--- url: https://gaojian.site/new-concept/book-4/42-recording-an-earthquake.md description: 新概念英语第四册：Recording an Earthquake。精读、词块回忆、双向译练、句法、逻辑与FSRS复习。 --- # 记录地震 ## 课文学习台 {#study} ### 第1段 An earthquake comes like a thief in the night, without warning. It was necessary, therefore, to invent instruments that neither slumbered nor slept. Some devices were quite simple. One, for instance, consisted of rods of various lengths and thicknesses which would stand up on end like ninepins. When a shock came, it shook the rigid table upon which these stood. If it were gentle, only the more unstable rods fell. If it were severe, they all fell. Thus the rods, by falling, and by the direction in which they fell, recorded for the slumbering scientist the strength of a shock that was too weak to waken him, and the direction from which it came. 中文理解：地震发生时，如同晚上来访的小偷，不会提前告知。因此，有必要发明一种仪器，既不打盹儿，也不睡觉。有些装置非常简单。例如，有一种装置是由一些不同长短和粗细的木棍组成，就像保龄球的九个木瓶一样竖立着。一旦地震发生，竖立着木头的硬桌子便会受到震动。 震动轻微时，只有不太稳的木棍会倒；如果震动剧烈，全都会倒。 于是，木棍的倾倒方向和数量，便可为无法震醒科学家的微弱地震做个记录了，包括强度和方向。 * **therefore**：因此；结果；结果必须由前文支撑；它不是让论述显得高级的装饰词。 * **neither**：不仅 / 两者都不 / 是否；找齐成对结构的两端；不是看见 not only 就一律倒装。 * **for instance**：例如；例子要证明前面的判断；可换内容，不必换这个常用表达。 #### 1. An earthquake comes… 简单句，主谓结构. #### 2. It was necessary to invent that… 复合句，主句为主系表结构，不定式to invent 结构作真正的主语，that 引导的定语从句修饰instrument，为主谓结构. #### 3. devices were simple. 简单句，主系表结构. #### 4. One consisted of rods…which… 复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，which 引导的定语从句修饰rods，主谓结构. 本句中的ninepins 即九瓶制保龄球，九柱戏是词典里面查到的解释，属于保龄球的前身，主要是木制的瓶子和木制的球. #### 5. When it shook the rigid table upon which… 复合句，主句主谓宾结构，前有一个when 引导的时间状语从句，后面是upon which 引导的定语从句，均为主谓（宾）结构. #### 6. If…rods fell. 复合句，主句主谓结构，if 引导的条件状语从句为主系表结构. #### 7. If…they fell. 复合句，主句主谓结构，if 引导的条件状语从句为主系表结构. 跟上句结构相同. #### 8. the rods recorded the strength of a shock and the direction… 复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，中间有一些定语从句予以修饰. in which 引导的定语从句修饰第一个direction，主谓宾结构；that 引导的定语从句修饰strength，主系表结构；from which 引导的定语从句修饰direction，主谓宾结构. ### 第2段 But instruments far more delicate than that were needed if any really serious advance was to be made. The ideal to be aimed at was to devise an instrument that could record with a pen on paper, the movements of the ground or of the table as the quake passed by. While I write my pen moves, but the paper keeps still. With practice, no doubt, I could in time learn to write by holding the pen still while the paper moved. That sounds a silly suggestion, but that was precisely the idea adopted in some of the early instruments seismometers for recording earthquake waves. But when table, penholder and paper are all moving, how is it possible to write legibly? The key to a solution of that problem lay in an everyday observation. Why does a person standing in a bus or train tend to fall when a sudden start is made? It is because his feet move on, but his head stays still. A simple experiment will help us a little further. Tie a heavy weight at the end of a long piece of string. With the hand held high in the air, hold the string so that the weight nearly touches the ground. Now move the hand to and fro and around but not up and down. It will be found that the weight moves but slightly or not at all. Imagine a pen attached to the weight in such a way that its point rests upon a piece of paper on the floor. Imagine an earthquake shock shaking the floor, the paper, you and your hand. In the midst of all this movement, the weight and the pen would be still. But as the paper moved from side to side under the pen point, its movement would be recorded in ink upon its surface. It was upon this principle that the first instruments were made, but the paper was wrapped round a drum which rotated slowly. As long as all was still, the pen drew a straight line, but while the drum was being shaken, the line that the pen was drawing wriggled from side to side. The apparatus thus described, however, records only the horizontal component of the wave movement, which is, in fact, much more complicated. If we could actually see the path described by a particle, such as a sand grain in the rock, it would be more like that of a bluebottle buzzing round the room; it would be up and down, to and fro and from side to side. Instruments have been devised and can be so placed that all three elements can be recorded in different graphs. 中文理解：但是，如果要取得实质的进展，则需要更为精密的仪器。 理想的目标是设计出一种仪器，能在地震发生时，用笔在纸上记录地面或桌子的运动。我写字时，笔动，纸不动。毫无疑问，经过练习，我最终能够学会笔不动而纸动来写字。这想法听起来有点愚蠢，但是早期记录地震波的仪器（测震仪）正是采用了这种思路。可是，当桌子、夹笔装置和纸都在移动时，怎么才能写得清楚呢？这个问题的答案就藏在每天都能观察到的现象之中。站在公共汽车或火车上的人，当车突然启动时，为什么会站不稳呢？这是因为这人的脚跟着车动了，而头没跟着动。一个简单的试验可以帮助我们理解得更为深入。把一个重物拴在一根长绳的一端，把手举高在空中握住绳子，让重物几乎接触着地面。然后把手前、后、左、右，以及旋转摆动，但不要上、下摆动。结果会发现，重物哪怕动了，但动的幅度很小，甚至没动。试想把一支笔拴在重物上，笔尖轻触在地面的一张纸上。 试想地震了，地板、纸、你和你的手都会动， 重物和笔却不动。由于纸在笔下来回运动，纸的表面就会以墨水记录下地板运动的情况。正是根据这一原理，制造出了最初的地震仪器，但是纸是卷在慢慢旋转的圆筒上的。 只要一切都是静止的，笔只会留下一条直线；但是，圆筒受到震动，笔所画出的线就会左右摆动。然而，这里所说的仪器记录下来的只是地震波运动中的水平部分，地震波的实际运动比这要复杂得多。假如我们真能看到粒子的运动轨迹，比如岩石中一个沙粒，就像一只嗡嗡叫的苍蝇在屋内飞行的轨迹，呈现出上上下下、来来回回、左左右右三种性质的运动。仪器被设计出来，并按照一定的方式摆放，这三种运动的曲线图就能被记录下来。 * **at the end of**：发信号或消息 / 在……结束时 / 日夜；at the end of 明确某个末尾；in the end 总结最终结果。 * **so that**：以便或以致 / 尽管 / 即使 / 仿佛；先判断两部分的关系；even though 说已知情况，even if 常说假设。 * **up and down**：来回 / 到处 / 尽一切努力；根据语境看是空间移动，还是为目标付出的努力。 #### 1. instruments were needed if… 复合句，主句主谓结构，后面跟一个if 引导的条件状语从句. #### 2. The ideal was to devise an instrument that…as… 复合句，主句为主系表结构，不定式to devise 结构作表语，后面that 引导的定语从句修饰instrument，为主谓宾结构，该定语从句中包含一个as 引导的时间状语从句，主谓结构. #### 3. While…my pen moves, but the paper keeps still. 并列复合句，以but 相连，前句为复合句，while 引导的时间状语从句为主谓结构，主句亦为主谓结构；but 后句为简单句，主系表结构. #### 4. I could learn to write…while… 复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，后面while 引导的时间状语从句为主谓结构. #### 5. That sounds a silly suggestion, but that was the idea… 并列句，以but 相连，均为主系表结构. #### 6. when…is it possible to write legibly? 复合句，主句为疑问句，还原为it is possible to write legibly，主系表结构，to write 为真正的主语，it 只是形式主语. 句首when 引导的时间状语从句为主谓结构. #### 7. The key lay in an everyday observation. 简单句，主谓宾结构. #### 8. does a person tend to fall when… 复合句，主句为疑问句，也是主谓宾的部分倒装，when 引导的时间状语从句为主谓结构. #### 9. It is because… 复合句，主系+表语从句结构，表语从句为并列句，前句为主谓结构，后句为主系表结构，stays 后接表语. #### 10. experiment will help us… 简单句，主谓宾结构. #### 11. Tie a heavy weight. 简单句，祈使句，省略了主语，只有谓语和宾语. #### 12. hold the string so that… 复合句，主句为祈使句，省略了主语，后面是so that 结构引导的结果状语从句，主谓宾结构. #### 13. move the hand… 简单句，祈使句. #### 14. It will be found that… 复合句，主句主谓+宾语从句结构，that 引导的宾语从句为主谓宾结构. #### 15. Imagine a pen… 复合句，主句无主句，后面过去分词短语attached 作imagine 的宾语补足语. \[本版有所修改] 后面that 引导的定语从句为主谓结构. 最后on the floor 是介词短语作后置定语修饰paper，如果是修饰the point，才作地点状语. 语文知识也要不断学习，本句一支笔在2002年以前的现代汉语词典中，还应该写成“一枝笔”，后来2005年版词典调整了义项，写“一支笔”是正确的. 同时，新华字典中“一枝铅笔”的例子仍然保留，故两种写法均正确. #### 16. Imagine an earthquake shock… 简单句，无主句，后面分词短语shaking…作imagine 的宾语补足语. \[本版有所修改] #### 17. the weight and the pen would be still. 简单句，主系表结构. #### 18. as…its movement would be recorded. 复合句，主句为主谓结构，as 引导时间状语从句，也为主谓结构. #### 19. It was upon this principle that…but the paper was wrapped…which… 并列复合句，两句以but 连接，前句 It was upon this principle that…为强调句，聚焦于 upon this principle，可还原为 the first instruments were made upon this principle；it 不是代替后置主语从句的形式主语；后句为主谓结构，which 引导的定语从句修饰drum，主谓结构. #### 20. As long as…the pen drew a line, but while…the line that wriggled… 并列复合句，两句以but 连接，前句主句为主谓宾结构，前有一个as long as 引导的条件状语从句，为主系表结构. but 后句主句为主谓结构，以while 引导的时间状语从句开头，主谓结构，又有一个that 引导的定语从句为主谓结构予以修饰line. \[1] 新华字典：双色本. 第12版. 商务印书馆. 2020. P633. #### 21. The apparatus records only the horizontal component…which… 复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，有一个which 引导的定语从句为主系表结构. #### 22. If…it would be more like that of a bluebottle; it would be… 并列复合句，以分号分为前后两句，前句有if 引导的条件状语从句，为主系表结构，主句也是主系表结构. 分号后面为简单句，主系表结构. #### 23. Instruments have been devised and can be placed that… 复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，后面跟so that 引导的结果状语从句，为主谓结构. 本段看上去特别长，但在实际文献阅读中，这种长度很普遍. ### 第3段 When the instrument is situated at more than 700 miles from the earthquake centre, the graphic record shows three waves arriving one after the other at short intervals. The first records the arrival of longitudinal vibrations. The second marks the arrival of transverse vibrations which travel more slowly and arrive several minutes after the first. These two have travelled through the earth. It was from the study of these that so much was learnt about the interior of the earth. The third, or main wave, is the slowest and has travelled round the earth through the surface rocks. 中文理解：震源如果距离地震仪700多英里以外，地震仪所录得的地震曲线便会显示出前后间隔很短的三种地震波。纵波的到达首先被记录了下来；横波也紧随其后被记录下来，横波传播较慢，比纵波晚几分钟到达。这两种波都是从地球内部穿越传来的。正是对这两种波的研究，我们得以对地球内部大为了解。第三种波，即主波，最慢，靠围绕地球表层的岩石来传播。 #### 1. Record shows three waves. 复合句，主句为主谓结构，record 在这里是名词，When 引导的时间状语从句中为主谓结构. 英式英语习惯于写“centre”，美式写“center”. #### 2. The first records the arrival... 简单句，主谓宾结构，the first 是主语，指记录中第一组波形，对应纵向振动（纵波）的到达；records 是“记录、显示”之意，不能解释成纵波去记录自身的到达. 后面的records 是谓语动词，不是宾语， record 作名词和作动词的读音不同，需要留意. 这里的record 与下句的mark 是同一个 意思的多样化表达. #### 3. The second marks the arrival... which… 复合句，主谓宾结构含有一个which 引导的定语从句，the second 的用法与上句一样省略了wave 一词. Which 修饰的是transverse vibrations，带2个谓语travel 和arrive，由and 并列相连. #### 4. These two have travelled… 简单句，主谓结构，后面是方式状语. 原书的译文“穿过地球而来”值得商榷，因为只有在宇宙中，才能穿过整个地球. 从后句看，是从地球内部传出来的，方能得以对地球内部一探究竟. #### 5. It was…that… 简单句， it is…that 强调句结构. #### 6. The third is the slowest and has travelled… 并列句，以and 连接，前句为主系表结构，后句为主谓结构. 前两种波，纵波是P 波，横波是S 波，均为体波；最后到达的为面波，利用传播的时间差，可以提前一小段时间发出预警. ## 学完这一课 选一个可以讨论的判断，说明依据，再加上一句限制或不同情况。 [Nce · 本册复习台](/new-concept/book-4/review) · [三册选择地图](/new-concept/) *译文与解析据吴应时整理资料及本站首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第184—190页，2022年2月第2版。*