55. Why Antarctica Is Being Explored(為什么要勘探南極洲)
1. When the United States was born, the continent of Antarctica was as remote as the moon—more so, in a way, because the moon was clearly visible and the very existence of Antarctica was uncertain. But now that remote land area is so attainable and so important that it has become the subject of an international treaty which protects it from national rivalries yet leaves it open to all for exploration and use. The pact arranging this is even being viewed as a model applicable to the moon and other celestial bodies.
1、在美國誕生之時，對人們來說南極洲就像月球一樣遙遠—從某種角度說，甚至更遠，因為月亮清楚可見，而南極大陸是否真實存在還無法確定。但是今天，這塊遙遠的陸地已變得如此觸之可及并且如此重要，以致它已受到一個國際公約的保護，使其免于成為國家間競相搶奪的對象，而是對所有國家開放，供大家共同開發(fā)和利用。這個公約甚至被視為一個范本，適用于月球和其他天體的開發(fā)。
2. Yet many people, thinking of the distant continent only as a bleak, rocky, cold and inhospitable land mass, may wonder: Why all the fuss? Why protect something so unpromising?
2、至今仍有很多人認為這塊遙遠的大陸僅僅是一大片荒涼、寒冷、巖石林立、根本無法居住的土地。他們可能很奇怪：為什么如此小題大做?為什么要保護這樣一塊毫無前途的土地?
3. The answer lies in a number of factors, not the least of which is isolation itself. Antarctica is a very large area of the earth’s surface, but—until recent years—was the least studied. More knowledge of it is important for all mankind.
3、這些問題的答案由許多因素所決定，并不僅僅是這塊大陸本身與世隔絕這么簡單。南極洲是地球表面上一塊巨大的土地，但是，直到近年，人類的研究都很少涉及于此。更多地了解南極洲對全人類來說都非常重要。
4. A look at a globe is perhaps the best way to appreciate the significance of this peculiar continent. The globe shows that the entire southern hemisphere is preponderantly water—the widest parts of the Atlantic and Pacific, the unbroken sweep of Antarctic seas circling the world. Although much of South America, parts of Africa and all of Australia lie south of the equator, most of the world’s land lies north of the line.
4、仔細觀察地球儀也許能幫助我們了解這個神奇大陸的重要性。地球儀顯示，水在整個南半球占絕對優(yōu)勢—包括大西洋和太平洋最廣闊的部分以及環(huán)抱地球的南極海洋。盡管絕大部分南美洲、部分非洲以及整個澳洲位于赤道以南，但地球上的大部分陸地還是分布在赤道以北。
5. Antarctica stood in splendid—even awesome—isolation from the rest of the world for countless years. Its forbidding climate and wild seas prevented the migration and development of land animals such as the Arctic regions know. On the continent itself are a few insects, some lichens and mosses, but nothing else that is land supported. However, there are amphibious penguins and seals and a rich marine life, ranging from the minute organisms called plankton to the biggest creature the world has ever known, the blue whale.
5、南極洲的壯麗引人敬畏，在無數(shù)的歲月里，它就這樣孤獨傲立于世界。和人們已熟知的北極區(qū)域一樣，它那令人難以親近的氣候和狂野的海浪使得陸地動物無法遷移至此和繁衍。依附于南極洲陸地生存的只有很少的一些昆蟲、地衣和苔蘚。然而，這里卻有著兩棲的企鵝和海豹以及豐富的海洋生命—包括從被稱為浮游生物的微小生物，直到迄今所知世界上的動物藍鯨。、
6. The Antarctica treaty applies to all areas (the high seas excepted) below latitude 60 degrees south. This line, running around the globe some 2,000 miles from the South Pole itself, just misses the lower tip of South America, and is well below the Cape of Good Hope and New Zealand. There are a number of small islands between this line and the Antarctic continent, but the waters here are known to mariners as "the screaming Sixties" because there is so little obstruction to the world-circling winds.
6、《南極洲公約》適用于除公海以外位于南緯60度以南的所有區(qū)域。南緯60度線距南極點大約2000英里，它環(huán)繞地球，剛好錯過南美洲的最南端，遠在好望角和新西蘭之南。該線和南極洲之間分布著一些小島，但是，這里的海域被水手們稱為“狂嘯的60度”，因為這里障礙物很少，阻擋不了“世界環(huán)風(fēng)
1. When the United States was born, the continent of Antarctica was as remote as the moon—more so, in a way, because the moon was clearly visible and the very existence of Antarctica was uncertain. But now that remote land area is so attainable and so important that it has become the subject of an international treaty which protects it from national rivalries yet leaves it open to all for exploration and use. The pact arranging this is even being viewed as a model applicable to the moon and other celestial bodies.
1、在美國誕生之時，對人們來說南極洲就像月球一樣遙遠—從某種角度說，甚至更遠，因為月亮清楚可見，而南極大陸是否真實存在還無法確定。但是今天，這塊遙遠的陸地已變得如此觸之可及并且如此重要，以致它已受到一個國際公約的保護，使其免于成為國家間競相搶奪的對象，而是對所有國家開放，供大家共同開發(fā)和利用。這個公約甚至被視為一個范本，適用于月球和其他天體的開發(fā)。
2. Yet many people, thinking of the distant continent only as a bleak, rocky, cold and inhospitable land mass, may wonder: Why all the fuss? Why protect something so unpromising?
2、至今仍有很多人認為這塊遙遠的大陸僅僅是一大片荒涼、寒冷、巖石林立、根本無法居住的土地。他們可能很奇怪：為什么如此小題大做?為什么要保護這樣一塊毫無前途的土地?
3. The answer lies in a number of factors, not the least of which is isolation itself. Antarctica is a very large area of the earth’s surface, but—until recent years—was the least studied. More knowledge of it is important for all mankind.
3、這些問題的答案由許多因素所決定，并不僅僅是這塊大陸本身與世隔絕這么簡單。南極洲是地球表面上一塊巨大的土地，但是，直到近年，人類的研究都很少涉及于此。更多地了解南極洲對全人類來說都非常重要。
4. A look at a globe is perhaps the best way to appreciate the significance of this peculiar continent. The globe shows that the entire southern hemisphere is preponderantly water—the widest parts of the Atlantic and Pacific, the unbroken sweep of Antarctic seas circling the world. Although much of South America, parts of Africa and all of Australia lie south of the equator, most of the world’s land lies north of the line.
4、仔細觀察地球儀也許能幫助我們了解這個神奇大陸的重要性。地球儀顯示，水在整個南半球占絕對優(yōu)勢—包括大西洋和太平洋最廣闊的部分以及環(huán)抱地球的南極海洋。盡管絕大部分南美洲、部分非洲以及整個澳洲位于赤道以南，但地球上的大部分陸地還是分布在赤道以北。
5. Antarctica stood in splendid—even awesome—isolation from the rest of the world for countless years. Its forbidding climate and wild seas prevented the migration and development of land animals such as the Arctic regions know. On the continent itself are a few insects, some lichens and mosses, but nothing else that is land supported. However, there are amphibious penguins and seals and a rich marine life, ranging from the minute organisms called plankton to the biggest creature the world has ever known, the blue whale.
5、南極洲的壯麗引人敬畏，在無數(shù)的歲月里，它就這樣孤獨傲立于世界。和人們已熟知的北極區(qū)域一樣，它那令人難以親近的氣候和狂野的海浪使得陸地動物無法遷移至此和繁衍。依附于南極洲陸地生存的只有很少的一些昆蟲、地衣和苔蘚。然而，這里卻有著兩棲的企鵝和海豹以及豐富的海洋生命—包括從被稱為浮游生物的微小生物，直到迄今所知世界上的動物藍鯨。、
6. The Antarctica treaty applies to all areas (the high seas excepted) below latitude 60 degrees south. This line, running around the globe some 2,000 miles from the South Pole itself, just misses the lower tip of South America, and is well below the Cape of Good Hope and New Zealand. There are a number of small islands between this line and the Antarctic continent, but the waters here are known to mariners as "the screaming Sixties" because there is so little obstruction to the world-circling winds.
6、《南極洲公約》適用于除公海以外位于南緯60度以南的所有區(qū)域。南緯60度線距南極點大約2000英里，它環(huán)繞地球，剛好錯過南美洲的最南端，遠在好望角和新西蘭之南。該線和南極洲之間分布著一些小島，但是，這里的海域被水手們稱為“狂嘯的60度”，因為這里障礙物很少，阻擋不了“世界環(huán)風(fēng)