万物简史 第332期:美丽而危险(15)

 　　Would there be any warning? “会有什么警报吗？”

　　Probably not. The last significant explosion in the park was at a place called Pork Chop Geyser in 1989. “很可能没有。公园里上一次大喷发发生在1989年，在一个名叫猪排间歇泉的地方。

　　That left a crater¹ about five meters across—not huge by any means, but big enough if you happened to be standing² there at the time. 那次喷发留下了一个大约5米宽的坑——反正不算很大，但要是你当时正好站在那个位置，那它就大得很了。

　　Fortunately, nobody was around so nobody was hurt, but that happened without warning. 所幸没有人在场，因此没有人受伤，但它是在没有任何警报的情况下发生的。

　　In the very ancient past there have been explosions that have made holes a mile across. 在遥远遥远的过去，有的喷发形成了1.5公里宽的大坑。

　　And nobody can tell you where or when that might happen again. 谁也说不准这种事情会在哪儿或何时再次发生。

　　You just have to hope that you're not standing there when it does. 你只能希望，它发生的时候你没有站在那儿。”

　　Big rockfalls are also a danger. 大的岩崩也是一种危险。

　　There was a big one at Gardiner Canyon³ in 1999, but again fortunately no one was hurt. 1999年在加迪纳峡谷发生过一次大岩崩，所幸没有人受伤。

　　Late in the afternoon, Doss and I stopped at a place where there was a rock overhang poised⁴ above a busy park road. 下午晚些时候，多斯和我在一个地方停下来，只见一条行人众多的道路上方突出一块岩石。

　　Cracks were clearly visible. 裂缝已经清晰可见。

　　"It could go at any time," Doss said thoughtfully. “它随时都有可能掉下来。”多斯若有所思地说。

　　You're kidding, I said. “你在开玩笑吧？”我说。

　　There wasn't a moment when there weren't two cars passing beneath it, all filled with, in the most literal sense, happy campers. 几乎每时每刻都有几辆汽车从下面通过，里面都塞满了——完全按词的本义——快活的野营者。

　　Oh, it's not likely, he added. "I'm just saying it could. “哦，不大会的，”他接着说，“我只是在说有这种可能。

　　Equally it could stay like that for decades. 它有可能再坚持几十年。

　　There's just no telling. 真的说不准。

　　People have to accept that there is risk in coming here. 人们不得不承认，你来这儿就得冒风险。

　　That's all there is to it." 事情就是那样。”

　　As we walked back to his vehicle to head back to Mammoth⁵ Hot Springs, 我们走回他的车子跟前，准备返回马默思温泉。

　　Doss added: "But the thing is, most of the time bad things don't happen. 他接着说：“问题在于，大部分时间里不会出事。

　　Rocks don't fall. Earthquakes don't occur. New vents⁶ don't suddenly open up. 岩石没有掉下来，地震没有发生，新的喷气孔没有突然出现。

　　For all the instability, it's mostly remarkably⁷ and amazingly tranquil⁸." 尽管地下很不稳定，但在大多数情况下平安无事。”

1 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。

2 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。

3 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

4 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

5 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

6 vents   

（气体、液体等进出的）孔、口( vent的名词复数 )； （鸟、鱼、爬行动物或小哺乳动物的）肛门； 大衣等的)衩口； 开衩

参考例句：

• He always vents his anger on the dog. 他总是拿狗出气。
• The Dandelion Patch is the least developed of the four active vents. “蒲公英区”在这四个活裂口中是发育最差的一个。

7 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

8 tranquil   

adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的

参考例句：

• The boy disturbed the tranquil surface of the pond with a stick. 那男孩用棍子打破了平静的池面。
• The tranquil beauty of the village scenery is unique. 这乡村景色的宁静是绝无仅有的。