42 · 现代洞穴人
Modern Cavemen
读懂长句与段落衔接，分清事实、推断和观点，再连贯复述或说明。
课文精读整篇课文
点选一句，句末即可听读；连起意思，大声读一遍。
Cave exploration, or pot-holing, as it has come to be known, is a relatively new sport. Perhaps it is the desire for solitude or the chance of making an unexpected discovery that lures people down to the depths of the earth. It is impossible to give a satisfactory explanation for a pot-holer's motives. For him, caves have the same peculiar fascination which high mountains have for the climber. They arouse instincts which can only be dimly understood.
Exploring really deep caves is not a task for the Sunday afternoon rambler. Such undertakings require the precise planning and foresight of military operations. It can take as long as eight days to rig up rope ladders and to establish supply bases before a descent can be made into a very deep cave. Precautions of this sort are necessary, for it is impossible to foretell the exact nature of the difficulties which will confront the pot-holer. The deepest known cave in the world is the Gouffre Berger near Grenoble. It extends to a depth of 3,723 feet. This immense chasm has been formed by an underground stream which has tunneled a course through a flaw in the rocks. The entrance to the cave is on a plateau in the Dauphiné Alps. As it is only six feet across, it is barely noticeable. The cave might never have been discovered had not the entrance been spotted by the distinguished French pot-holer, Berger. Since its discovery, it has become a sort of pot-holers' Everest. Though a number of descents have been made, much of it still remains to be explored.
A team of pot-holers recently went down the Gouffre Berger. After entering the narrow gap on the plateau, they climbed down the steep sides of the cave until they came to a narrow corridor. They had to edge their way along this, sometimes wading across shallow streams, or swimming across deep pools. Suddenly they came to a waterfall which dropped into an underground lake at the bottom of the cave. They plunged into the lake, and after loading their gear on an inflatable rubber dinghy, let the current carry them to the other side. To protect themselves from the icy water, they had to wear special rubber suits. At the far end of the lake, they came to huge piles of rubble which had been washed up by the water. In this part of the cave, they could hear an insistent booming sound which they found was caused by a small waterspout shooting down into a pool from the roof of the cave. Squeezing through a cleft in the rocks, the pot-holers arrived at an enormous cavern, the size of a huge concert hall. After switching on powerful arc lights, they saw great stalagmites— some of them over forty feet high—rising up like tree-trunks to meet the stalactites suspended from the roof. Round about, piles of limestone glistened in all the colours of the rainbow. In the eerie silence of the cavern, the only sound that could be heard was made by water which dripped continuously from the high dome above them.
本课原文与译文
展开完整文本 · 便于查阅与检索
整篇课文
Cave exploration, or pot-holing, as it has come to be known, is a relatively new sport. Perhaps it is the desire for solitude or the chance of making an unexpected discovery that lures people down to the depths of the earth. It is impossible to give a satisfactory explanation for a pot-holer's motives. For him, caves have the same peculiar fascination which high mountains have for the climber. They arouse instincts which can only be dimly understood.
Exploring really deep caves is not a task for the Sunday afternoon rambler. Such undertakings require the precise planning and foresight of military operations. It can take as long as eight days to rig up rope ladders and to establish supply bases before a descent can be made into a very deep cave. Precautions of this sort are necessary, for it is impossible to foretell the exact nature of the difficulties which will confront the pot-holer. The deepest known cave in the world is the Gouffre Berger near Grenoble. It extends to a depth of 3,723 feet. This immense chasm has been formed by an underground stream which has tunneled a course through a flaw in the rocks. The entrance to the cave is on a plateau in the Dauphiné Alps. As it is only six feet across, it is barely noticeable. The cave might never have been discovered had not the entrance been spotted by the distinguished French pot-holer, Berger. Since its discovery, it has become a sort of pot-holers' Everest. Though a number of descents have been made, much of it still remains to be explored.
A team of pot-holers recently went down the Gouffre Berger. After entering the narrow gap on the plateau, they climbed down the steep sides of the cave until they came to a narrow corridor. They had to edge their way along this, sometimes wading across shallow streams, or swimming across deep pools. Suddenly they came to a waterfall which dropped into an underground lake at the bottom of the cave. They plunged into the lake, and after loading their gear on an inflatable rubber dinghy, let the current carry them to the other side. To protect themselves from the icy water, they had to wear special rubber suits. At the far end of the lake, they came to huge piles of rubble which had been washed up by the water. In this part of the cave, they could hear an insistent booming sound which they found was caused by a small waterspout shooting down into a pool from the roof of the cave. Squeezing through a cleft in the rocks, the pot-holers arrived at an enormous cavern, the size of a huge concert hall. After switching on powerful arc lights, they saw great stalagmites— some of them over forty feet high—rising up like tree-trunks to meet the stalactites suspended from the roof. Round about, piles of limestone glistened in all the colours of the rainbow. In the eerie silence of the cavern, the only sound that could be heard was made by water which dripped continuously from the high dome above them.
洞穴探险，也就是如今人们所说的地下洞穴探索，是一项比较新的运动。或许是为了独处，或许是盼着有意外发现，人们才会被吸引着深入地下。探洞者为什么这样做，很难给出一个令人满意的解释。洞穴之于他们，就像高山之于登山者，有一种独特的吸引力，唤起了某种只能隐约体会、难以说清的本能。
真正深入地下的洞穴探索，可不是周日下午随便散步的人能胜任的。这类行动需要像军事行动一样精密的计划和充分的预判。探险者往往要花上八天架设绳梯、建立补给点，才能进入一座极深的洞穴。做好这些准备非常必要，因为谁也无法确切预知，下洞后会碰到怎样的困难。已知世界上最深的洞穴，是格勒诺布尔附近的贝尔热洞，深达3,723英尺。地下溪流沿着岩石裂隙不断冲蚀，才形成了这道巨大的深渊。洞口位于多菲内阿尔卑斯山区的一处高原上，宽不过六英尺，几乎难以察觉。若不是法国著名探洞者贝尔热发现了入口，这座洞穴也许永远不会为人所知。自发现以来，它就成了探洞者心中的“珠穆朗玛峰”。虽然已有不少人下去探过，洞内仍有很大一部分尚待探索。
最近，一队探洞者进入了贝尔热洞。他们从高原上狭窄的入口进去，沿陡峭洞壁向下攀，来到一条狭窄的通道，只能贴着边一点点前进，时而涉过浅溪，时而游过深潭。突然，一道瀑布出现在眼前，水流直落到洞底的一座地下湖里。他们跳入湖中，把装备装上充气橡皮艇，顺着水流漂向对岸。为抵御冰冷的湖水，大家都穿上了特制的橡胶防护服。湖的另一端，是被水冲积起来的大堆碎石。这里不断回响着轰隆声，原来是洞顶一股细小水柱直冲下方水潭所致。探洞者挤过一道岩缝，进入一座巨大洞厅，大小如同一座大型音乐厅。他们打开强力弧光灯，看见地上耸起巨大的石笋，有些高达四十多英尺，像树干一样向上延伸，与洞顶垂下的钟乳石相接。四周成堆的石灰岩，闪烁着彩虹般的光泽。洞厅寂静得有些诡异，唯一听得见的，是头顶高高穹窿处不停滴下的水声。
学完这一课
用 Perhaps it is… that… 提出一种有分寸的动机解释。
译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时、何景霖整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第143—146页，2022年2月第3版。