Unit-6-A-World-of-Mystery新编大英语第二版第一册课文翻译.doc

Unit 6 A World of MysteryThe Bermuda Triangle [1] On 5th December 1945, Flight 19, which consisted of five US Navy planes, took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida in fine weather. There was a total of fourteen men on board the planes. The planes were in good condition; they had the best equipment on board including passes and radios, and they also carried life rafts. The planes could float on water for ninety seconds. One and a half hours after the take-off, a radio message from one of the planes was heard at the control tower at Fort Lauderdale. [2] "I don't know where we are." [3] After that the planes could no longer speak to the control tower, but they could speak to and hear each other, and the control tower could hear them. [4] "The magnetic pass is going crazy." [5] "We're pletely lost." [6] No other messages were heard after that. Nobody else heard from the planes or saw them again. Three hundred planes and many boats searched the area, but not one trace of Flight 19 was found. Then one of the planes that was sent to look for them also disappeared pletely. [7] These planes had disappeared in a very mysterious part of the world in the western Atlantic Ocean where lots of strange events have taken place. The mystery started long before 1945, and since that year many other ships and planes have also disappeared in this area. It is called the Bermuda Triangle. It is a large, triangular area of the ocean with the island of Bermuda at its northern tip. [8] Planes and ships disappear in other parts of the world, but there are more disappearances in the Triangle than in other areas. For years now scientists and others have been puzzled by this mystery. There have been many attempts to explain why people, planes and ships disappear in such high numbers here . [9] One writer, John Spencer, believes that the ships and planes have been carried off from the sea and sky by flying saucers or UFOs from another planet. Since there are millions of other planets in the universe, Spencer believes there must be other intelligent creatures somewhere in the universe. These creatures are interested in collecting humans and their equipment so that they can examine them carefully. [10] Another theory is that the geography of the area is responsible for the disappearances of the ships and planes. Bermuda lies on an earthquake belt. Underwater earthquakes result in large waves appearing suddenly. These waves are so big that they can break a ship into pieces. In the air, a similar thing can happen to airplanes because of sudden strong winds. [11] As with Flight 19, many boats and planes have reported that their magnetic passes stop working properly in the Bermuda Triangle. Normally a magnetic pass points towards magnetic north . However, the Bermuda Triangle is one of the two places on Earth in which a pass points towards true north. Therefore, there is something strange about the magnetic properties of the area. [12] Many people have found these explanations difficult to believe. However, the most recent theory has a scientific basis and is more believable. The discovery of methane gas on the seafloor of the Bermuda Triangle started a scientist, Dr. Mclver, thinking about an explanation for the mysteries. Sometimes large amounts of the gas escape from the seafloor and rise into the air. This could produce large waves on the surface which would make a ship sink. When the gas mixes with air, it could also cause a ship's engine to stop or it could start a fire. Similarly, as the mixture rises into the air, it could cause an airplane's engine to stop or explode. The explosions would break a ship or a plane into tiny pieces. [13] This latest theory has yet to be proved but seems to offer a better explanation as to why Flight 19 and all the other planes, ships and people have disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. 百慕大三角1 1945 年 12 月 5 日,佛罗里达州的劳德代尔堡,天气晴好,由 5 架美国海军飞机组成的第 19 飞 行小队从这儿起飞.机上共有 14 名机组人员.飞机状态<状况>良好：机上装有当时最好的设备,包括罗 盘和无线电设备,还携带有救生筏.飞机可以在水上漂浮 90 秒钟.飞机起飞 90 分钟后,劳德代尔堡的 指挥塔台听到了从其中一架飞机传来的无线电信息. 2 "我不知道我们现在所处的位置. ’ 3 这之后飞机再也无法和指挥塔台通话,但是飞机之间可以通话,而且指挥塔台也能听到他们的 谈话. 4 "磁罗盘简直疯了. " 5 "我们完全迷失了方向. " 6 这之后没有收到其他任何信息.再也没有其他任何人收到过这些飞机的消息或看到过它们.300 架飞机和许多船只搜索了该地区, 但没有找到第 19 飞行小队的任何踪迹. 而且其中一架被派去搜寻的飞 机也彻底失踪了. 7 这些飞机是在西大西洋上一个非常神秘的地方失踪的,在这里已经发生了许多奇怪的事件.这 种神秘现象在 1945 年之前很久就已出现, 而且自那一年以来, 又有许多其他的船只和飞机在这一地区失 踪.这个地区被称为百慕大三角,是大西洋上一个巨大的三角形海域,其北端是百慕大岛. 8 飞机和船只在世界的其他地方也会失踪,但是百慕大三角内发生的失踪事件要比其他地区多. 多年来科学家们和其他人士对这一神秘现象感到困惑.人们做了许多努力,试图解释为什么有这么多的 人、飞机和船只在这里失踪. 9 作家约翰· 斯宾塞认为, 这些船只和飞机被来自另一行星的飞碟或者说 UFO<不明飞行物>从海上和空中劫走了.他的看法是,既然宇宙里有数百万其他行星,那么在宇宙中某处肯定存在其他有智慧的 生物.这些生物喜欢收集人类与其设备,以便仔细观察. 10 另一种理论认为该地区的地理状况是造成船只和飞机失踪的罪魁祸首.百慕大位于地震带.水下地震导致巨浪突然涌现.这些波浪如此巨大,足以将船只撕成碎片.在空中,由于突然出现的强风, 飞机也会遭遇到类似的情况. 11 和第 19 飞行小队一样,许多船只和飞机也曾报告说,他们的磁罗盘在百慕大三角不再正常工 作.通常磁罗盘指向磁北极.在地球上有两个地方罗盘刚好指向真北,而百慕大三角就是其中之一.因 而,这一地区的磁性有些怪异. 12 许多人认为这些解释令人难以置信.而最新的一种理论具有科学根据,因而比较可信.百慕大 海底甲烷的发现使得麦克维尔博士开始考虑如何解释这些神秘现象.有时大量甲烷气体会从海底逸出, 升人空中.这可能在海面产生巨浪从而使船只沉没.。