Imagine how much energy is involved in all that wrinkling, folding, lifting, and melting—in the continuous creation of Earth’s n

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问题     Imagine how much energy is involved in all that wrinkling, folding, lifting, and melting—in the continuous creation of Earth’s new crust! I did not see a fragile planet, but rather a living, breathing, powerful Earth.
    The night side of Earth gave me a different perspective, though. On night passes in orbit, evidence of human activity is abundantly clear. Densely populated landmasses are lit up brilliantly, whereas sparsely inhabited deserts are almost completely dark. Lights outline continents, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere, where people live along the coastlines. Strings of lights illuminate rivers and, in some places, even highways, where densely populated towns and cities have grown up along these transportation arteries.
    All this made it abundantly clear how much geography and climate influence where people have chosen to live. And it strikes me that this remarkably comprehensive book contains within it these same two divergent views of the planet; the powerful Earth, largely unaffected by its human inhabitants, and the fascinating world, glowing with human activity. I imagine looking through a zoom lens, starting with a wide field of view of Earth and the universe and then zooming in to a microscopic view of Earth’s inhabitants and how they have modified their surroundings to suit their needs.
    This book begins with the broadest possible view of the Earth as just one planet in the universe, reinforcing the apparent insignificance of our species. Spread by spread, detail by detail, it progresses from that view through chapters on the forces and variety of nature on Earth, and then to chapters on the remarkable story of our human family, cultures, and history.

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答案 地表岩层褶皱、折叠、上升、融化,不断形成新地壳,想象一下,这个过程中消耗的能量该有多么巨大!然而,在我看来地球并不脆弱,它是一个充满生机和活力的强大星球。 不过,地球的夜景却让我得以窥见其不同的一面。夜幕降临,人类活动的痕迹昭然可见。人口密集区灯火通明,人烟稀少的沙漠却几乎漆黑一片。无数灯光勾勒出大陆的轮廓,尤其是人口沿海岸线分布的北半球。一串串灯光不仅点亮了河道,也照亮了高速公路,沿着这些交通要道逐渐兴起了人口稠密的城镇。 这充分显示了地理和气候因素对人们选择居住地的影响。本书打动我之处在于,它不仅内容全面详实,且竟囊括了关于地球的两种截然不同的观点:一方面,地球强大无比,人类的影响微乎其微;另一方面,它又是一个迷人的世界,因人类活动而绚丽多彩。我想象自己透过变焦镜头观察地球,一开始映入眼帘的是宽阔视野下的地球和宇宙,接着镜头拉近,从微观角度观察地球居民,看他们为满足自我需求如何改变周遭环境。 本书以最广泛的视角开端,地球不过宇宙中的一颗行星,人类这个物种更是无足轻重。从这个观点出发,本书一页页详细展开,通过几个章节描述了地球上大自然的强大和多样,随后用几个章节讲述了人类家庭、文化和历史的非凡故事。

解析     orbit在这里并非其常见的“轨道”的含义,而是表示“(人、组织等的)影响范围”,结合主语might可知,这里描述的是夜幕逐渐降临地球的过程。abundantly clear意为“非常明显”,这里使用“昭然可见” ,其中“昭然”对应了原文中的副词abundantly,体现了明显的程度。
    illuminate表示“照亮”,在本句中用来描述河道和高速公路两旁亮着灯光的景象。grow up表示人长大,结合主语towns and cities可知,此处应翻译为“逐渐兴起”。
    spread在这里为名词,意为“(书籍、杂志、报纸等的)相对的两页”,因此spread by spread的含义近似于page by page,译为“一页页”。progress from sth. to sth. 意为“从……行进、推移至……”,表示书中既讲到大自然又讲到人类的故事。翻译时,可将“从这个观点出发”作为状语置于句首,接着在后文使用“展开” ,继而介绍书籍内容的发展,逻辑合理,自然流畅。
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