万物简史 第314期:地下的烈火(22)

 　　Almost the only person who believed that something really bad might happen was Jack¹ Hyde, a geology professor at a community college in Tacoma. 几乎只有一个人认为真的快出大问题了，他就是塔科马一所社区学院的地质学教授杰克·海德。

　　He pointed² out that St. Helens didn't have an open vent³, as Hawaiian volcanoes have, 他指出，圣海伦斯火山没有夏威夷的火山那样敞开的喷发口，

　　so any pressure building up inside was bound to be released dramatically and probably catastrophically. 因此积聚在里面的压力势必要戏剧性地，很可能是灾难性地释放出来。

　　However, Hyde was not part of the official team and his observations attracted little notice. 然而，海德不是官方小组的成员。他的观测结果没有引起多大注意。

　　We all know what happened next. 我们大家都想得到接下来发生了什么。

　　At 8:32 A.M. on a Sunday morning, May 18, the north side of the volcano collapsed⁴, 5月18日是个星期日，上午8时32分，火山北侧塌陷，

　　sending an enormous avalanche⁵ of dirt and rock rushing down the mountain slope at 150 miles an hour. 大雪崩似的尘土和岩石以每小时将近250公里的速度沿着山坡冲下来。

　　It was the biggest landslide⁶ in human history and carried enough material to bury the whole of Manhattan to a depth of four hundred feet. 这是人类历史上最大的滑坡，携带着足以把整个曼哈顿埋入120米深处的材料。

　　A minute later, its flank severely⁷ weakened, 1分钟以后，它的一侧已经非常单薄。

　　St. Helens exploded with the force of five hundred Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs, 圣海伦斯火山终于以500枚广岛原子弹的威力爆发了，

　　shooting out a murderous hot cloud at up to 650 miles an hour—much too fast, clearly, for anyone nearby to outrace. 炽热而危险的烟雾以每小时1050公里的速度向外喷射——速度太快，附近的人显然不是它的对手。

　　Many people who were thought to be in safe areas, often far out of sight of the volcano, were overtaken. 许多被认为是在安全地带——往往远在见不着火山的地方——的人逃之不及。

　　Fifty-seven people were killed. 57个人死亡。

　　Twenty-three of the bodies were never found. 其中23个人的尸体永远没有找到。

　　The toll⁸ would have been much higher except that it was a Sunday. 这一天是星期天，要不然死亡的人数还会多得多。

　　Had it been a weekday many lumber⁹ workers would have been working within the death zone. 在任何一个工作日，许多伐木工人本会在死亡地区作业。

　　As it was, people were killed eighteen miles away. 事实上，连在30公里外的地方也有人难保性命。

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 avalanche   

n.雪崩，大量涌来

参考例句：

• They were killed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.他们在瑞士阿尔卑斯山的一次雪崩中罹难。
• Higher still the snow was ready to avalanche.在更高处积雪随时都会崩塌。

6 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

7 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。