---
url: https://gaojian.site/new-concept/book-4/42-recording-an-earthquake.md
description: 新概念英语第四册：Recording an Earthquake。精读、词块回忆、双向译练、句法、逻辑与FSRS复习。
---

# 42 · 记录地震

### 第1段

An earthquake comes like a thief in the night, without warning. It was necessary, therefore, to invent instruments that neither slumbered nor slept. Some devices were quite simple. One, for instance, consisted of rods of various lengths and thicknesses which would stand up on end like ninepins. When a shock came, it shook the rigid table upon which these stood. If it were gentle, only the more unstable rods fell. If it were severe, they all fell. Thus the rods, by falling, and by the direction in which they fell, recorded for the slumbering scientist the strength of a shock that was too weak to waken him, and the direction from which it came.
But instruments far more delicate than that were needed if any really serious advance was to be made. The ideal to be aimed at was to devise an instrument that could record with a pen on paper, the movements of the ground or of the table as the quake passed by. While I write my pen moves, but the paper keeps still. With practice, no doubt, I could in time learn to write by holding the pen still while the paper moved. That sounds a silly suggestion, but that was precisely the idea adopted in some of the early instruments seismometers for recording earthquake waves. But when table, penholder and paper are all moving, how is it possible to write legibly? The key to a solution of that problem lay in an everyday observation. Why does a person standing in a bus or train tend to fall when a sudden start is made? It is because his feet move on, but his head stays still. A simple experiment will help us a little further. Tie a heavy weight at the end of a long piece of string. With the hand held high in the air, hold the string so that the weight nearly touches the ground. Now move the hand to and fro and around but not up and down. It will be found that the weight moves but slightly or not at all. Imagine a pen attached to the weight in such a way that its point rests upon a piece of paper on the floor. Imagine an earthquake shock shaking the floor, the paper, you and your hand. In the midst of all this movement, the weight and the pen would be still. But as the paper moved from side to side under the pen point, its movement would be recorded in ink upon its surface. It was upon this principle that the first instruments were made, but the paper was wrapped round a drum which rotated slowly. As long as all was still, the pen drew a straight line, but while the drum was being shaken, the line that the pen was drawing wriggled from side to side. The apparatus thus described, however, records only the horizontal component of the wave movement, which is, in fact, much more complicated. If we could actually see the path described by a particle, such as a sand grain in the rock, it would be more like that of a bluebottle buzzing round the room; it would be up and down, to and fro and from side to side. Instruments have been devised and can be so placed that all three elements can be recorded in different graphs.
When the instrument is situated at more than 700 miles from the earthquake centre, the graphic record shows three waves arriving one after the other at short intervals. The first records the arrival of longitudinal vibrations. The second marks the arrival of transverse vibrations which travel more slowly and arrive several minutes after the first. These two have travelled through the earth. It was from the study of these that so much was learnt about the interior of the earth. The third, or main wave, is the slowest and has travelled round the earth through the surface rocks.

中文理解：地震来得像夜里的窃贼，事先毫无警告。因此，人们需要发明既不打盹、也不睡觉的仪器。有些装置相当简单。例如，有一种装置由长短、粗细不同的杆子组成，像九柱戏的木柱一样竖立着。地震发生时，摆放杆子的硬桌会受到震动。震动轻微，只有较不稳定的杆子倒下；震动剧烈，杆子就全倒了。这样，即使地震轻微得不足以惊醒熟睡的科学家，杆子倒下的情况和方向，也能替他记下震动的强弱及其传来的方向。
不过，要取得真正重要的进展，还需要精密得多的仪器。理想的目标，是设计一种装置，在地震波经过时，能用笔把地面或桌子的运动记录在纸上。我写字时，笔在动，纸不动。经过练习，我大概也能学会让笔不动、纸来动，照样把字写出来。这个想法听起来很傻，却正是一些早期地震仪记录地震波所采用的思路。可是，当桌子、笔架和纸都在动时，怎样才能留下清晰的记录呢？解决问题的关键，就在一个日常可见的现象里：公共汽车或火车突然启动时，站着的人为什么容易跌倒？因为脚随车向前移动，头部却还停留在原来的位置。一个简单的实验，可以帮助我们进一步理解。把一个重物系在长绳的一端，举高手，握住绳子，让重物几乎碰到地面。然后前后、左右或绕圈移动手，但不要上下移动。你会发现，重物只稍稍移动，甚至根本不动。设想在重物上固定一支笔，让笔尖落在地板上的一张纸上。再设想地震使地板、纸、你和你的手都摇晃起来。在这一片运动中，重物和笔却保持不动。纸在笔尖下左右移动，笔墨便把它的运动记录在纸面上。最初的仪器正是按这一原理制造的，只是把纸绕在一个缓缓转动的圆筒上。一切静止时，笔画出的是直线；圆筒受到震动时，笔留下的线条就左右扭动。不过，上述装置只能记录地震波运动的水平分量，实际的波动要复杂得多。如果真能看到一个质点——例如岩石中一粒沙子——的运动轨迹，它会更像一只在屋里嗡嗡乱飞的苍蝇：既上下运动，又前后、左右移动。人们已经设计出相应的仪器，并可通过适当安放，把这三个方向的运动分别记录成不同的曲线。
当仪器位于距地震中心七百多英里以外的地方时，记录图上会显示三种地震波，它们以较短的间隔先后到达。最先记录到的是纵向振动；随后到达的是横向振动，传播速度较慢，比前者晚几分钟。这两种波都是穿过地球内部传来的。正是通过研究它们，人们才了解到许多地球内部的情况。第三种波，也就是主波，传播最慢，是沿着地球表层的岩石绕行而来的。

* **without warning**：毫无预警；描述事件发生方式，不等于科学永远无法识别任何风险。

* **neither**：两者都不；否定两个对象，可接 of 说明两者，也可用 nor 连接两端。

* **lengths and thicknesses**：不同长短与粗细；undefined

* **on end**：竖立着；此处是杆子竖立，不是for days on end连续数天。

* **only the more unstable rods**：只有较不稳定的杆子；undefined

* **too weak to waken**：轻微得不足以惊醒；说明程度不足以做到某事，中文常要补“不足以”。

* **far more delicate**：精密得多；undefined

* **The ideal to be aimed at**：应争取的理想目标；undefined

* **keeps still**：保持不动；keep still为自己不动，hold something still为使某物不动。

* **no doubt**：无疑；大概；undefined

* **write legibly**：写得清楚可辨；legibly强调字形可读，不只是论点清楚。

* **The key to a solution**：解决的关键；to为介词，solution to与key to都需看搭配。

* **an everyday observation**：日常观察；everyday形容词，every day是每天。

* **A simple experiment**：一个简单实验；undefined

* **at the end of**：在……结束或末端时；明确哪件事的末尾；in the end 则强调最终结果。

* **up and down**：来回地；上上下下；可说上下移动，也可说来回走动；要看场景和动作。

* **moves but slightly**：只移动一点；较书面的but可表示“只、仅”；原句moves but slightly即只移动一点，不是转折词“但是”。

* **attached to**：固定在；附在；to引出连接对象，不总是情感依恋。

* **In the midst of**：在……中间；正处于……之中；可说空间位置或事件过程，较 in the middle of 正式。

* **from side to side**：左右移动；方向与up and down不同，不能都译成来回。

* **upon this principle**：依据这个原理；undefined

* **a straight line**：一条直线；undefined

* **horizontal component**：水平分量；component是整体的一部分，测到一项不等于测全。

* **have been devised**：已被设计出来；完成时的被动结构，先看已被设计出的仪器，再问它们能做什么。

* **one after the other**：一个接一个；强调顺序而非同时发生。

* **at short intervals**：以较短间隔；at引出间隔特征，不是总持续时间。

* **longitudinal vibrations**：纵向振动；undefined

* **the interior of the earth**：地球内部；undefined

* **surface rocks**：表层岩石；undefined

#### An earthquake comes like a thief in the night, without warning.

简单句，主谓结构.

#### It was necessary, therefore, to invent instruments that neither slumbered nor slept.

复合句，主句为主系表结构，不定式 to invent 结构作真正的主语，that 引导的定语从句修饰 instrument，为主谓结构.

#### Some devices were quite simple.

简单句，主系表结构.

#### One, for instance, consisted of rods of various lengths and thicknesses which would stand up on end like ninepins.

复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，which 引导的定语从句修饰 rods，主谓结构.

本句中的 ninepins 即九瓶制保龄球，九柱戏是词典里面查到的解释，属于保龄球的前身，主要是木制的瓶子和木制的球.

#### When a shock came, it shook the rigid table upon which these stood.

复合句，主句主谓宾结构，前有一个 when 引导的时间状语从句，后面是 upon which 引导的定语从句，均为主谓（宾）结构.

#### If it were gentle, only the more unstable rods fell.

复合句，主句主谓结构，if 引导的条件状语从句为主系表结构.

#### If it were severe, they all fell.

复合句，主句主谓结构，if 引导的条件状语从句为主系表结构. 跟上句结构相同.

#### Thus the rods, by falling, and by the direction in which they fell, recorded for the slumbering scientist the strength of a shock that was too weak to waken him, and the direction from which it came.

复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，中间有一些定语从句予以修饰. in which 引导的定语从句修饰第一个 direction，主谓宾结构；that 引导的定语从句修饰 strength，主系表结构；from which 引导的定语从句修饰 direction，主谓宾结构.

#### But instruments far more delicate than that were needed if any really serious advance was to be made.

复合句，主句主谓结构，后面跟一个 if 引导的条件状语从句.

#### The ideal to be aimed at was to devise an instrument that could record with a pen on paper, the movements of the ground or of the table as the quake passed by.

复合句，主句为主系表结构，不定式 to devise 结构作表语，后面 that 引导的定语从句修饰 instrument，为主谓宾结构，该定语从句中包含一个 as 引导的时间状语从句，主谓结构.

#### While I write my pen moves, but the paper keeps still.

并列复合句，以 but 相连，前句为复合句，while 引导的时间状语从句为主谓结构，主句亦为主谓结构；but 后句为简单句，主系表结构.

#### With practice, no doubt, I could in time learn to write by holding the pen still while the paper moved.

复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，后面 while 引导的时间状语从句为主谓结构.

#### That sounds a silly suggestion, but that was precisely the idea adopted in some of the early instruments seismometers for recording earthquake waves.

并列句，以 but 相连，均为主系表结构.

#### But when table, penholder and paper are all moving, how is it possible to write legibly?

复合句，主句为疑问句，还原为 it is possible to write legibly，主系表结构，to write 为真正的主语，it 只是形式主语. 句首 when 引导的时间状语从句为主谓结构.

#### The key to a solution of that problem lay in an everyday observation.

简单句，主谓宾结构.

#### Why does a person standing in a bus or train tend to fall when a sudden start is made?

复合句，主句为疑问句，也是主谓宾的部分倒装，when 引导的时间状语从句为主谓结构.

#### It is because his feet move on, but his head stays still.

复合句，主系+表语从句结构，表语从句为并列句，前句为主谓结构，后句为主系表结构，stays 后接表语.

#### A simple experiment will help us a little further.

简单句，主谓宾结构.

#### Tie a heavy weight at the end of a long piece of string.

简单句，祈使句，省略了主语，只有谓语和宾语.

#### With the hand held high in the air, hold the string so that the weight nearly touches the ground.

复合句，主句为祈使句，省略了主语，后面是 so that 结构引导的结果状语从句，主谓宾结构.

#### Now move the hand to and fro and around but not up and down.

简单句，祈使句.

#### It will be found that the weight moves but slightly or not at all.

复合句，主句主谓+宾语从句结构，that 引导的宾语从句为主谓宾结构.

#### Imagine a pen attached to the weight in such a way that its point rests upon a piece of paper on the floor.

Imagine 是祈使句，主语 you 省略。a pen 是宾语，attached to the weight…用过去分词补充笔的安装状态。

in such a way that…说明安装方式应达到的结果：笔尖落在铺于地面的纸上。that 不是修饰 paper 的定语从句；先想清笔、重物和纸三者的位置。

#### Imagine an earthquake shock shaking the floor, the paper, you and your hand.

Imagine 是祈使句，省略主语 you；an earthquake shock 作宾语，shaking the floor…用现在分词补充想象中的震动场景。

它不是“没有主句”，而是让读者在脑中设置实验条件。随后再观察哪些物体动、哪些相对不动。

#### In the midst of all this movement, the weight and the pen would be still.

简单句，主系表结构.

#### But as the paper moved from side to side under the pen point, its movement would be recorded in ink upon its surface.

复合句，主句为主谓结构，as 引导时间状语从句，也为主谓结构.

#### It was upon this principle that the first instruments were made, but the paper was wrapped round a drum which rotated slowly.

并列复合句，两句以 but 连接，前句 It was upon this principle that…为强调句，聚焦于 upon this principle，可还原为 the first instruments were made upon this principle；it 不是代替后置主语从句的形式主语；后句为主谓结构，which 引导的定语从句修饰 drum，主谓结构.

#### As long as all was still, the pen drew a straight line, but while the drum was being shaken, the line that the pen was drawing wriggled from side to side.

并列复合句，两句以 but 连接，前句主句为主谓宾结构，前有一个 as long as 引导的条件状语从句，为主系表结构.

but 后句主句为主谓结构，以 while 引导的时间状语从句开头，主谓结构，又有一个 that 引导的定语从句为主谓结构予以修饰 line.

\[1] 新华字典：双色本. 第12 版. 商务印书馆. 2020. P633.

#### The apparatus thus described, however, records only the horizontal component of the wave movement, which is, in fact, much more complicated.

复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，有一个 which 引导的定语从句为主系表结构.

#### If we could actually see the path described by a particle, such as a sand grain in the rock, it would be more like that of a bluebottle buzzing round the room; it would be up and down, to and fro and from side to side.

并列复合句，以分号分为前后两句，前句有 if 引导的条件状语从句，为主系表结构，主句也是主系表结构.

分号后面为简单句，主系表结构.

#### Instruments have been devised and can be so placed that all three elements can be recorded in different graphs.

复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，后面跟 so that 引导的结果状语从句，为主谓结构.

本段看上去特别长，但在实际文献阅读中，这种长度很普遍.

#### When the instrument is situated at more than 700 miles from the earthquake centre, the graphic record shows three waves arriving one after the other at short intervals.

复合句，主句为主谓结构，record 在这里是名词，When 引导的时间状语从句中为主谓结构. 英式英语习惯于写“centre”，美式写“center”.

#### The first records the arrival of longitudinal vibrations.

简单句，主谓宾结构，the first 是主语，指记录中第一组波形，对应纵向振动（纵波）的到达；records 是“记录、显示”之意，不能解释成纵波去记录自身的到达. 后面的 records 是谓语动词，不是宾语， record 作名词和作动词的读音不同，需要留意. 这里的 record 与下句的 mark 是同一个 意思的多样化表达.

#### The second marks the arrival of transverse vibrations which travel more slowly and arrive several minutes after the first.

复合句，主谓宾结构含有一个 which 引导的定语从句，the second 的用法与上句一样省略了 wave 一词. Which 修饰的是 transverse vibrations，带2 个谓语 travel 和 arrive，由 and 并列相连.

#### These two have travelled through the earth.

简单句，主谓结构，后面是方式状语. 原书的译文“穿过地球而来”值得商榷，因为只有在宇宙中，才能穿过整个地球. 从后句看，是从地球内部传出来的，方能得以对地球内部一探究竟.

#### It was from the study of these that so much was learnt about the interior of the earth.

简单句， it is…that 强调句结构.

#### The third, or main wave, is the slowest and has travelled round the earth through the surface rocks.

并列句，以 and 连接，前句为主系表结构，后句为主谓结构. 前两种波，纵波是 P 波，横波是 S 波，均为体波；最后到达的为面波，利用传播的时间差，可以提前一小段时间发出预警.

## 学完这一课

介绍一种设备分别测出什么，并清楚列出测量维度。

[Nce · 本册复习台](/new-concept/book-4/review) · [三册选择地图](/new-concept/)

*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184—190页，2022年2月第2版。*