Wild Europe - Genesis 肇始之初- 3
时间：2018-12-07 作者：英语课 分类：欧洲自然写真
In the east, another ancient range, the Urals, separates Europe from Asia. Both these ranges are evidence of Europe's earliest formation, the results of processes that began half a billion years ago. Back then, Europe was still in pieces. Scandinavia was in the southern oceans, England and the Low Countries were near the Antarctic Circle, and most of the rest sat near the South Pole. All of these isolated 1 fragments of crust were on the move.
Continental 2 plates are dragged along by powerful flows of molten rock deep in the earth's mantle 3, some 80 kilometers underground. They only move a few centimeters every year, but over millions of years these centimeters add up.
Like a giant jigsaw 4 puzzle, Europe was gradually assembled piece by piece. Each impact created enormous crumple 5 zones. Rock was bent 6 and buckled as if caught between the jaws 8 of a vice 9, and forced up into great mountain chains along the join.
They created Europe's backbone 10, which in scale once rivalled the Himalayas. The formation of these ancient mountains was the first act of European union. Since then, Europe has traveled halfway 11 across the globe. 300 million years ago, it was straddling the equator.
In this warm, wet climate, the foothills of Europe's oldest mountain ranges now became the cradle of the world's first forests. Paris would have been smothered 12 in lush tropical rainforest which stretched east across the entire continent.
~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。~。
words and expressions
the Urals :乌拉尔山脉
be on the move:to be travelling在活动中
buckle:to bend or become bent, often as a result of force, heat or weakness扣住, 变弯曲
vice:a tool with two parts which can be moved together by tightening a screw so that an object can be held firmly between them while it is being worked on老虎钳
straddle:to sit or stand with your legs on either side of something偏落于…旁
- His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
- Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。
- A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
- The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。
- The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
- The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。
- A jigsaw puzzle can keep me absorbed for hours.一副拼图就能让我沉醉几个小时。
- Tom likes to work on jigsaw puzzles,too.汤姆也喜欢玩拼图游戏。
- Take care not to crumple your dress by packing it carelessly.当心不要因收放粗心压纵你的衣服。
- The wall was likely to crumple up at any time.墙随时可能坍掉。
- He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
- We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
- She buckled her belt. 她扣上了腰带。
- The accident buckled the wheel of my bicycle. 我自行车的轮子在事故中弄弯了。
- The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
- The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。
- He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
- They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
- The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
- The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。