雪犁

On January 10,1962, an enormous piece of glacierbroke away and tumbled down the side of a mountain in Peru. A mere seven minutes later, when cascading ice finally came to a stop ten milesdown the mountain, it had taken the lives of 4,000 people.

本段译文：1962年1月10日，一块巨大的冰川从秘鲁的山崖上崩裂而下，仅仅7分钟后，从山下10英里处倾泻而下的冰终于停了下来，夺去了4000人的生命。

1.break away崩裂；脱离；逃跑

The people of the province wished to break away and form a new state.

该省**希望分离成立一个新国家。

2.tumble down 破败；倒塌

It only needed a push and the whole building will come tumble down.

只要稍稍一推，那整幢房子就会倒塌下来。

3.mere adj. 有两种用法

1）used when you want to emphasize how **all, unimportant 仅仅的；只不过

mere 是个形容词，修饰名词时，如果是单数就要在前面加个冠词a。

A mere 2% of their budget has been spent on publicity. 他们的预算开支只有2%用于宣传。

2）used when you are saying that the fact that a particular thing is present in a situation is enough to have an influence on that situation 只凭…就足以

His mere presence (= just the fact that he was there) made her feel afraid. 他当时在场，这就足以让她害怕了。

The mere thought of eating made him feel sick. 他一想到吃饭就觉得恶心。

The merest (= the slightest) hint of **oke is enough to make her feel ill. 最细微的一丝烟就能使她感到不舒服。

The mere thought of eating made him feel sick. 他一想到吃饭就觉得恶心。

•The merest (= the slightest) hint of **oke is enough to make her feel ill. 最细微的一丝烟就能使她感到不舒服。

mere这个用法很难。

4.cascade /kæˈskeɪd/

1)n.小瀑布

2) V. to flow downwards in large amounts 倾泻；流注

Water cascaded down the mountainside. 水从山腰倾泻而下

3) V. to fall or hang in large amounts 大量落下；大量垂悬

Blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders. 她的金发像瀑布似的披落在肩头。

This disaster is one of the most “devastating”examples of a very common event: an avalanche of snow or ice. Because it is extremely cold at very high altitudes, snow rarelymelts. It just keeps piling up higher and higher. Glaciers are eventually created when theweight of the snow is so great that the lower layers are pressed into solid ice. But mostavalanches occur long before this happens. As snow accumulates on asteep slope, it reaches a critical point at which the slightest vibration will send it sliding into the valley below.

本段译文：这场灾难是最“毁灭性”的例子之一，冰或雪的崩塌是很常见的事情:。因为海拔很高，天气就非常冷，雪很少融化。它只是不断堆积越来越高。当雪的重量太大，下层被压成固体冰时，冰川最终形成。但大多数雪崩在这之前就发生了。当雪在陡峭的斜坡上堆积时，它会达到一个临界点，在这个临界点上，最轻微的震动就会使它**下面的山谷。

1.devastating adj. /ˈdevəsteɪtɪŋ/1）causing a lot of damage and destruction **性极大的；毁灭性的

a devastating explosion/fire/cyclone 毁灭性的**╱火灾╱台风

It will be a devastating blow to the local community if the factory closes. 如果这家工厂倒闭，将给当地居民以毁灭性的打击。

2）impressive and powerful 给人印象深刻的；令人钦佩的；强**的

Her **ile was devastating. 她的笑容令人倾倒

2.avalanche n. /ˈævəlɑːnʃ/ 雪崩；山崩

Even an avalanche of light power can be dangerous, but the Peruvian catastrophe was particularly terrible because it was caused by a heavy layer of ice. It is estimated that the ice that broke off weighed three million tons. As it crashed down the steep mountainside like a gigantic snow plough, it swept up trees, boulders and tons of topsoil, and completely crushed and destroyed the six villages that lay in its path.

本段译文：即使是轻微的雪崩也很危险，但秘鲁的灾难尤其可怕，因为它是由厚厚的冰层造成的。据估计，破裂的冰重达300万吨。它像一台巨大的雪犁一样冲下陡峭的山坡，卷走了树木、巨石和成吨的表土，将沿途的六个村庄彻底碾碎并摧毁。

1.steep

1）adj. ( of a slope, hill, etc. 斜坡、山等 ) rising or falling quickly, not gradually 陡的；陡峭的

a steep hill/slope/bank 陡峭的山；陡坡╱岸

a steep climb/descent/drop 陡直的爬升╱下降╱下落

2)( of a rise or fall in an amount 数量的上升或下降 ) sudden and very big 突然的；急剧的；大起大落的

a steep decline/rise in the birth rate 出生率的骤降

3)( of a price or demand 价格或要求 ) too much; unreasonable 过高的；过分的；不合理的

￡2 for a cup of coffee seems a little steep to me. 一杯咖啡2英镑在我看来有点贵得离谱。

2. plough /plaʊ/

1)n. 犁

2）V. to dig and turn over a field or other area of land with a plough 犁（田）；耕（地）；翻（土）

The use of horses for ploughing still prevails among the poorer farmers.

用马耕作的现象在贫苦农民中仍然十分盛行.

3)plough through V. to force a way through sth 费劲地穿越（或通过）；破浪前进

The ship ploughed through the sea toward port.

那艘船在海里破浪前进,驶向港口.

She ploughed her way through the waiting crowds.

她从等候的人群中挤过去。

3.sweep up 清扫；扫除

Get a broom and sweep up that glass will you?

拿一把扫帚把那些玻璃扫干净，行吗？

4.boulder /ˈbəʊldə(r)/ n. 卵石，大圆石；巨砾

At present there is no way to predict or avoid such enormous avalanches, but, luckily, theyare very rare. Scientists are constantly studying the **aller, more common avalanches, to tryto understand what causes them. In the future, perhaps dangerous masses of snow and ice can be found and removed before they take human lives.

本段译文：目前还没有办法预测或避免如此巨大的雪崩，但幸运的是，它们非常罕见。科学家们一直在研究更小的、更常见的雪崩，试图了解导致它们的原因。在未来，也许危险的大块冰雪可以被发现并在它们夺走人类生命之前被移除。

1.enormous adj.巨大的 指体积、数量或程度远远超过一般**。

2.masses of 大多数，大量的

There's masses of work for her to do.

她有一大堆的工作去做。