字神帝國英語天地

今日主題：Sahara Reveals Remains of Ancient River
撒哈拉的古老河道

洪欣老師推薦：托福聽力最好的課外教材：60-Second Science
康康精選托福會考的主題，堅持每天精聽一定會進步的哦!!

建議方法：
1. 先聽兩三遍 (不看文稿)
2. 再一句一句聽寫 (每句都要聽寫數遍，直到寫出85%以上的字)
3. 最後check文稿，看哪聽不出來，單字沒背過，還是發音不熟。
4. 堅持天天聽，就能每天進步哦。

MP3音檔 (按右鍵可下載聽)：喜歡的同學，幫忙推或按讚哦~~
http://online1.tingclass.net/voaspe/…/20151208sa_science.mp3

只有音檔怎夠，聽不懂地方，不用怕，康康幫你準備好中英文稿了：

中英文稿：
“The city of Tanis was consumed by the desert in a sandstorm which lasted a whole year. Wiped clean by the wrath of God.” Indiana Jones’s friend Marcus Brody, explaining the fictional fate of the city of Tanis in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
坦尼斯在持續了一整年的沙城暴中，被沙漠所掩埋了，被憤怒的上帝徹底清除。印第安那瓊斯的朋友馬庫斯•布羅迪在《法櫃奇兵》中闡述了這座城市小說般的命運。

Back in real life, scientists have found something else covered by the Sahara’s sea of sand: an ancient river system. The remains of the main channel—which dried up long ago—wind beneath the west African desert for more than 300 miles before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.
在現實生活中，科學家們發現了被撒哈拉沙漠所掩埋的其他東西：一條古老的河系。河流已經乾涸了很久，其主要通道的殘留物蜿蜒在西非沙漠之下300多英里之後到達大西洋。

Researchers led by Charlotte Skoniezcny of the University of Lille in France uncovered the system using a kind of satellite-borne radar that can penetrate through several feet of dry surface sediments like sand. The scientists think that the network may extend even farther inland, but thick dunes prevented them from mapping it. They report their findings in the journal Nature Communications.
法國里爾大學的 Charlotte Skoniezcny領導的研究人員，通過一種可以穿透沙子乾燥的表面沉積物的衛星載運雷達，發現了這個古代的河道。科學家認為該河流可能向內陸擴展的還 要深一些，但是厚厚的積沙最終阻止了他們用衛星掃描地圖。該研究結果發表在《自然通訊》雜誌上。

The discovery solves the mystery of what created a vast underwater canyon off the coast of Mauritania in northwest Africa. The subsurface ravine looks like those that form at the mouths of massive rivers today. But researchers had only hypothesized the existence of major waterways in West Africa until now.
該研究結果解決了，在非洲西北部，茅利塔尼亞海岸有一個巨大的地下峽谷之謎。地表下的峽谷就像是今天大量河流交匯處形成的那些峽谷一樣。但是研究人員們直到今天之前也還只能認為這種大型水路體系的存在是個假說。

The fact that rivers raged at the surface in this region sheds light on the Sahara’s tumultuous history. Scientists know that this vast desert wasn’t always dry. At certain times in the past, it boasted green grasslands teeming with life. The researchers think the Sahara’s lost river last flowed 6,500 years ago, revealing just how fast west Africa’s climate can change. Maybe not quite as fast as Indiana Jones swapping out a bag of sand for a golden idol. But still, surprisingly fast. “Wiped clean.”
該地區表明曾經流淌的河流揭示了撒哈拉沙漠動盪的歷史。科學家們認為這個廣袤的沙漠以前並不是乾旱的。在古代的某個時期，撒哈拉沙漠生機勃勃，孕育了許多 生命。研究人員認為，撒哈拉所流淌的河流大概是在6500年消失，這同時也揭示了西非氣候變化之快。也許沒有印第安那瓊斯為黃金神像換出一帶沙子那樣快。 但是，仍然還是很快的。一掃而光。