英語聽力小短文走遍全世界55: 冰山

英語聽力原文：

Icebergs are among nature's most spectacular creations, and yet most people have never seen one. A vague air of mystery envelops them. They come into being - somewhere - in faraway, frigid waters, amid thunderous noise and splashing turbulence, which in most case no one hears or sees. They exist only a short time and then slowly waste away just as unnoticed.

冰山是大自然最壯觀的創(chuàng)造之一，但大多數(shù)人卻從未看到過冰山，一種朦朧神秘的氣氛籠罩著它們。冰山形成于久遠(yuǎn)的、寒冷的水體中，而且伴隨著雷聲轟鳴般的嘈雜和水花洶涌的風(fēng)暴，但卻無人耳聞目睹。冰山僅存在短短的一段時(shí)間就慢慢地悄無聲息地融化掉。

Objects of sheerest beauty they have been called. Appearing in an endless variety of shapes, they may be dazzlingly white, or they may be glassy blue, green or purple, tinted faintly or in darker hues. They are graceful, stately, inspiring - in calm, sunlight seas.

冰山具有最純粹的美，人們?nèi)缡钦f。冰山呈現(xiàn)出千姿百態(tài)，可能白得耀眼，或者是閃耀著藍(lán)色、綠色或紫色的玻璃般的光芒，或濃或淡。它們在平靜的陽光照耀的海水中顯得優(yōu)雅堂皇，令人浮想聯(lián)翩。

But they are also called frightening and dangerous, and that they are - in the night, in the fog, and in storms. Even in clear weather one is wise to stay a safe distance away from them.

但是人們亦把冰山稱為恐怖的危險(xiǎn)的。它們的確如此——在夜間、霧天和風(fēng)暴肆虐時(shí)。即便是在晴朗的天氣里，與它們保持一段安全距離也是明智的。

Most of their bulk is hidden below the water, so their underwater parts may extend out far beyond the visible top. Also, they may roll over unexpectedly, churning the waters around them. Icebergs are parts of glaciers that break off, drift into the water, float about awhile, and finally melt.

冰山的大部分體積隱藏于水下，因此其水下部分的伸展遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過可見的頂部。冰山也可能出人意料地翻滾，劇烈地?cái)噭?dòng)周圍的水體。

Icebergs afloat today are made of snowflakes that have fallen over long ages of time. They embody snows that drifed down hundreds, or many thousands, or in some cases maybe a million years ago. The snows fell in polar regions and on cold mountains, where they melted only a little or not at all, and so collected to great depths over the years and centuries.

冰山是冰川的一部分，從冰川斷裂漂流進(jìn)水中，一段時(shí)間后融化。今天的冰山由多年前降落的雪花形成。它們的體內(nèi)是數(shù)百年，或數(shù)千年，有時(shí)甚至是數(shù)百萬年前的降雪。這些雪花落在極地或寒冷的山上，僅有少量融化或根本不融化，這樣經(jīng)過許多年或許多世紀(jì)后積累了巨大的深度。

英語詞匯整理：

1. spectacular adj. 壯觀的，令人驚嘆的 n. 壯觀，豪華節(jié)目

eg: The view from the top of the tower was spectacular.

從塔頂遠(yuǎn)眺景色蔚為壯觀。

相關(guān)短語：

spectacular reflection 鏡面反射

2. mystery n. 神秘(性)，神秘的人(或事物)

eg: The flying saucer is yet an unsolved mystery.

飛碟仍然是未解之謎。

相關(guān)短語：

murder mystery 謀殺之謎

mystery to 對……來說是個(gè)謎

make a mystery of 把……神秘化

3. frigid adj. 寒冷的，冷淡的

eg: Frigid winds blew from the north.

寒風(fēng)從北方吹來。

相關(guān)短語：

frigid zone 寒帶

frigid climate 極冷的氣候

 4.  turbulence n. 騷亂，動(dòng)蕩，喧囂，狂暴，湍流 

eg: The world advances amidst turbulence.

世界在動(dòng)蕩中前進(jìn)。

相關(guān)短語：

atmospheric turbulence 大氣湍流

turbulence intensity 湍流強(qiáng)度

air turbulence 空氣擾動(dòng)

5. dazzlingly adv. 燦爛地，耀眼地

eg: Always smile dazzlingly - it will light up your life.

始終保持燦爛的微笑，這將會(huì)照亮你的一生。

P.S.: 動(dòng)詞dazzle的變形，解釋為“使......目眩，使......眼花”

eg: The sun, glinting from the pool, dazzled me.

池水折射的陽光使我目眩。

6. churning n. 攪拌器;奶桶 v. 攪拌 adj. 攪拌的

eg: Inside, she was a maelstrom of churning emotions.

她心中的情感似波濤洶涌，起伏不定。

P.S.: 該詞由“churn”演變而來，可用作于動(dòng)詞，常用詞語churn out(大量生產(chǎn);大量炮制)

7. glacier n. 冰川，冰河

eg: The gorge was formed by a glacier.

這個(gè)峽谷是由冰河形成的。

相關(guān)短語：

glacier national park 冰河國家公園;國家冰川公園(美國)

glacier plain 冰川平原

8. drift vi. 漂流(泊) n. 漂流，漂流物;大意;趨勢

eg: We proceeded to drift on up the river.

我們繼續(xù)在河上漂流著。

相關(guān)短語：

drift along 慢慢向前漂(飄);游蕩，混日子

drift apart 漂離;在思想、感情等方面疏遠(yuǎn)

drift away 逐漸離去;開始用不同的方式思考或感覺

drift in 漂;飄入;偶爾到來，順便來訪

drift out 漂(走);散開;蔓延

drift towards 飄或漂向……;因未受阻而逐漸達(dá)到(某種狀態(tài)等)

let things drift 放任自流，聽之任之

catch the drift of 開始明白，理解……的含義

drift off 漸漸離去;漫無目的地移動(dòng);迷迷糊糊地睡去

on the drift (船)漂流;流浪

佳句采摘：

Objects of sheerest beauty they have been called. Appearing in an endless variety of shapes, they may be dazzlingly white, or they may be glassy blue, green or purple, tinted faintly or in darker hues. They are graceful, stately, inspiring - in calm, sunlight seas.

冰山具有最純粹的美，人們?nèi)缡钦f。冰山呈現(xiàn)出千姿百態(tài)，可能白得耀眼，或者是閃耀著藍(lán)色、綠色或紫色的玻璃般的光芒，或濃或淡。它們在平靜的陽光照耀的海水中顯得優(yōu)雅堂皇，令人浮想聯(lián)翩。
擴(kuò)展閱讀：

地道美語聽力

英語聽力教材巧選擇

如何正確快速提高英語聽力水平