【英语时差8，16】为什么尸体会浮

 Don: Ya?l, I was reading this mystery novel last night, and in it this guy goes missing and then--lo and behold--a week later they find his body floating in a nearby lake. I don't get it--I have a hard enough time staying afloat for ten minutes, and I'm alive. It's a mystery how corpses² do it.

Ya?l: Well, let's see if we can figure this mystery out. The first clue is that the density³ of the human body is similar to the density of water, and what keeps us floating--other than the dog paddle--is the air in our lungs.

D: Okay, so you'd think a corpse¹ would sink as the air in its lungs is replaced by water.

Y: Well, they do--at least initially⁴. But when any organism dies, it goes through putrefication, the series of chemical, physical, and biological changes that end up returning the body to the food chain. That's your second clue.

D: Hmm! I still don't get it.

Y: Okay, so here's your third clue: when a body dies, the bacteria that normally live in the digestive system continue to feed on the proteins and sugar in the body's soft tissues, and to excrete gasses including carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen, and methane⁵.

D: I give up. What does that have to do with floating?

Y: Well, these gasses accumulate in the body's cavities, and--if it's submerged in water--eventually cause it to start rising.

D: Gross. So why do the villains⁶ always drown their victims?

Y: Well, decomposition⁷ happens more slowly in water, and even more slowly in cold water.

D: So the mystery's solved.

Y: Took you long enough!  

1 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

2 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

3 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

4 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

5 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

6 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 decomposition   

n. 分解, 腐烂, 崩溃

参考例句：

• It is said that the magnetite was formed by a chemical process called thermal decomposition. 据说这枚陨星是在热分解的化学过程中形成的。
• The dehydration process leads to fairly extensive decomposition of the product. 脱水过程会导致产物相当程度的分解。