翻译题 'Nobody really knows' was Donald Trump's assessment of man-made global warming, in an interview on December 11th. As far as the atmosphere is concerned, that puts him at odds with most scientists who have studied the matter. They do know that the atmosphere is warming, and they also know by how much. But turn to the sea and Mr. Trump has a point.     46    Though the oceans are warming too, climatologists readily admit that they have only a rough idea how much heat is going into them, and how much is already there.
    Many suspect that the heat capacity of seawater explains the climate pause of recent years, in which the rate of atmospheric warming has slowed.     47    But without decent data, it is hard to be sure to what extent the oceans are acting as a heat sink that damps the temperature rise humanity is visiting upon the planet—and, equally important, how long they can keep that up.
    This state of affairs will change, though, if a project described by Robert Tyler and Terence Sabaka to a meeting of the American Geophysical Union, held in San Francisco this week, is successful.     48    Dr. Tyler and Dr. Sabaka, who work at the Goddard Space Flight Centre, in Maryland, observe that satellites can detect small changes in Earth's magnetic field induced by the movement of water. They also observe that the magnitude of such changes depends on the water's temperature all the way down to the ocean floor. That, they think, opens a window into the oceans which has, until now, been lacking. To measure things in the deep sea almost always requires placing instruments there—either by lowering them from a ship or by putting them on board submarine devices.     49    The supply of oceanographic research vessels, though, is limited, and even the addition in recent years of several thousand 'Argo' probes (floating robots that roam the oceans and are capable of diving to a depth of 2,000 metres) still leaves ocean temperatures severely under-sampled.
    All this means that, if you know where and how ocean water is displaced, the changes in the magnetic field, as seen from a satellite, will tell you the heat content of that water.     50    Dr. Tyler and Dr. Sabaka therefore built a computer model which tried this approach on one reasonably well-understood form of oceanic displacement, the twice-daily tidal movement caused by the gravitational attraction of the moon.
问答题    
 
【正确答案】虽然海洋也在变暖,但气候学家们很乐意承认,他们只是粗略地估计了有多少热量会进人海洋,以及海洋中已经含有多少热量。
【答案解析】文章概述:本文源于2016年12月7日的The Economist(《经济学人》)。原文标题为Climate science—How hot are the oceans?(《气候科学——海洋有多热?》)文章主要讨论了科学家对海水热容量的研究。气候变暖已经得到了充分的研究和关注,而海洋变暖对许多人来说还是个新领域。文章介绍了海洋对气候变暖发挥的作用及科学家们对海洋热容量的初步探索。 Though the oceans are warming too, climatologists readily admit that they have only a rough idea how much heat is going into them, and how much is already there. 本句的主干结构为...climatologists readily admit that...。though引导的是让步状语从句,that引导的是宾语从句,两个how much所引导的是两个并列的同位语从句,作idea的同位语。 (1)climatologists readily admit that they have only a rough idea: they指代的是前面的climatologists,气候学家。readily的意思是“乐意地;容易地,无困难地”。 (2)how much heat is going into them, and how much is already there: 这部分是前面idea的同位语,用来解释idea的具体内容。them指代though引导的让步状语从句中的oceans。 [参考译文] 在12月11日的一次采访中,唐纳德·特朗普对人为造成的全球变暖的评价是“没有人真正知道”。就大气层而言,此事使得特朗普与研究该问题的大多数科学家意见相左。他们知道气候正在变暖,而且他们也知道气温将升高多少。但是谈到海洋变暖一事,特朗普先生的观点似乎有道理。虽然海洋也在变暖,但气候学家们很乐意承认,他们只是粗略地估计了有多少热量会进入海洋,以及海洋中已经含有多少热量。 许多人认为海水的热容量解释了近年来的气候变化间歇,在间歇期间气候变暖的速度已经放缓。但是,由于没有足够的数据,很难确定海洋在多大程度上扮演着—个散热器的角色,这个散热器抑制了地球上人类正在面临的温度上升问题,而且同样重要的是,很难确定它们能抑制多久。 不过,如果在本周旧金山举行的美国地球物理学会上罗伯特·泰勒和特伦斯·沙巴卡所描述的项目成功的话,这种情况将会发生改变。在马里兰州戈达德太空飞行中心工作的泰勒博士和沙巴卡博士观察到,卫星可以探测到由水流运动引起的地球磁场的微小变化。他们还观察到,这些变化的程度取决于一直延伸到海底的水温。他们认为,这打开了一扇直到现在还未开启的通向海洋的窗口。探测深海中的物体几乎总是需要把仪器放置到深海里——要么把它们从船上放下来,要么把它们放在潜艇设备上。然而,海洋研究船只的供应有限,即使近年来增添了几千个“阿尔戈”探测器(漫游在海洋上的漂浮机器人,能够潜到2000米深处),但海洋温度数据的测量取样仍然严重不足。 所有这一切意味着,如果你知道海水是在哪里以及如何被置换的,从卫星上看到的磁场变化就会告诉你海水的热容量。因此,泰勒博士和沙巴卡博士研制了一种计算机模型,该模型尝试将这种方法用于研究一种很容易理解的海洋位移形式,即由月球引力引起的每日两次的潮汐运动。
问答题    
 
【正确答案】但是,由于没有足够的数据,很难确定海洋在多大程度上扮演着一个散热器的角色,这个散热器抑制了地球上人类正在面临的温度上升问题,而且同样重要的是,很难确定它们能抑制多久。
【答案解析】But without decent data,it is hard to be sure to what extent the oceans are acting as a heat sink that damps the temperature rise humanity is visiting upon the planet—and, equally important, how long they can keep that up. 本句的主干结构为..., it is hard to be sure...。主干为主系表结构,it是形式主语,真正的主语是不定式短语to be sure,句中that引导限定性定语从句,修饰其前面的先行词heat sink, humanity is visiting upon the planet是省略了引导词that的定语从句,修饰temperature rise。to be sure后面跟着两个并列的结构作宾语,一个是to what extent the oceans are acting as a heat sink,另一个是how long they can keep that up。 (1)to what extent the oceans are acting as a heat sink: to what extent是固定短语,意思是“在多大程度上”。heat sink的意思是“散热器;吸热部件”。 (2)that damps the temperature rise: 这是一个限定性定语从句,修饰前面的heat sink。damp的意思是“抑制,阻止,控制”。 (3)how long they can keep that up: they指代的是oceans, keep up的意思是“保持,继续”,that指的是damp the temperature rise“阻碍温度升高”。
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【正确答案】在马里兰州戈达德太空飞行中心工作的泰勒博士和沙巴卡博士观察到,卫星可以探测到由水流运动引起的地球磁场的微小变化。
【答案解析】Dr. Tyler and Dr. Sabaka, who work at the Goddard Space Flight Centre, in Maryland, observe that satellites can detect small changes in Earth's magnetic field induced by the movement of water. 本句的主干结构为Dr. Tyler and Dr. Sabaka...observe that...。句子为主从复合句。句中who引导非限定性定语从句,修饰其前面的先行词Dr. Tyler and Dr. Sabaka。that引导宾语从句,作谓语observe的宾语。 (1)satellites can detect small changes in Earth's magnetic field:这部分是宾语从句中的主干部分,主语为satellites,谓语是can detect,宾语是small changes。magnetic field在此处是“磁场,磁力场”的意思。 (2)induced by the movement of water: induced是过去分词,用作后置定语,修饰changes。induce的意思是“引起,诱导”。
问答题    
 
【正确答案】然而,海洋研究船只的供应有限,即使近年来增添了几千个“阿尔戈”探测器(漫游在海洋上的漂浮机器人,能够潜到2000米深处),但海洋温度数据的测量取样仍然严重不足。
【答案解析】The supply of oceanographic research vessels, though, is limited, and even the addition in recent years of several thousand 'Argo' probes (floating robots that roam the oceans and are capable of diving to a depth of 2,000 metres) still leaves ocean temperatures severely under-sampled. 本句的主干结构为The supply...is limited, and even the addition...still leaves ocean temperatures severely under-sampled,这是一个并列句,两个分句由并列连词and连接。括号中的内容用来解释'Argo' probes的具体内容,其中that引导定语从句,修饰其前面的先行词robots。 (1)The supply of oceanographic research vessels, though, is limited: oceanographic的意思是“海洋学的,有关海洋学的”,research vessels的意思是“海洋调查船,考察船”。 (2)floating robots that roam the oceans and are capable of diving to a depth of 2,000 metres: that引导的定语从句修饰robots,用来解释括号外面的probes“探测器;探针;探头”。roam的意思是“漫游,漫步”。 (2)leaves ocean temperatures severely under-sampled: leave在这里是系动词,意思是“使得……”。under-sampled本意为“抽样不足的,欠采样的”,在这里的意思是“对海洋温度的测量取样不足”。
问答题    
 
【正确答案】因此,泰勒博士和沙巴卡博士研制了一种计算机模型,该模型尝试将这种方法用于研究一种很容易理解的海洋位移形式,即由月球引力引起的每日两次的潮汐运动。
【答案解析】Dr. Tyler and Dr. Sabaka therefore built a computer model which tried this approach on one reasonably well-understood form of oceanic displacement, the twice-daily tidal movement caused by the gravitational attraction of the moon. 本句的主干结构为Dr. Tyler and Dr. Sabaka therefore built a computer model which...。which引导限定性定语从句,修饰其前面的先行词model。 (1)which tried this approach on one reasonably well-understood form of oceanic displacement: which指前面的“计算机模型”,well-understood form可以翻成“容易理解的形式,比较熟悉的形式”,oceanic displacement本意是“海洋位移”,可以理解为“海水的移动”。 (2)the twice-daily tidal movement caused by the gravitational attraction of the moon:这部分是前面oceanic displacement的同位语,指的是由月球引力引起的每日两次的潮汐运动。