阿拉斯加非凡之旅

Track 7

by Matt Scott

翻译：范婕

阿拉斯加非凡之旅

Track 7

by Matt Scott

翻译：范婕

Amazing alaska

这个暑假，一齐去阿拉斯加玩玩如何？让我们与作者一同，全身心地感受大自然的奇妙馈赠吧！

This is Alaska, which might as well have been a different country.

Seeing the Alaskan Wildlife for the First Time

Early morning is the best time to see the brown and black bears. They usually come here to fsh for1)salmon.

There were a surprising number of people at the2)walkway. We sat down by the bridge, looking at the salmon as they3)raced. In fact, salmon could be found almost anywhere in Alaska, and for a bargain price. I turned my attention to wondering about this miracle of nature.

A few bald eagles sat on trees close to the river. One of them dived down to the river and4)clenched a salmon between its5)talons.

After an hour, we decided to move on.

Know More

bald eagle（白头海雕），别称秃鹰，因其体态威武雄健，且又是北美洲的特产物种，深受美国人民喜爱。后来，美国总统克拉克和美国国会通过决议立法，选定白头海雕为美国国鸟。如今，无论是美国的国徽，还是美国军队的军服，上面都描绘着一只白头海雕，它一只脚抓着橄榄枝，另一只脚抓着箭，象征着和平与强大武力。

词组加油站

a number of 若干，一些

bargain price 低价，贱价

wonder about 对……感到惊奇

dive down 俯冲

1) salmon ['sæmən] n. 鲑鱼

2) walkway ['wɔːkweɪ] n. 走道

3) race [reɪs] v. 疾行

4) clench [klentʃ] v. 捏紧，抓牢

5) talon ['tælən] n. 猛禽的爪

Gazing at the Glaciers

As we gradually got higher into the mountains, small6)patches of snow formed on the ground. ln the distance, the white7)peaks of mountains showed above the trees. We were on our way to see one of Alaska’s greatest8)glaciers.

Salmon Glacier, the fifth largest in North America, appeared out of nowhere. The van we were in gradually9)leant to the left. Everyone looked out of the window, not knowing which particular point to gaze in awe at. The air was clearly cooler at this height, cool enough to10)preserve snow that was at our feet—in August!

While the theory behind glaciations is a little debated, they are known to be tens of thousands of years old. The water that is running out of the face hasn’t been in11)liquid form since before the start of12)civilization in the Western world.

“What are the13)cracks?” someone asked.

“I was hoping someone was going to ask me that,” said our leader Mike.“This is a glacier. Ice expands and here are the cracks. These cracks are huge. Sometimes they’re covered with a layer of snow and you could easily lose a man in there.”

“The worst thing is global warming.” Mike chews a mouthful of the imaginary glacier. We all looked up and nodded.

这就是美国阿拉斯加州，仿佛是另一个国度。

初识阿拉斯加野生动物

想要看棕熊和黑熊，清晨正是最佳时机，它们通常会来野生动物观察区这儿捕捉鲑鱼。

走道上有很多很多人在往来穿梭。我们在桥边坐了下来，看着那些正在竞游的鲑鱼。实际上，在阿拉斯加州几乎处处都可以找得到鲑鱼，而且价格便宜。于是我想，这也许就是大自然的神奇馈赠吧。

河边的树上停着几只秃鹰，其中一只朝河水俯冲下去，双爪一下子就抓住了一条鲑鱼。

我们在那里待了一个小时，然后便决定继续往前走。

欣赏壮观冰川

我们进山了，随着一路往上走，地上开始出现一小片一小片的积雪。越过树梢向远方望去，可以看到被白雪覆盖的山顶。我们此行的目的地是阿拉斯加州最大的冰川之一。

鲑鱼冰川是北美第五大冰川，它就这样突然出现在我们眼前。我们坐在面包车里，车都渐渐向左边倾斜了。每个人都向窗外望去，那景色真是令人叹为观止。在这个海拔高度上，气温明显更低了，低到足以让我们脚下的白雪不会消融——而现在已是八月！

虽然人们对于冰川是如何形成的有些争论，但众所周知，它们已经存在了成千上万年。早在西方文明出现以前，这个地方流出地表的水体就不是液态了。

“这些裂缝是什么？”有人问道。

“我正希望有人向我提出这个问题呢，”我们的领队迈克说。“这是个冰川。当冰慢慢扩张，就会形成裂缝，这些裂缝可大呢。有时候上面还会覆盖一层雪，人一不小心就会掉下去。”

“最糟糕的就是全球变暖。”迈克想象着吃下了一口冰雪。我们望向远方，一起点了点头。

6) patch [pætʃ] n. 块，片

7) peak [piːk] n. 山峰

8) glacier ['glæsɪə] n. 冰川

9) lean [liːn] v. 倾斜，倾向

10) preserve [prɪ'zəːv] v. 保存

11) liquid form 液态

12) civilization [,sɪvɪlaɪ'zeɪʃn] n. 文明，文化

13) crack [kræk] n. 裂缝

词组加油站

in the distance 在远处

out of nowhere 突然冒出来

in awe 敬畏地

Know More

glaciation（冰川作用），在广义上指的是冰川的生成、运动和后退，而狭义上仅指冰川运动对地壳表面的改变作用，包括冰川的侵蚀、搬运和堆积。冰川运动的前端叫冰前。当供冰量大于消融量，则向前推进，反之则向后推进。