英文书摘精选 How The Mississippi Changes Its Course密西西比河如何改道?
时间：2018-12-28 作者：英语课 分类：初学者听力文摘精选
Did you ever hear the saying, “it’s easier to get the Mississippi to change its course than get a stubborn child to change his mind”? I guess whoever made this one up didn’t know that the Mississippi actually does change its course about every thousand years or so.
你是否听说过这句谚语：“让密西西比河改道比让固执的小孩改主意更容易。”我猜编出这句谚语的人不知道密西西比河的确每隔一千年左右就会改一次道。
How could a river change its course? Actually, the whole process is due to silt 1. Every year, erosion from farm fields and building projects washes millions of tons of soil into streams and rivers. When these tributary 2 streams and rivers empty into the Mississippi, the floating soil particles are carried along in the fast-moving water from the heart of the continent towards the delta 3, where the river meets the sea.
河流怎么会改道呢？实际上，改道的全过程都是淤泥在起作用。每年，农田和建筑工程由于侵蚀作用而将大量泥土冲入溪流和河水之中。当这些支流的小溪和河流注 入密西西比河时，漂浮在其上的土壤颗粒也随着快速流动的河水顺流而下，从大陆中心流向三角洲地区——也就是河流汇入大海的地方。
At the delta, the main channel of the river forks into many smaller channels. The water in the main channel slows down, and the floating soil settles to the bottom. Over time, this sediment 4 builds up, and the main channel becomes shallower and shallower until it finally overflows 5 and forms a new river, leaving the old channel to become a swamp.
在三角洲地区，密西西比河的主河道分叉，分出许多小河道。主河道的河水流速变缓，悬浮的土壤颗粒沉入河底。久而久之，这些沉积物将河底抬高，主河道变得越来越浅，最终导致河水漫过河道形成一条新的河流，而旧河道则成为沼泽。
Over the past eight thousand years, the Mississippi’s main channel has become clogged 6 up and changed course at least seven times. Under natural conditions the city of New Orleans should now be underwater, but this has been prevented by the Army Corps 7 of Engineering’s spending millions of dollars to prevent the Mississippi from changing course.
在过去的八千年里，密西西比河的主河道至少阻塞并改道了七次。在自然状态下，现在的新奥尔良市应该已经身居河底了，但是美国陆军工程花费了上百万美元阻止了密西西比河再次改道。
So maybe the saying is wrong. Maybe stopping the Mississippi from changing its course is the really hard thing to do.
所以，也许谚语是错误的。阻止密西西比河改道才是件困难的事情。
- The lake was almost solid with silt and vegetation.湖里几乎快被淤泥和植物填满了。
- During the annual floods the river deposits its silt on the fields.每年河水泛滥时都会在田野上沉积一层淤泥。
- There was a tributary road near the end of the village.村的尽头有条岔道。
- As the largest tributary of Jinsha river,Yalong river is abundant in hydropower resources.雅砻江是金沙江的最大支流，水力资源十分丰富。
- He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
- The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。
- The sediment settled and the water was clear.杂质沉淀后，水变清了。
- Sediment begins to choke the channel's opening.沉积物开始淤塞河道口。
- He always fills his glass till it overflows. 他总是把杯子斟得很满。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- A distributary overflows its banks. 分流水溢出河岸。 来自辞典例句