国家地理 融化的北极正使一场新的冷战升温(13)

I asked Lushman, who had done several combat tours in Afghanistan, if he thought a new Cold War was coming to the north. He laughed.

我问卢什曼，如果他认为一场新的冷战将在北方开始，那么是谁在阿富汗进行了那么多次的对抗战争。他笑了。

"Man, look at this." He spread his arms wide, taking in the empty tundra¹, the rangers², the paper Russians. "What would anyone do up here? Tanks driving around, soldiers, planes?" He turned to Atqittuq. "Whaddya say, Marv? You ready to fight the Russians?" Atqittuq grinned up from his notebook. "Too much hassle."

“伙计，看看这儿。”他张开双臂，把空无一人的冻原、士兵还有纸做的俄罗斯人都拢在自己的双臂之内。“有谁会在这里做什么？用坦克、士兵，还是飞机？”他转向阿提库。“你觉得呢，马尔文？你准备好去打俄国佬了吗？”阿提库笑起来。“太麻烦了。”

"From a military standpoint, it doesn't make sense, eh?" Lushman said. "You've seen how much time we spend out here just doing basic shit. You've seen how often our stuff breaks down, how much work it takes just to survive. Ain't no war comin' up here."

“从军事角度来说，这说不通，不是吗？”卢什曼说。“我们在这里花了多长时间做这些基本的事，你已经见识过了。你也看到我们的东西老是坏，为了生存我们花了老大力气。这里不会发生战争的。”

The Canadian Rangers had been created during the first Cold War, when military planners, worried about ballistic missiles and the space race, had looked at the Arctic and seen a vulnerable back door. But the rangers themselves were never intended to battle invading armies. Even now, the eyes and ears of the north are far more likely to watch for passing ships: the Chinese icebreakers, cargo³ vessels⁴, and cruise ships that are expected to appear in ever greater numbers as ice disappears.

加拿大骑兵是第一次冷战后才建立的，当军事家担忧弹道导弹和太空竞争的时候，回头看一眼北极，却发现一个脆弱的后门。但骑兵们自己从没想过去打入侵的军队。甚至是现在，他们的眼睛和耳朵更不可能是用来盯着那些过往的船只的：中国的破冰船、货船，还有随着冰川消失而出现的越来越多的游船。

1 tundra   

n.苔原，冻土地带

参考例句：

• The arctic tundra is at the top of the world around the North Pole.北极冻原是指北极点周边的地区，是世界最高的地方。
• There is a large amount of methane gas under the Siberian tundra.西伯利亚的冻土地带之下有大量的甲烷气体。

2 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

3 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

4 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》