万物简史 第289期:砰!(24)

 　　Anyone in a tall building in Omaha or Des Moines, say, 要是有人——比如说——在奥马哈或得梅因的高楼上，

　　who chanced to look in the right direction would see a bewildering veil of turmoil¹ followed by instantaneous oblivion. 恰好看着那个方向，他会见到一片混乱，接着顿时被湮没其中。

　　Within minutes, over an area stretching from Denver to Detroit and encompassing² what had once been Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, the Twin Cities, 不出几分钟，从丹佛到底特律的广大地区，包括曾经是芝加哥、圣路易斯、堪萨斯城、姐妹城的地方，

　　the whole of the Midwest, in short——nearly every standing³ thing would be flattened⁴ or on fire, and nearly every living thing would be dead. 一句话，整个美国中西部，差不多每个直立的东西都会被夷为平地或燃起大火，差不多每个生物都会死亡。

　　People up to a thousand miles away would be knocked off their feet and sliced or clobbered⁵ by a blizzard⁶ of flying projectiles⁷. 远在1500公里以外的人会被一阵飞弹击倒在地、撕成碎片或狠揍一顿。

　　Beyond a thousand miles the devastation⁸ from the blast would gradually diminish. 到了1500公里以外，爆炸的破坏程度会逐渐减小。

　　But that's just the initial shockwave. 但是，那仅仅是第一轮冲击波。

　　No one can do more than guess what the associated damage would be, other than that it would be brisk and global. 有关的破坏程度大家只能猜猜而已，但无疑会是很严重的，全球性的。

　　The impact would almost certainly set off a chain of devastating⁹ earthquakes. 撞击肯定会引发一连串破坏性极大的地震。

　　Volcanoes across the globe would begin to rumble¹⁰ and spew. 全球的火山会开始隆隆作响，喷出火焰。

　　Tsunamis¹¹ would rise up and head devastatingly¹² for distant shores. 海啸会高高隆起，涌向远方的海岸，造成极大的破坏。

　　Within an hour, a cloud of blackness would cover the planet, 不出一个小时，地球会一片漆黑，

　　and burning rock and other debris¹³ would be pelting¹⁴ down everywhere, setting much of the planet ablaze¹⁵. 燃烧的岩石和其他碎物到处飞舞，把这颗行星的大部分地方变成一片火海。

　　It has been estimated that at least a billion and a half people would be dead by the end of the first day. 有人估计，到第一天过去的时候，至少会有15亿人没了性命。

　　The massive disturbances¹⁶ to the ionosphere would knock out communications systems everywhere, 对电离层的巨大干扰会使各地的通信系统陷于瘫痪，

　　so survivors¹⁷ would have no idea what was happening elsewhere or where to turn. 因此幸存者无法知道别处在发生的事，往哪里逃命。

　　It would hardly matter.  这也已几乎无关紧要。

1 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

2 encompassing   

v.围绕( encompass的现在分词 )；包围；包含；包括

参考例句：

• Being too large and all-encompassing is a common defect among state-owned enterprises. 过分追求大而全，是国企的一大通病。 来自互联网
• Our services are: all-encompassing, love justice and high quality. 我们的服务目标是：全方位、真情义、高质量。 来自互联网

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

5 clobbered   

v.狠揍， （不停）猛打( clobber的过去式和过去分词 )；彻底击败

参考例句：

• The paper got clobbered with libel damages of half a million pounds. 这家报纸被罚以五十万英镑的诽谤损害赔偿金。
• The robbers clobbered the shopkeeper to make him open the safe. 强盗们殴打店主迫使他打开保险箱。 来自辞典例句

6 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

7 projectiles   

n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器

参考例句：

• These differences are connected with the strong absorption of the composite projectiles. 这些差别与复杂的入射粒子的强烈吸收有关。 来自辞典例句
• Projectiles became more important because cannons could now fire balls over hundreds or yards. 抛射体变得更加重要，因为人们已能用大炮把炮弹射到几百码的距离之外。 来自辞典例句

8 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

10 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

11 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句

12 devastatingly   

adv. 破坏性地，毁灭性地，极其

参考例句：

• She was utterly feminine and devastatingly attractive in an unstudied way. 她温存无比，魅力四射而又绝不矫揉造作。
• I refuted him devastatingly from point to point. 我对他逐项痛加驳斥。

13 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

14 pelting   

微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的

参考例句：

• The rain came pelting down. 倾盆大雨劈头盖脸地浇了下来。
• Hailstones of abuse were pelting him. 阵阵辱骂冰雹般地向他袭来。

15 ablaze   

adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的

参考例句：

• The main street was ablaze with lights in the evening.晚上，那条主要街道灯火辉煌。
• Forests are sometimes set ablaze by lightning.森林有时因雷击而起火。

16 disturbances   

n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍

参考例句：

• The government has set up a commission of inquiry into the disturbances at the prison. 政府成立了一个委员会来调查监狱骚乱事件。
• Extra police were called in to quell the disturbances. 已调集了增援警力来平定骚乱。

17 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者