PBS高端访谈:干燥气候带来的别样收获

JUDY WOODRUFF: Parts of Europe baked in out-of-the-ordinary warm spells this summer. But as the NewsHour's Julia Griffin reports, while uncomfortable for some, the heat revealed a treasure trove¹ of long-lost historical landmarks².

JULIA GRIFFIN: In the United Kingdom and Ireland this summer, prolonged heat waves sent city residents in search of shade and cooling spritzes.

WOMAN: It's way too hot, and people aren't used to it.

JULIA GRIFFIN: And prompted dairy farmers to ration³ feed.

ABI READER, Dairy Farmer: I haven't seen the farm this dry ever. I think the last time we had a very dry period on the farm was in 1976.

JULIA GRIFFIN: But while trying for some, the British Isles⁴' driest summer in 57 years has been a boon⁵ for local archaeologists and history buffs.

ANTHONY MURPHY, Photographer, Mythical⁶ Ireland: It's been tremendously exciting.

JULIA GRIFFIN: In July, author Anthony Murphy photographed a 5,000-year-old previously⁷ undiscovered gathering⁸ site known as a henge in Eastern Ireland.

ANTHONY MURPHY: I just simply couldn't believe what I was seeing. This was in a field of crops. So this wasn't the marks of farm machinery⁹ in the soil or anything.

JULIA GRIFFIN: Instead, the concentric rings of dots were crop marks, ghostly outlines of a civilization past emerging from the moisture-starved landscape. Crop marks and their related phenomena¹⁰, parch¹¹ marks, allow drone operators and aerial archaeologist to see thousands of years of history beneath the dry soil without ever having to pick up a shovel¹². Here's why they form. Over time, prehistoric¹³ ditches, moats and other dug-out features are filled in by subsequent generations. Today, those areas retain more water and dry spells than the surrounding earth and lead to taller and greener grasses and crops. At the same time, thin layers of soil placed over old stone walls or building foundations cause vegetation above to dry out more quickly. The result is a variety of geometric figures visible only from above.

DAMIAN GRADY, Historic England: We discovered hundreds of new sites this year spanning about 6,000 years England's history. Damian Grady is an aerial reconnaissance manager with Historic England, one of them many groups chronicling the sites for future preservation¹⁴ and excavation¹⁵.

DAMIAN GRADY: These range from Neolithic¹⁶ ceremonial monuments, Iron Age, Bronze Age and Roman farms, medieval settlements in the east of England, and also World War II camps that we have not seen for a long time.

JULIA GRIFFIN: Among the group's older discoveries, a circular ditch associated with an Iron Age settlement known as a round, the enclosed fields and paddocks of a Roman era farm, and an unusual triple-ditched burial mound¹⁷ likely from the Bronze Age. But there have also been rediscoveries of more recent activity, like the long-gone barracks and sidewalks of a World War I prisoner of war camp in Southern Scotland, the foundations of Tixall Hall in Staffordshire, England where Mary Queen of Scots was once imprisoned¹⁸, and the geometric pattern of an 1850s garden etched once again in the grounds of Gawthorpe Hall in Lancashire, England. Rising temperatures are revealing secrets across the English Channel too. In Switzerland, researchers have announced the discovery of the C-53 Dakota aircraft. It had crash-landed on a glacier¹⁹ in the Bernese Alps in 1946.

NARRATOR: This is the forbidding seen high up in the Bernese Overland where the now famous Dakota came down.

JULIA GRIFFIN: All 12 people aboard the U.S. Army transport plane survived the ordeal²⁰, but for five frigid²¹ days, they were forced to live only on melted snow and rationed²² chocolate as they awaited rescue. Newsreel footage from the time chronicled how Swiss pilots used reconnaissance planes fitted with skis to bury the passengers to safety two by two.

NARRATOR: As for the reunions, well, they certainly were good to see.

JULIA GRIFFIN: The event marks the first time the Swiss Air Force used planes for a mountain rescue. Since then, the Dakota was locked away, frozen under layers of snow and ice, until the summer, when heat waves and the glaciers²³' retreat revealed the wreckage²⁴ once again, about two miles down from the original crash site. Archaeologists and the Swiss Air Force are working to retrieve²⁵ the wreckage and hope one day to put its artifacts on display. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Julia Griffin.

朱迪·伍德拉夫：今年夏天，欧洲的部分地区都在酷暑中度过。不过，根据茱莉亚·格里芬的报道，虽然酷暑让一些人痛苦不堪，但酷暑却揭示出我们一直没能发现的历史遗迹。

茱莉亚·格里芬：今年夏天，英国和爱尔兰的热浪迟迟不退，这让一些市民开始寻找避暑和清凉的好办法。

某女性市民：天儿太热了，谁都受不了啊。

茱莉亚·格里芬：酷暑也迫使奶农们开始定量供给饲料。

艾比·里德，奶农：我的农场从未如此干旱过。我觉得上一次出现这样的情况还是在1976年。

茱莉亚·格里芬：虽然对一些人来说酷暑是种考验，但对英国来说，这57年难得一遇的酷暑对于本土的考古学家和历史学家来说却是一种天赐的礼物。

安东尼·墨菲，摄影家，来自爱尔兰：今年夏天太刺激了。

茱莉亚·格里芬：今年7月，安东尼·墨菲在爱尔兰东部拍摄到了一个有5000年历史的巨石阵，这是此前未曾发现的。

安东尼·墨菲：我简直不敢相信自己看到了什么。这里是一片庄稼地。所以肯定不是农业机械或者类似事物的标志。

茱莉亚·格里芬：这些同轴点环是作物标志，仿佛勾勒出了过往的闻名，让其缓缓从干旱的土地上浮现。 作物标志等相关的景象（比如烘烤的标志）都让无人机的操作者和考古学家得以在不用费力刨地的情况下，看到干旱土壤之下数千年的历史。他们的形成原因是：随着时间的流逝，史前的水道、壕沟等地下掩蔽特征都因子孙后代的活动而被填满。如今，这片土地上的含水量更多，干旱期也比周围的地貌更久，所以草和庄稼长得更高、更绿。与此同时，古老石墙和地基之上的层层薄土让农作物干的更快。所以，很多几何形状只能从上方可见。

达米安·格雷迪，英格兰历史：今年，我们发现了上百出新遗址，跨度在英国历史的近6000年左右。达米安·格雷迪是《英格兰历史》的空中侦察经理。《英格兰历史》这样的机构还有很多，他们的存在都是为了确定遗址的时间，以便日后进行保护和出土。

达米安·格雷迪：我们发现的有新石器时代的纪念碑、铁器时代、铜器时代、罗马农场、英格兰东部的中世纪遗址、二战集中营，这些都是我们许久未曾见到过的。

茱莉亚·格里芬：所发现的遗址中一些年头比较久远有：铁器时代的密闭圆形壕沟、罗马农场的小牧场、很可能源自铜器时代某三处壕沟入口的罕见古陵。也有较近时期的，比如苏格兰南部某一战战俘营的营房和人行道、斯塔福德郡Tixall Hall的地基。当年，苏格兰的玛丽女王曾囚禁于此。此外还有19世纪50年代的几何图案，后来又在英格兰兰开夏郡Gawthorpe Hall的地下经过了一番蚀刻。升温也揭开了英吉利海峡的许多秘密。瑞士的一些研究人员宣布他们发现了C-53达科达飞机。1946年，该飞机在坠机后在伯恩阿尔卑斯山脉的冰川上着落。

叙述者：现在我们正在俯瞰波尼斯高地的壮美景色，曾经举世闻名的达科达就是从这里坠落的。

茱莉亚·格里芬：这架美国军用运输机上的全部12名乘客都得以幸存，但有那么5天的时间里，他们被迫要在天寒地冻中等待营救，周围是皑皑白雪，粮食也只能定量供给。从当时留下的足迹可以看出瑞士飞行员是如何一步步将配有滑雪板的侦察机把乘客安全地成双隐藏起来的。

叙述者：团圆会有时的。

茱莉亚·格里芬：这次事件是瑞士空军首次动用飞机来进行山区内的营救。从那时起，达科达被困在皑皑冰雪之下，直到夏天来临，热浪让冰河融化才得以现出达科达的残骸。其残骸距离失事处大概2英里。考古学家和瑞士空军正在努力将残骸取出，以期有一天能将其进行展览。感谢收听公共广播公司茱莉亚·格里芬为您发回的报道。

1 trove   

n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西

参考例句：

• He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中国瓷器。
• The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.这个画廊是中世纪艺术的宝库。

2 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

3 ration   

n.定量(pl.)给养，口粮；vt.定量供应

参考例句：

• The country cut the bread ration last year.那个国家去年削减面包配给量。
• We have to ration the water.我们必须限量用水。

4 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

5 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

6 mythical   

adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的

参考例句：

• Undeniably,he is a man of mythical status.不可否认，他是一个神话般的人物。
• Their wealth is merely mythical.他们的财富完全是虚构的。

7 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

8 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

9 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

10 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

11 parch   

v.烤干，焦干

参考例句：

• Let's parch corn!咱们爆玉米花吧。
• But you can parch the clothes with the gas in the kitchen.你就用煤气火烤干衣服吧。

12 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

13 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

14 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

15 excavation   

n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地

参考例句：

• The bad weather has hung up the work of excavation.天气不好耽误了挖掘工作。
• The excavation exposed some ancient ruins.这次挖掘暴露出一些古遗迹。

16 neolithic   

adj.新石器时代的

参考例句：

• Cattle were first domesticated in Neolithic times.新石器时代有人开始驯养牛。
• The monument was Stone Age or Neolithic.该纪念碑是属于石器时代或新石器时代的。

17 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

18 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

19 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

20 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

21 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

22 rationed   

限量供应，配给供应( ration的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We were rationed to two eggs a day. 每天配给我们两个鸡蛋。
• The army is well rationed. 部队给养良好。

23 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

24 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

25 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。