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LESSON 4 The bed of the atlantic
第四课 大西洋洋底
(To be read before a Map)
(地图前的解读）
If the waters of the Atlantic could be drawn off, so as to expose to view the great trough which separates the Old World from the New, a scene would present itself of the grandest and most imposing character. The very ribs of the solid Earth, and the foundations of the hills, destitute of the garniture of vegetation, would be brought to light. We should have unrolled before us a vast panorama of mountains and valleys, of tablelands and plains, of deep gorges and lofty peaks, rivalling in grandeur and in variety the continents of the upper world.
如果把大西洋里的水抽干，你将看到一个巨大沟槽把东西半球隔开，壮观而庄严。那些构成地球实体的纹路和山脉的基石，褪去了植被的装饰后将重见天日。高山峡谷、高原平地、深壑峭壁，以一种全景般的开阔视野展现在我们面前，其壮丽和千奇百态足以和上层世界的大陆相匹敌。
Comparatively little is yet known of the bed of the South Atlantic; but the basin of the North Atlantic has been extensively surveyed by the English and American Navies. Let us suppose this vast basin to be emptied of its waters; and, with the aid of the charts which have been constructed, let us in imagination traverse these deep places of the Earth and learn what we can of their secrets. Remembering that what we have to explore is really a vast system of table-lands, mountains, and valleys, let us first endeavour to grasp its broad outstanding features.
相对于北部海域，我们对于大西洋南部海底的探秘要少得多，而对大西洋北部海底的探秘，则主要来源于英国和美国的海军。现在，假设整个大西洋的海水都已蒸发，我们将在已有知识体系的基础上，纵横大地深处，探寻它们的秘密。记住，我们所要探索的是覆盖了平地、高山、峡谷的一个巨大的地理体系，我们要先掌握这个体系所具有的广泛的、显著的特征。
In the northern part of the basin there stretches across the Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland a great submarine plain, known in recent years as Telegraph Plateau. About one hundred miles from the coast of Ireland this plateau, rising as a broad terrace, reaches to within a hundred fathoms of the surface of the ocean. On this terrace stand the British Islands, the climate of which is materially affected by their being thus removed from the influence of the colder waters in the depths of the Atlantic.
穿过纽芬兰和爱尔兰岛，在大西洋的北部流域内，潜藏着一处巨大的海底平原，近些年该海底平原被称为“特里瓜夫高原”。在距离爱尔兰岛海岸约100英里的特里瓜夫高原，有一片突起的广阔地域，最高处距离海平面不到一百英寻。不列颠群岛就坐落在这片地域之上。而这种地理因素对不列颠群岛的气候产生的实质性影响，则使其免受了来自大西洋深处冰冷海水的冲击。
