-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Wild Europe - Genesis 肇始之初- 13
As the sun beat down, something like 4,000 cubic kilometers of water evaporated from the Mediterranean1 surface every year. And with no Atlantic water to replenish2 it, the Mediterranean dried out. In just a thousand years, it became a desert basin of salt pans and caustic3 lakes. The rivers that once fed the Mediterranean cut deeper and deeper into the rock, chasing the dropping shoreline and forming a labyrinth4 of dramatic gorges5.
Just a few million years ago, France's Rhone Valley must have looked more like the Grand Canyon6. So intense was the heat in the basin that these waterfalls evaporated before they even reached the old seafloor. For tens of thousands of years, a natural dam between present-day Morocco and the Rock of Gibraltar held the waters of the Atlantic bay. The Mediterranean basin remained an almost lifeless expanse of salt, sand and parched7 earth. But as Africa pushed and pulled Europe's southern boundary, the pressures on the crust became unbearable8. Rising tides weakened the land bridge and then the Atlantic burst its way over the precipice9. So began the most gigantic flood ever. At its peak, enormous waterfalls a thousand times grander than Niagara thundered into the basin. More than 100 cubic kilometers of water gushed10 past Gibraltar every day.
words and expressions
replenish: To fill or make complete again; add a new stock or supply to:
补充:把…再装满或再备足;给…新添备料或供给
caustic: Capable of burning, corroding11, dissolving, or eating away by chemical action.腐蚀性的:通过化学反应可被灼烧、腐蚀、销溶或蚀尽的
expanse: A wide and open extent, as of surface, land, or sky.
广阔:广阔的水面、陆地或天空
parched:炎热的
precipice:An overhanging or extremely steep mass of rock, such as a crag or the face of a cliff.
悬崖:悬崖或极其陡峭的岩石,如岩崖或悬崖壁
1 Mediterranean | |
adj.地中海的;地中海沿岸的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 replenish | |
vt.补充;(把…)装满;(再)填满 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 caustic | |
adj.刻薄的,腐蚀性的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 labyrinth | |
n.迷宫;难解的事物;迷路 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 gorges | |
n.山峡,峡谷( gorge的名词复数 );咽喉v.(用食物把自己)塞饱,填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 );作呕 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 canyon | |
n.峡谷,溪谷 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 parched | |
adj.焦干的;极渴的;v.(使)焦干 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 unbearable | |
adj.不能容忍的;忍受不住的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 precipice | |
n.悬崖,危急的处境 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 gushed | |
v.喷,涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 );滔滔不绝地说话 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 corroding | |
使腐蚀,侵蚀( corrode的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|