万物简史 第276期:砰!(11)

 　　But the thinness of the clay layer clearly suggested that in Umbria, if nowhere else, something rather more abrupt¹ had happened. 但是，这层薄薄的黏土显然表明，在翁布里亚，如果不是在别处的话，事情发生得非常突然。

　　Unfortunately in the 1970s no tests existed for determining how long such a deposit might have taken to accumulate. 不幸的是，在20世纪70年代，没有人研究过积累那么一层黏土需要多长时间。

　　In the normal course of things, Alvarez almost certainly would have had to leave the problem at that, 在正常情况下，阿尔瓦雷斯几乎肯定不会去管这个问题。

　　but luckily he had an impeccable connection to someone outside his discipline who could help—his father, Luis. 但是，非常走运，他跟有个能帮得着忙的局外人有着无可挑剔的关系──他的父亲路易斯。

　　Luis Alvarez was an eminent² nuclear physicist³; 路易斯·阿尔瓦雷斯是一位著名的核物理学家，

　　he had won the Nobel Prize for physics the previous decade. 10年前曾获诺贝尔物理学奖。

　　He had always been mildly scornful of his son's attachment⁴ to rocks, but this problem intrigued⁵ him. 他对自己的儿子爱上岩石总是有点儿瞧不起，但他对这个问题很感兴趣。

　　It occurred to him that the answer might lie in dust from space. 他突然想到，答案可能在于来自太空的尘埃。

　　Every year the Earth accumulates some thirty thousand metric tons of "cosmic spherules", 每年，地球要积攒大约3万吨“宇宙小球体”，

　　space dust in plainer language—which would be quite a lot if you swept it into one pile, but is infinitesimal when spread across the globe. 说得明白一点，太空尘埃，要是扫成一堆，那倒不少，但若是撒在整个地球上，那简直微乎其微。

　　Scattered⁶ through this thin dusting are exotic elements not normally much found on Earth. 在这层薄薄的尘埃里，散布着地球上不大常见的外来元素。

　　Among these is the element iridium, which is a thousand times more abundant in space than in the Earth's crust 其中有元素铱。这种元素在太空里要比在地壳里丰富100倍

　　(because, it is thought, most of the iridium on Earth sank to the core when the planet was young). (据认为，这是因为大部分铱在地球形成之初已经沉入地心)。

　　Alvarez knew that a colleague of his at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in California, Frank Asaro, 路易斯·阿尔瓦雷斯知道，加利福尼亚州劳伦斯·伯克利实验室有一位名叫弗兰克·阿萨罗的同事，

　　had developed a technique for measuring very precisely⁷ the chemical composition of clays using a process called neutron⁸ activation⁹ analysis. 通过使用一种被称之为中子活化分析的过程，发明了一种能精确测定黏土化学成分的技术。

1 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

2 eminent   

adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的

参考例句：

• We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
• He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

3 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

4 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

5 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

6 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

7 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

8 neutron   

n.中子

参考例句：

• Neutron is neutral and slightly heavier than the proton.中子是中性的，比质子略重。
• Based on the neutron energy,the value of weighting factor was given.根据中子能量给出了相应的辐射权重因子的数值。

9 activation   

n. 激活，催化作用

参考例句：

• A computer controls the activation of an air bag.电脑控制着气囊的启动。