很多小伙伴都想读英文原著学英语，可每次看两页就放弃。为了帮助大家从阅读中找到乐趣，晓梅老师就带大家一起读英文原著，
今天读第5章关于地质学家詹姆斯•赫顿 (James Hutton) 的片段。赫顿是苏格兰地质学家、医生、博物学家、化学家、实验农场主，他的理论为现代地质学的发展奠定了基础，因而常被称为“现代地质学之父”。
赫顿的真知灼见
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.
在那个好奇心盛行的年代，人们对很多问题都产生了兴趣，其中有个问题困扰了大家很长时间：山顶上为什么经常发现古代的蛤蜊壳和其他海洋生物化石。它们到底是怎么到那儿的？认为自己已经找到答案的人们分成了两个对立的阵营。
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.
一方是水成论者，他们认为地球上的一切，包括在高处的海洋贝壳，都可以用海平面的上升和下降来解释。他们相信高山、小丘和其他地貌和地球本身一样古老，只有在洪水泛滥、大水淹没它们时，才发生改变。
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.
与之相对的是火成论者。他们注意到火山、地震和其他充满活力的动因在不断改变着地球的面貌，显然与海水上涨无关。火成论者还提出了让水成论者尴尬的问题：不发洪水时水都去哪儿了？
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.
如果有时水多到能淹没阿尔卑斯山，那么这些水在平静期，比如现在，去哪儿了？他们相信地球除了遭受表面的力量，还有来自内部的强大力量。然而，他们无法圆满地解释蛤蜊壳是怎么出现在山顶的。
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.
正是在苦苦思索这些问题的过程中，赫顿有了一系列真知灼见。通过观察自己的农场，他发现土壤是岩石风化形成的，这些土壤颗粒不断受到冲刷，被小溪和河流带到别处沉淀下来。他发现如果这种过程一直持续进行，地球最终会变得非常平坦，可他周围到处都是山。
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.
显然一定还有其他过程，用某种形式的更新和隆起造成了新的山，才能保持水土流失和山脉耸立的循环不断进行。他认为山顶的海洋生物化石不是在洪水期间沉淀下来的，而是随着山本身升上去的。他还推断是地球内部的热创造了新的岩石和陆地，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.
要是说地质学家们直到200年后采取地质板块构造学说时，才完全明白这一说法意味着什么也不为过。最重要的，赫顿的理论表明形成地球的过程需要极其漫长的时间，比任何人想像的都要漫长得多。这里面有好多深刻的见解，足以彻底改变我们对地球的认知。
词汇与短语
1. camp，[kæmp]，n. 露营，营地；阵营。v. 露营；扎营。
At least Lynne is definitely in your camp. 至少琳恩肯定在你的阵营。
2. puzzle over something，动词短语，对……苦苦思索。
The class puzzled over
3. particle，[ˈpɑːtɪkl]，n. 颗粒。
There's not a particle of truth in what he says. 他所说的一点也不真实。
4. stream，[striːm]，n. 溪流；流。
A stream of cold air rushed through the open door. 一股冷空气从开着的门里冲了进来。
5. deposit，[dɪˈpɒzɪt]，vi. 沉淀；存钱。n. 押金；存款。
As the river slows down, it deposits a layer of soil. 当河水流速减慢时，会沉积一层土壤。
A deposit of 10% is required. 需要10%的押金。
I'd like tomake a depositinto my savings account. 我想把钱存在我的储蓄账户里。