Wonders of Nature You May Not Have Heard of

∷李殊 選編 經(jīng)緯 注

Life will inevitably turn dull and tedious once we lose the ability to wonder.1.inevitably： 不可避免地，無法逃避地；dull： 枯燥無味的，無趣的；tedious： 冗長乏味的，沉悶的。However, with such a load of beauty in the world, this scenario is, luckily, a no-go.2. 然而，幸運的是，世間美景之眾多，這種我們失去驚嘆能力的情況是不可能發(fā)生的。a load of： 許多，大量；scenario： 事態(tài)，局面；no-go： 不可能的，不可行的。Have a look at some of the lesser known natural wonders and let yourself be flooded with awe.3. be flooded with： 被……淹沒，被……充滿；awe：驚嘆，驚奇。

納米布－諾克盧福國家公園的沙漠因為含鐵量高，被氧化后形成氧化鐵，導(dǎo)致沙漠變成了紅色。紅沙漠最美麗的時刻是在日出與日落。

Deadvlei, Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia

納米布—諾克盧福國家公園的死亡谷

The Namib-Naukluft National Park is a national park of Namibia encompassing part of the Namib Desert (considered the world’s oldest desert) and the Naukluft mountain range.4. encompass： 包括，包含；mountain range： 山脈，山岳地帶。With an overall area of 49,768km2. 然而，幸運的是，世間美景之眾多，這種我們失去驚嘆能力的情況是不可能發(fā)生的。a load of： 許多，大量；scenario： 事態(tài)，局面；no-go： 不可能的，不可行的。, the Namib-Naukluft is the largest game park5. game park： 自然動物保護區(qū)，禁獵區(qū)。in Africa and the fourth largest in the world. The most well-known area of the park is Sossusvlei6. Sossusvlei： 蘇索斯維利鹽灘，是納米布-諾克盧福國家公園中最著名的景點，以其周邊的紅沙漠而聞名。, which is the main visitor attraction in Namibia.

A surprising collection of creatures survives in the hyper-arid7. hyper-arid： 不毛之地，超級荒蕪之地。region, including snakes, geckos (壁虎),unusual insects, hyenas (鬣狗), gemsboks (好望角大羚羊) and jackals (胡狼). More moisture comes in as a fog off the Atlantic Ocean then falls as rain, with the average 106 millimeters of rainfall per year concentrated in the months of February and April.8. 大西洋上的霧飄來，隨即形成降雨，給這里帶來了更多的水分。此處降雨集中在每年的2月到4月之間，年均降雨量為106毫米。moisture： 水分，降雨量；rainfall： 降雨量，降水量。

自然界孕育并創(chuàng)造了無數(shù)壯麗的奇觀，給我們驚喜，給我們震撼；也正是有了這些各式各樣的奇觀奇景，這個世界才如此之美。讓我們放下手中的工作，暫時逃離喧鬧的城市，與大自然來個“親密接觸”吧！

The winds that bring in the fog are also responsible for creating the park’s towering sand dunes, whose burnt orange color is a sign of their age.9. towering： 極高的，高聳的；sand dune： 沙丘；burnt： 焦褐色的，深褐色的。The orange color develops over time as iron in the sand is oxidized, like rusty metal; the older the dune, the brighter the color.10. 隨著沙中的鐵被氧化，橘紅的顏色會越變越深，就像生了銹的金屬；沙丘的年齡越大，顏色也就越亮。oxidize：使氧化，使生銹；rusty： 生銹的。

These dunes are the tallest in the world, in places rising more than 300 meters (almost 1,000 feet) above the desert floor. The dunes taper off11. taper off： 逐漸變細(xì)，逐漸變少。near the coast, and lagoons (咸水湖), wetlands (濕地), and mud flats (泥灘) located along the shore attract hundreds of thousands of birds.

The park has some of the most unusual wildlife and nature reserves12. reserve： 自然保護區(qū)。in the world.It’s an area larger than Switzerland (瑞士), roughly the size of the US states New Hampshire (新罕布什爾州) and Vermont(佛蒙特州) combined. The region is characterized by high, isolated inselbergs and kopjes (the Afrikaans term for rocky outcrops), made up of dramatic blood red granites, rich in feldspars and sandstone.13. inselberg： 島山，孤山；kopje： （南非的）小山；Afrikaans：南非荷蘭語的；outcrop： 露出地面的巖層；granite： 花崗巖，花崗石；feldspar： 長石，地殼中最重要的造巖成分，比例達到60%；sandstone： 砂巖，主要由砂粒膠結(jié)而成的。砂巖的顏色和成分有關(guān)，最常見的是棕色、紅色、灰色和白色。

大藍洞（Great Blue Hole），是全世界最大的水下洞穴。現(xiàn)今的大藍洞是一個聞名遐邇的潛水勝地。

Great Blue Hole, Lighthouse Reef, Belize

伯利茲燈塔礁的大藍洞

Around a quarter of a mile (400m) wide,480 feet (145 m) deep, and peeping from the Caribbean Sea like a giant eye, the mesmerizing Great Blue Hole is by far the most unusual dive site in the world.14. Caribbean Sea： 加勒比海；mesmerizing： 有魅力的，迷人的；dive site： 潛水地點，潛水勝地。Briskly shoals of fish, enormous turtles and reef sharks regularly keep scuba divers company.15. briskly： 活潑地，生機勃勃地；shoals of： 許多的；reef shark： 礁鯊；scuba diver： 帶水肺的潛水員，指潛水員自行攜帶水下呼吸系統(tǒng)所進行的潛水活動。After recommendation of such an experienced man as Cousteau16. Cousteau： 庫斯托，即雅克-伊夫·庫斯托（1910—1997），法國海軍軍官、探險家、及生態(tài)學(xué)家，亦是水肺的發(fā)明者之一。, Great Blue Hole turned into popular diving site. As there is no dry land of signi ficant size at Great Blue Hole, the diving trip here requires a full-day trip with local operators.

Divers though often don’t meet their expectations—while they expect to see countless weird sea organisms in such an extraordinary location, they see just incredibly large hole with occasional larger fish,including numerous sharks.17. 但潛水者們往往會感到失望——那是因為他們期望能夠在這個特別的地方看到不計其數(shù)的、奇形怪狀的海底生物，而實際上他們只會看到一個異常大的洞穴，偶爾游弋著一些體形較大的魚（包括數(shù)不清的鯊魚）。The true beauty here lies in this unique geological formation itself and the numerous riddles and answers about the past of Earth hidden here.18. geological formation： 地質(zhì)構(gòu)造；riddle： 謎，難解的問題。

Rather late here was created marine protected area and around this same time in 1996 Great Blue Hole was included in UNESCO World Heritage Site list as a part of“Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System”.19. marine protected area： 海洋保護區(qū)；UNESCO World Heritage Site：世界遺產(chǎn)，一項由聯(lián)合國支持、聯(lián)合國教科文組織（UNESCO）負(fù)責(zé)執(zhí)行的國際公約，以保存對全世界人類都具有杰出普遍性價值的自然或文化處所為目的。世界遺產(chǎn)分為自然遺產(chǎn)、文化遺產(chǎn)和復(fù)合遺產(chǎn)三大類；Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System： 伯利茲堡礁保護區(qū)，是世界上最發(fā)達的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)之一，擁有最重要及顯著的多元性生物自然生態(tài)棲息地。

The hypnotizing sand heaps of Erg Chebbi, near a small village of Merzouga,altogether span an area of 22 kilometers and host a number of activities for adventure seeking travelers.20. hypnotizing： 令人著迷的；sand heap： 沙丘，沙堆；span： 跨越；host： 主辦（宴會或活動等）。Take a walk along the ridge, traverse the orange sands on a camel’s back, slide down the 150 m high dunes, spend the night by the camp fire and let the morning greet you with the magic of a sunrise.21. ridge： 脊，隆起；traverse：橫過，橫越；slide： 滑，滑行。

Erg Chebbi is one of Morocco’s two Saharanergs—large dunes formed by wind-blown sand. The other is Erg Chigaga (希嘎丘) near M’hamid (麥哈米德).

The dunes of Erg Chebbi reach a height of up to 150 meters and altogether spans an area of 22 kilometers from north to south and up to 5-10 kilometers from east to west.

Merzouga, the local tourist center, is located near the edge of the dunes. A number of companies offer camel trips from Merzouga and into the desert, taking tourists on overnight trips several kilometers into Erg Chebbi.

During the warmest part of the year, Moroccans come to Erg Chebbi to be buried neck-deep in the hot sand for a few minutes at a time. This is considered to be a treatment for rheumatism22. rheumatism： 風(fēng)濕病。.

Perito Moreno Glacier, Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina

阿根廷冰川國家公園的莫雷諾冰川

Patagonia is frequently mentioned among the world’s most magical spots and watching the breathtaking ice theater of Los Glaciares National Park, one can hardly wonder why.23. Patagonia： 巴塔哥尼亞，一般是指南美洲安第斯山脈以東，科羅拉多河以南（或以南緯40度為界）的地區(qū)，主要位在阿根廷境內(nèi)，小部分則屬于智利；ice theater：冰上芭蕾。With a 5 km long front line and a height of over 70 meters above the level of the water, Perito Moreno allows for a unique trekking24. trekking： 徒步旅行。experience. Besides that, numerous wooden walkways give a clear overhead view of the bluish ice masses advancing over Lago Argentino.25. walkway： 通道，人行道；overhead view： 俯視，鳥瞰景觀；ice mass：大塊的浮冰；Lago Argentino： 阿根廷湖，位于冰川國家公園內(nèi)，是阿根廷境內(nèi)面積最大的淡水湖。

Due to its size and accessibility26. accessibility： 易于接近或得到。, Perito Moreno is one of the major tourist attractions in southern Patagonia. It is less than two hours by bus from El Calafate (埃爾卡拉法特鎮(zhèn)), and many tour companies run daily visits. A large visitor centre at the site features a walking circuit which allows visitors to view the southern flank and the east facing edge of the glacier.27. circuit： 環(huán)道，環(huán)形； flank： 側(cè)面，側(cè)翼。