国家地理 加里曼丹岛的地底洞天(5)

"This is a very exciting place. Where else on Earth can you find so much unexplored territory?"

“这里是一个让人非常激动的地方。你还能在地球上找到如此大面积的未开发区吗？”

A huge grin lit Andy Eavis's face. Then the expedition leader frowned.

安迪·艾维斯咧嘴大笑。然后探险队长皱了皱眉。

"Well, I suppose there are a few spots," he said, considering his own question. "Papua New Guinea comes to mind. And of course, there's the bottom of the sea. But anyway, no. So far as cave exploration is concerned, Borneo is singular. There's no place like it under the earth."

“我觉得有一些地方，”他一边考虑自己的问题一边说道。“我想到了巴布亚新几内亚。当然，还有海底。但不管怎样都没有。到目前为止，婆罗洲是独一无二的洞穴探险地。地球上没有任何一个地方能与之媲美。”

Eavis, stout¹ and hale at 70, felt comfortable staking the claim. He has spent more than 50 years exploring some of the world's most remote and fantastic subterranean² systems and has served on nearly every one of his sport's governing bodies, helping³ decide how caving records are kept and how titles such as "biggest" and "deepest" are bestowed⁴. Less formally, he's spent years working to protect caves and ensure they remain open to the cavers who love them. Eavis is, by any measure, an ambassador of the underworld.

艾维斯现年70岁，身体结实、健壮，对涉足这个领域很兴奋。他花了50年的时间来探索一些世界上最偏远、最漂亮的地下洞穴系统，而且他几乎供职过所有的体育管理机构，他的工作是决定如何保持洞穴探险记录以及如何评定“最大”和“最深”的洞穴。用不太正式的话来说，他多年来致力于保护洞穴，并确保洞穴依然为探险者开放。不论怎么看，艾维斯都堪称地下世界的大使。

1 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

2 subterranean   

adj.地下的，地表下的

参考例句：

• London has 9 miles of such subterranean passages.伦敦像这样的地下通道有9英里长。
• We wandered through subterranean passages.我们漫游地下通道。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。