万物简史 第252期:大地在移动(6)

 　　To be sure, Wegener made mistakes. He asserted that Greenland is drifting west by about a mile a year, which is clearly nonsense. (It's more like half an inch.) Above all, he could offer no convincing explanation for how the landmasses moved about. To believe in his theory you had to accept that massive continents somehow pushed through solid crust, like a plow¹ through soil, without leaving any furrow² in their wake. Nothing then known could plausibly³ explain what motored these massive movements.

　　魏格纳犯过错误，这点不假。他断言格陵兰岛在以每年大约1.6公里的速度向西漂移，这完全是胡说八道。（更可能是1厘米。）尤其是，他对大陆移动不能作出有说服力的解释。若要相信他的理论，你不得不承认大陆不知怎的像农犁耕地那样被推过坚实的地壳，而又没有在后面留下犁沟。根据当时的认识，无法解释是什么力驱动了这样大规模的移动。

　　大陆漂移

　　It was Arthur Holmes, the English geologist⁴ who did so much to determine the age of the Earth, who suggested a possible way. Holmes was the first scientist to understand that radioactive warming could produce convection currents within the Earth. In theory these could be powerful enough to slide continents around on the surface. In his popular and influential⁵ textbook Principles of Physical Geology , first published in 1944, Holmes laid out a continental⁶ drift theory that was in its fundamentals the theory that prevails today. It was still a radical⁷ proposition for the time and widely criticized, particularly in the United States, where resistance to drift lasted longer than elsewhere. One reviewer there fretted⁸, without any evident sense of irony⁹, that Holmes presented his arguments so clearly and compellingly that students might actually come to believe them.

　　英国地质学家阿瑟·霍姆斯曾为确定地球的年龄作出了很大贡献。这次又是他提出了一种看法。霍姆斯是知道辐射热会在地球内部产生对流的第一位科学家。从理论上说，这种对流可能力量很大，能使大陆平面滑动。1944年，霍姆斯首次出版了一本深受欢迎、很有影响的教材《物理地质学原理》。在这本书里，他提出了大陆漂移学说。该理论的许多基本原则今天依然盛行。它在当时仍是一种很激进的见解，受到了许多人的批评，尤其在美国。美国人抵制漂移学说的时间比别处要长。有一位美国评论家发愁地说，霍姆斯论点清楚，令人信服，学生们慢慢会信以为真。他的话毫无挖苦之意。

1 plow   

n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough

参考例句：

• At this time of the year farmers plow their fields.每年这个时候农民们都在耕地。
• We will plow the field soon after the last frost.最后一场霜过后，我们将马上耕田。

2 furrow   

n.沟；垄沟；轨迹；车辙；皱纹

参考例句：

• The tractor has make deep furrow in the loose sand.拖拉机在松软的沙土上留下了深深的车辙。
• Mei did not weep.She only bit her lips,and the furrow in her brow deepened.梅埋下头，她咬了咬嘴唇皮，额上的皱纹显得更深了。

3 plausibly   

似真地

参考例句：

• The case was presented very plausibly. 案情的申述似很可信。
• He argued very plausibly for its acceptance. 他为使之认可辩解得头头是道。

4 geologist   

n.地质学家

参考例句：

• The geologist found many uncovered fossils in the valley.在那山谷里，地质学家发现了许多裸露的化石。
• He was a geologist,rated by his cronies as the best in the business.他是一位地质学家，被他的老朋友们看做是这门行当中最好的一位。

5 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

6 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

7 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

8 fretted   

焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的

参考例句：

• The wind whistled through the twigs and fretted the occasional, dirty-looking crocuses. 寒风穿过枯枝，有时把发脏的藏红花吹刮跑了。 来自英汉文学
• The lady's fame for hitting the mark fretted him. 这位太太看问题深刻的名声在折磨着他。

9 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。