很多小夥伴都想讀英文原著學英語，可每次看兩頁就放棄。為了幫助大家從閱讀中找到樂趣，曉梅老師就帶大家一起讀英文原著，
看看有意思的故事，學學地道表達。先從A Short History of Nearly Everything《萬物簡史》開始。這本書從宇宙大爆炸開始講現代科學史，穿插了很多科學家的生平故事，妙趣橫生。本書作者Bill Bryson喜歡用口語化的語言敘述，因而裡面的英語要比一般的原著通俗易懂。今天讀第5章關於地質學家詹姆斯•赫頓 (James Hutton) 的片段。赫頓是蘇格蘭地質學家、醫生、博物學家、化學家、實驗農場主，他的理論為現代地質學的發展奠定了基礎，因而常被稱為“現代地質學之父”。
赫頓的真知灼見
Among the questions that attracted interest in that fanatically inquisitive age was one that had puzzled people for a very long time - namely, why ancient clam shells and other marine fossils were so often found on mountaintops. How on earth did they get there? Those who thought they had a solution fell into two opposing camps.
在那個好奇心盛行的年代，人們對很多問題都產生了興趣，其中有個問題困擾了大家很長時間：山頂上為什麼經常發現古代的蛤蜊殼和其他海洋生物化石。它們到底是怎麼到那兒的？認為自己已經找到答案的人們分成了兩個對立的陣營。
One group, known as the Neptunists, were convinced that everything on the Earth, including sea shells in improbably lofty places, could be explained by rising and falling sea levels. They believed that mountains, hills and other features were as old as the Earth itself, and were changed on when water sloshed over them during periods of global flooding.
一方是水成論者，他們認為地球上的一切，包括在高處的海洋貝殼，都可以用海平面的上升和下降來解釋。他們相信高山、小丘和其他地貌和地球本身一樣古老，只有在洪水氾濫、大水淹沒它們時，才發生改變。
Opposing them were the Plutonists, who noted that volcanoes and earthquakes, among other enlivening agents, continually changed the face of the planet but clearly owed nothing to wayward seas. The Plutonists also raised awkward questions about where all the water went when it wasn't in flood.
與之相對的是火成論者。他們注意到火山、地震和其他充滿活力的動因在不斷改變著地球的面貌，顯然與海水上漲無關。火成論者還提出了讓水成論者尷尬的問題：不發洪水時水都去哪兒了？
If there was enough of it at times to cover the Alps, then where, pray, was it during times of tranquility, such as now? Their belief was that the Earth was subject to profound internal forces as well as surface ones. However, they couldn't convincingly explain how all those clam shells got up there.
如果有時水多到能淹沒阿爾卑斯山，那麼這些水在平靜期，比如現在，去哪兒了？他們相信地球除了遭受表面的力量，還有來自內部的強大力量。然而，他們無法圓滿地解釋蛤蜊殼是怎麼出現在山頂的。
It was while puzzling over these matters that Hutton had a series of exceptional insights. From looking at his own farmland, he could see that soil was created by the erosion of rocks and that particles of this soil were continually washed away and carried off by streams and rivers and redeposited elsewhere. He realized that if such a process were carried to its natural conclusion then the Earth would eventually be worn quite smooth. Yet everywhere around him there were hills.
正是在苦苦思索這些問題的過程中，赫頓有了一系列真知灼見。通過觀察自己的農場，他發現土壤是岩石風化形成的，這些土壤顆粒不斷受到沖刷，被小溪和河流帶到別處沉澱下來。他發現如果這種過程一直持續進行，地球最終會變得非常平坦，可他周圍到處都是山。
Clearly there had to be some additional process, some form of renewal and uplift, that created new hills and mountains to keep the cycle going. The marine fossils on mountain tops, he decided, had not been deposited during floods, but had risen along with the mountains themselves. He also deduced that it was heat within the Earth that created new rocks and continents and thrust up mountain chains.
顯然一定還有其他過程，用某種形式的更新和隆起造成了新的山，才能保持水土流失和山脈聳立的循環不斷進行。他認為山頂的海洋生物化石不是在洪水期間沉澱下來的，而是隨著山本身升上去的。他還推斷是地球內部的熱創造了新的岩石和陸地，推高形成山系。
It is not too much to say that geologists wouldn't grasp the full implications of this thought until 200 years later, when finally they adopted the concept of plate tectonics. Above all, what Hutton's theories suggested was that the processes that shaped the Earth required huge amounts of time, far more than anyone had ever dreamed. There were enough insights here to transform utterly our understanding of the planet.
要是說地質學家們直到200年後採取地質板塊構造學說時，才完全明白這一說法意味著什麼也不為過。最重要的，赫頓的理論表明形成地球的過程需要極其漫長的時間，比任何人想像的都要漫長得多。這裡面有好多深刻的見解，足以徹底改變我們對地球的認知。
詞彙與短語
1. camp，[kæmp]，n. 露營，營地；陣營。v. 露營；紮營。
At least Lynne is definitely in your camp. 至少琳恩肯定在你的陣營。
2. puzzle over something，動詞短語，對……苦苦思索。
The class puzzled over a poem by Shakespeare. 全班同學對莎士比亞的一首詩感到困惑不解。
3. particle，[ˈpɑːtɪkl]，n. 顆粒。
There's not a particle of truth in what he says. 他所說的一點也不真實。
4. stream，[striːm]，n. 溪流；流。
A stream of cold air rushed through the open door. 一股冷空氣從開著的門裡衝了進來。
5. deposit，[dɪˈpɒzɪt]，vi. 沉澱；存錢。n. 押金；存款。
As the river slows down, it deposits a layer of soil. 當河水流速減慢時，會沉積一層土壤。
A deposit of 10% is required. 需要10%的押金。
I'd like tomake a depositinto my savings account. 我想把錢存在我的儲蓄賬戶裡。
