新概念英语第四册句库 42.docVIP

An earthquake comes like a thief in the night,without warning. 地震就像夜间的小偷，不打招呼就来了。 It was necessary,therefore,to invent instruments that neither slumbered nor slept. 因此，有必要发明一种仪器，既不打盹，也不睡觉。 Some devices were quite simple. 有些装置非常简单。 one,for instance,consisted of rods of various lengths and thicknesses which would stand up on end like ninepins. 例如，有一种装置是有一些长短，粗细不同的木棒组成，就像九柱戏的木棒一样竖立着， when a shock came it shook the rigid table upon which these stood. 一旦有地震，就会震动竖立在坚硬的桌子上的木棒。 If it were gentle,only the more unstable rods fell. 如果地震轻微，只有不稳定的木棒倒下； If it were severe,they all fell. 如果地震剧烈，所有的木棒都会倒下。 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. 由于地震太弱而未惊醒科学家时，木棒倒下的多少和倒下的方向就为科学家记录下了地震的强度和地震方向。 But instruments far more delicate than that were needed if any really serious advance was to be made. 但是，如果要取得真正重大的进展，需要有比这种装置精细得多的仪器。 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. 理想的目标是设计出这样一种仪器：当地震发生时，它能用笔在纸上记录下大地和桌子的运动情况。 While I write my pen moves,but the paper keeps still. 我写字时，笔是移动的，纸是静止的。 With practice,no doubt,I could in time learn to write by holding the still while the paper moved. 毫无疑问，经过练习，我最终能够学会笔不动而纸动来写字。 That sounds a silly suggestion,but that was precisely the idea adopted in some of the early instruments (seismometers) for recording earthquake waves. 这听起来似乎是一种愚蠢的想法，但是早期记录地震波的仪器（测震仪）正是采用了这种思路。 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. 可是，当桌子，夹笔装置，纸都在移动时，怎么能书写得清楚呢？可以从我们的日常生活观察中找到这个问题的答案。 Why does a person standing in a bus or train tend to fall when a sudden start is made? 一个人站在公共汽车或火车上，当车突然开动时，他为什么会倾倒呢？ It is because his feet move on,but his head stays still. 这是因为他的脚动了，而他的头保持着静止。 A simple experiment