万物简史 第282期:砰!(17)

 　　I'm not mocking this at all—it's vital and enlightened work; it keeps Iowa's water clean—but with the best will in the world it's not exactly dodging¹ lava² bombs on Mount Pinatubo or scrabbling over crevasses³ on the Greenland ice sheet in search of ancient life-bearing quartzes. So we may well imagine the flutter of excitement that swept through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources when in the mid-1980s the world's geological attention focused on Manson and its crater⁴.

　　我毫无讽刺挖苦的意思──这项工作非常重要，要有丰富的知识，使艾奥瓦的水源保持清洁。但是，即使有世界上最强的意志力，在寻找古代孕育生命的石英的过程中，它也无法完全回避皮纳特博峰上的熔岩炸弹，或者越过格陵兰冰盖上的裂隙。因此，我们完全可以想像，当20世纪80年代中期世界地质学界把注意力集中在曼森和曼森大坑的时候，艾奥瓦州的自然资源部会有多么激动。

　　crater

　　Trowbridge Hall in Iowa City is a turn-of-the-century pile of red brick that houses the University of Iowa's Earth Sciences department and—way up in a kind of garret—the geologists⁵ of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. No one now can remember quite when, still less why, the state geologists were placed in an academic facility, but you get the impression that the space was conceded grudgingly⁶, for the offices are cramped⁷ and low-ceilinged and not very accessible. When being shown the way, you half expect to be taken out onto a roof ledge⁸ and helped in through a window.

　　得梅因城的特罗布里奇大楼是在世纪之交建造的一栋红砖建筑物。它是艾奥瓦大学地球科学系的所在地，艾奥瓦自然资源部的地质学家们就在上面阁楼似的地方办公。谁也记不大清是什么时候，更记不大清是什么原因，该州的地质工作者被放在一个学术机构里，但你可以得到这样的印象：空间给得很少，因为办公室很窄小，天花板很低，进出很不方便。当有人带着你往里走的时候，你要有思想准备，你会被领上一个屋脊，被从窗户里扶进一间屋子。

　　Ray Anderson and Brian Witzke spend their working lives up here amid disordered heaps of papers, journals, furled charts, and hefty specimen⁹ stones. (Geologists are never at a loss for paperweights.) It's the kind of space where if you want to find anything—an extra chair, a coffee cup, a ringing telephone—you have to move stacks of documents around.

　　雷·安德森和布赖恩·威策克就在这里办公，在乱七八糟的报纸、杂志、图表和石头标本堆里度过他们的上班时间。（地质学家们向来善于使用压纸器。）在这样的地方，要是你想找个什么东西──一把备用的椅子，一只咖啡杯，一部铃在响的电话机，你非得先搬开几大堆文件。

1 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

2 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

3 crevasses   

n.破口，崩溃处，裂缝( crevasse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Splays are commonly formed by currents from crevasses in levees. 嗽叭形堆积通常由堤防决口的洪流所形成。 来自辞典例句
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses. 冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。 来自辞典例句

4 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

5 geologists   

地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
• Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。

6 grudgingly   

参考例句：

• He grudgingly acknowledged having made a mistake. 他勉强承认他做错了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Their parents unwillingly [grudgingly] consented to the marriage. 他们的父母无可奈何地应允了这门亲事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

8 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

9 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。