐:嗯!所以即使我不用急着去那里吃披萨,这听起来确实是五大湖管理面临的管理前景问题。

Yael:It sure is.

雅艾尔:的确是这样。

1 equilibrium   

n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静

参考例句：

• Change in the world around us disturbs our inner equilibrium.我们周围世界的变化扰乱了我们内心的平静。
• This is best expressed in the form of an equilibrium constant.这最好用平衡常数的形式来表示。

2 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

3 sag   

v.下垂，下跌，消沉；n.下垂，下跌，凹陷，[航海]随风漂流

参考例句：

• The shelf was beginning to sag beneath the weight of the books upon it.书架在书的重压下渐渐下弯。
• We need to do something about the sag.我们须把下沉的地方修整一下。

4 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

5 ooze   

n.软泥，渗出物；vi.渗出，泄漏；vt.慢慢渗出，流露

参考例句：

• Soon layer of oceanic ooze began to accumulate above the old hard layer.不久后海洋软泥层开始在老的硬地层上堆积。
• Drip or ooze systems are common for pot watering.滴灌和渗灌系统一般也用于盆栽灌水。

6 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

7 receded   

v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• The floodwaters have now receded. 洪水现已消退。
• The sound of the truck receded into the distance. 卡车的声音渐渐在远处消失了。

8 seesaw   

n.跷跷板

参考例句：

• Prices have gone up and down like a seesaw this year.今年的价格像跷跷板一样时涨时跌。
• The children are playing at seesaw.孩子们在玩跷跷板。

9 tilting   

倾斜，倾卸

参考例句：

• For some reason he thinks everyone is out to get him, but he's really just tilting at windmills. 不知为什么他觉得每个人都想害他，但其实他不过是在庸人自扰。
• So let us stop bickering within our ranks.Stop tilting at windmills. 所以，让我们结束内部间的争吵吧！再也不要去做同风车作战的蠢事了。