万物简史 第364期:进入对流层(5)

 　　In The Other Side of Everest, the British mountaineer and filmmaker Matt Dickinson records how Howard Somervell, 在《珠穆朗玛峰的另一侧》中，英国登山家兼电影制片人马特·迪金森记录下了霍华德·萨默维尔的情况。

　　on a 1924 British expedition up Everest, "found himself choking to death after a piece of infected flesh came loose and blocked his windpipe." 1924年，萨默维尔随一个英国远征队攀登珠穆朗玛峰，“发现自己一块发炎的肉掉下来，堵住了气管，差一点窒息而死”。

　　With a supreme¹ effort Somervell managed to cough up the obstruction². 萨默维尔费了好大的劲儿才把肉屑咳出来。

　　It turned out to be "the entire mucus lining³ of his larynx." 结果发现，他咳出来的是“喉部的整个蒙古膜”。

　　Bodily distress⁴ is notorious above 25,000 feet—the area known to climbers as the Death Zone, 到了7500米以上的高度—即登山运动员所谓的“死亡地带”——身体就会很不舒服；

　　but many people become severely⁵ debilitated⁶, even dangerously ill, at heights of no more than 15,000 feet or so. 但是，许多人到不了4500米左右的高度就会极度虚弱，甚至病危。

　　Susceptibility has little to do with fitness. 敏感程度与身体是否健壮几乎没有关系。

　　Grannies sometimes caper⁷ about in lofty situations while their fitter offspring are reduced to helpless, groaning⁸ heaps until conveyed to lower altitudes. 有时候，老奶奶在高处生龙活虎，而她们身强力壮的后辈们反而哼哼哈哈，已经吃不消，不得不被送往低处。

　　The absolute limit of human tolerance⁹ for continuous living appears to be about 5,500 meters, or 18,000 feet, 就人类连续生活的耐受能力而言，极限大约为5500米，

　　but even people conditioned to living at altitude could not tolerate such heights for long. 但连习惯于生活在高处的人也无法长期忍耐这种高度。

　　Frances Ashcroft, in Life at the Extremes, notes that there are Andean sulfur¹⁰ mines at 5,800 meters, 弗朗西斯·阿什克罗夫特在《极端条件下的生命》一书中说，安第斯山脉在5800米的高处有硫矿，

　　but that the miners prefer to descend¹¹ 460 meters each evening and climb back up the following day, rather than live continuously at that elevation¹². 但矿工们宁可每天晚上往下走460米，第二天再爬上去，也不愿意连续生活在那个高度。

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

3 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

4 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

5 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。

6 debilitated   

adj.疲惫不堪的，操劳过度的v.使（人或人的身体）非常虚弱( debilitate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Prolonged strike action debilitated the industry. 长时间的罢工削弱了这个行业的活力。
• This is especially important when dealing with the geriatric or debilitated patient. 这对老年和虚弱病人尤其重要。 来自互联网

7 caper   

v.雀跃，欢蹦；n.雀跃，跳跃；续随子，刺山柑花蕾；嬉戏

参考例句：

• The children cut a caper in the yard.孩子们在院子里兴高采烈地乱蹦乱跳。
• The girl's caper cost her a twisted ankle.小姑娘又蹦又跳，结果扭伤了脚踝。

8 groaning   

adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• She's always groaning on about how much she has to do. 她总抱怨自己干很多活儿。
• The wounded man lay there groaning, with no one to help him. 受伤者躺在那里呻吟着，无人救助。

9 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

10 sulfur   

n.硫，硫磺（=sulphur）

参考例句：

• Sulfur emissions from steel mills become acid rain.炼钢厂排放出的硫形成了酸雨。
• Burning may produce sulfur oxides.燃烧可能会产生硫氧化物。

11 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

12 elevation   

n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高

参考例句：

• The house is at an elevation of 2,000 metres.那幢房子位于海拔两千米的高处。
• His elevation to the position of General Manager was announced yesterday.昨天宣布他晋升总经理职位。