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万物简史(MP3+中英字幕) 第394期:浩瀚的海洋(13)

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He thought underwater exploration a waste of resources and pointed out that the Navy was not a research institute. The nation, moreover, was about to become fully preoccupied with space travel and the quest to send a man to the Moon, which made deep sea investigations seem unimportant and rather old-fashioned. But the decisive consideration was that the Trieste descent didn't actually achieve much. As a Navy official explained years later: "We didn't learn a hell of a lot from it, other than that we could do it. Why do it again?" It was, in short, a long way to go to find a flatfish, and expensive too. Repeating the exercise today, it has been estimated, would cost at least $100 million.

他认为水下探索是浪费资源,还指出海军不是个研究机构。而且,当时这个国家就要全力以赴地搞空间旅行,努力把人送上月球。因此,深海调查似乎变得不大重要,已经过时。但是,最决定性的看法是,“的里雅斯特”号其实没有取得多大成就。正如几年以后一位海军官员说的:“我们只是知道了我们办得到,除此以外没有了解到多少该死的东西。干吗还要干?”总而言之,寻找比目鱼的路程很远,而旦很花钱。有人估计,今天要再干一回,至少要花费1亿美元。
the ocean

When underwater researchers realized that the Navy had no intention of pursuing a promised exploration program, there was a pained outcry. Partly to placate its critics, the Navy provided funding for a more advanced submersible, to be operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution of Massachusetts. Called Alvin, in somewhat contracted honor of the oceanographer Allyn C. Vine, it would be a fully maneuverable minisubmarine, though it wouldn't go anywhere near as deep as the Trieste. There was just one problem: the designers couldn't find anyone willing to build it. According to William J. Broad in The Universe Below: "No big company like General Dynamics, which made submarines for the Navy, wanted to take on a project disparaged by both the Bureau of Ships and Admiral Rickover, the gods of naval patronage." Eventually, not to say improbably, Alvin was constructed by General Mills, the food company, at a factory where it made the machines to produce breakfast cereals.

当水下研究人员获悉海军无意实施答应过的探索计划的时候,他们痛苦万分,表示强烈抗议。为了平息他们的不满,海军提供了一笔资金,计划建造一个更加先进的潜水器,由马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔海洋研究所进行管理。它被命名为“阿尔文”号,以纪念海样学家阿林·C·瓦因。它将是一条操作灵活的微型潜艇,虽然它根本潜不到“的里雅斯特”号的深度。只有一个问题:设计人员找不到愿意制造它的人。威廉·J·布罗德在《水下的字窗》一书中说:“没有哪家大公司,包括为海军生产潜艇的通用动力公司,愿意接受一个被船舶局和里科弗将军都瞧不起的项目。”最后,简直不可思议,“阿尔文”号由通用面输公司在下属的一家生产早餐食品机器的工厂建造。

重点单词   查看全部解释    
institution [.insti'tju:ʃən]

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n. 机构,制度,创立

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institute ['institju:t]

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n. 学会,学院,协会
vt. 创立,开始,制

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placate [plei'keit]

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vt. 抚慰,和解

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exploration [.eksplɔ:'reiʃən]

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n. 探险,踏勘,探测

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vine [vain]

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n. 攀爬植物,藤,蔓

 
intention [in'tenʃən]

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n. 意图,意向,目的

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universe ['ju:nivə:s]

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n. 宇宙,万物,世界

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willing ['wiliŋ]

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adj. 愿意的,心甘情愿的

 
patronage ['pætrənidʒ]

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n. 赞助,光顾,任免权

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advanced [əd'vɑ:nst]

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adj. 高级的,先进的

 

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