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Rives_2012S-_重新发明“百科全书游戏”_
So, last month, the Encyclopaedia Britannica announced that it is going out of print after 244 years, which made me nostalgic , because I remember playing a game with the colossal encyclopedia set in my hometown library back when I was a kid, maybe 12 years old. 上个月,大英百科全书宣布, 在墨印了244年后, 它即将停止继续印刷。 这让我变得很怀旧, 因为我想起了一个我小时候在我家乡的 图书馆中用一本巨大的百科全书所玩的游戏, 那时我大概12岁左右吧。
Encyclopaedia:n.百科全书; out of print:绝版的;已绝版;已售完; nostalgic:adj.怀旧的;乡愁的; colossal:adj.巨大的;异常的,非常的; encyclopedia:n.百科全书(亦是encyclopaedia);
And I wondered if I could update that game, not just for modern methods, but for the modern me. 而我想我是否可以将那个游戏升级, 不仅用现代化了的方式, 也是为了今天的我。
update:vt.使现代化;更新;n.现代化;更新的信息;
So I tried. 所以我尝试了。
I went to an online encyclopedia, 我上了一个在线百科全书,
Wikipedia , and I entered the term "Earth." 维基百科,然后输入了“地球”。
Wikipedia:维基百科;
You can start anywhere, this time I chose Earth. 你可以从任何地方开始,这次我选了地球。
And the first rule of the game is pretty simple. 游戏的第一个规则很简单。
You just have to read the article until you find something you don't know, and preferably something your dad doesn't even know. 你只需要阅读这篇文章, 直到你找到一个你不知道的东西, 最好是连你父亲都不知道的东西。
preferably:adv.较好;宁可,宁愿;更适宜;
And in this case, I quickly found this: 而这次,我很快的找到了这个:
The furthest point from the center of the Earth is not the tip of Mount Everest , like I might have thought, it's the tip of this mountain: Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador . 离地球中心最远的点 并不是珠穆朗玛峰的顶端,像我想的那样, 而是这个山脉的顶端: 厄瓜多尔的钦博拉索山。
furthest:v.最远地; adj.最远的; tip:n.小窍门,小费;v.给…小费;使倾斜; Mount:n.山;坐骑;山峰;衬纸板;v.登上;爬上;攀登;准备; Everest:n.珠穆朗玛峰(世界最高峰); Ecuador:n.厄瓜多尔(位于拉丁美洲);
The Earth spins , of course, as it travels around the sun, so the Earth bulges a little bit around the middle, like some Earthlings . 地球会自转,同时也在绕着太阳公转, 所以地球的中线部分有些突出, 像一些的地球人一样。
spins:n.[物]旋转; v.[物]旋转(spin的三单形式); bulges:n.凸起;膨胀(bulge的复数);v.凸出;膨胀(bulge的第三人称单数形式); Earthlings:n.世人,俗人;凡人(earthling的复数形式);
And even though Mount Chimborazo isn't the tallest mountain in the Andes , it's one degree away from the equator, it's riding that bulge, and so the summit of Chimborazo is the farthest point on Earth from the center of the Earth. 而虽然钦博拉索山不是安第斯山脉最高的山峰, 它离赤道只有一个度的差距, 它就在那突出的上方,所以钦博拉索山的巅峰 是地球上离地球中心最远的地方。
Andes:n.安第斯山脉; summit:n.峰会;山顶;顶点;最高点;
And it is really fun to say. 它的名字读起来也很有意思。
So I immediately decided, this is going to be the name of the game, or my new exclamation . 所以我立刻就决定了, 它将是我的游戏的名字, 或者我新的惊叹词。
exclamation:n.感叹;惊叫;惊叹词;
You can use it at TED. 你也可以在TED这里使用。
Chimborazo, right? 钦博拉索,是吧？
It's like " eureka " and " bingo " had a baby. 它就像“尤里卡（找到了）”和“宾果（中了）”的孩子。
eureka:int.有了！;找到了！; bingo:int.答对了;n.宾戈游戏;
I didn't know that; that's pretty cool. 这我之前不知道, 而它也挺有意思的。
Chimborazo! 钦博拉索！
So the next rule of the game is also pretty simple. 而游戏的下一个规则同样简单。
You just have to find another term and look that up. 你只需要找到下一个词汇,然后搜索它。
Now in the old days, that meant getting out a volume and browsing through it alphabetically , maybe getting sidetracked , that was fun. 在以前,这意味着拿出一本书 然后按字母顺序搜索。 中间你可能会被其他的吸引, 而它很好玩。
volume:n.体积;容积;音量;响度;一册;合订本 browsing:v.随便看看;浏览;翻阅;浏览信息;(browse的现在分词) alphabetically:adv.照字母顺序排列地; sidetracked:v.使转变话题;使转移目标;(sidetrack的过去式和过去分词)
Nowadays there are hundreds of links to choose from. 现在你有上百个链接可以选择。
I can go literally anywhere in the world, 我可以去世界上的任何地方,
literally:adv.按字面:字面上:确实地:
I think since I was already in Ecuador, 我想,既然我已经在了厄瓜多尔,
I just decided to click on the word " tropical ." 我决定选择“热带”这个词汇。
tropical:adj.热带的;热情的;酷热的;
That took me to this wet and warm band of the tropics that encircles the Earth. 它将我带到了围绕着地球的一个潮湿并 温暖的热带雨林中。
band:n.带;波段;频带;箍;v.加彩条(或嵌条等);(将价格、收入等)划分档次; tropics:n.热带地区; encircles:vt.包围;围绕;环绕;
Now that's the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the south, that much I knew, but I was surprised to learn this little fact: 那是北面的北回归线 以及南面的南回归线, 这些是我知道的。 但我很惊讶的学到了这一小个事实:
Cancer:n.癌症;恶性肿瘤;
Those are not cartographers' lines, like latitude or the borders between nations, they are astronomical phenomena caused by the Earth's tilt , and they change. 这些不是制图者的线, 像纬度或国家的边界, 它们代表着地球倾斜造成的天文现象, 而它们一直在改变。
latitude:n.纬度;界限;活动范围; astronomical:adj.天文的,天文学的;极大的; phenomena:n.现象(phenomenon的复数); tilt:vi.倾斜;翘起;以言词或文字抨击;vt.使倾斜;使翘起;n.倾斜;
They move; they go up, they go down. 它们会动;有时上,有时下。
In fact, for years, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn have been steadily drifting towards the equator at the rate of about 15 meters per year, and nobody told me that. 事实上,在很长的时间中,北回归线和南回归线 在稳定的以每年15米的速度 朝着赤道移动。 而没人告诉过我这点。
steadily:adv.稳定地;稳固地;有规则地; drifting:v.漂流;漂移;缓慢行走;顺其自然地做;(drift的现在分词) at the rate of:按…之速度;按...比率;
I didn't know it. 我之前并不知道。
Chimborazo! 钦博拉索！
So to keep the game going, I just have to find another term and look that one up. 为了让游戏继续,我只需要再找一个词来搜索。
Since I'm already in the tropics, I chose "Tropical rainforest ." 既然我已经在热带区域了,我选择了“热带雨林”。
rainforest:n.(热带)雨林;
Famous for its diversity , human diversity. 它因为它的人类的多样化而闻名。
diversity:n.差异(性):多样性:多样化:
There are still dozens and dozens of uncontacted tribes living on this planet. 在这个星球上仍然有着很多没有接触过的人类部落,
They're all over the globe, but virtually all of them live in tropical rainforests . 他们散步在全球各地,但基本上所有都住在热带雨林中。
virtually:adv.事实上,几乎;实质上; rainforests:n.(热带)雨林;
This is the only place you can go nowadays and not get "friended." 这是地球上唯一一个你不会被在脸书上加为好友的地方。
The link that I clicked on here was exotic in the beginning and then absolutely mysterious at the very end. 我点的这个链接在开头时很奇异,而在后面变的越来越神秘。
exotic:adj.异国的;外来的;异国情调的; absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地; mysterious:adj.神秘的;不可思议的;难解的;
It mentioned leopards and ring-tailed coatis and poison dart frogs and boa constrictors and then coleoptera , which turn out to be beetles . 它提到了豹子和环尾长鼻浣熊和毒箭娃和蟒蛇以及 甲虫类, 也就是甲虫。
leopards:豹(leopard的复数); ring-tailed:尾部有环纹的; coatis:n.长鼻浣熊(产于中南美洲); dart:vt.投掷,投射; vi.向前冲,飞奔; n.飞镖,标枪; constrictors:n.大蟒;括约肌;使压缩之物; coleoptera:n.鞘翅目;甲虫类; beetles:n.甲虫;v.快速移动;(beetle的第三人称单数和复数)
Now I clicked on this on purpose , but if I'd somehow gotten here by mistake , it does remind me, for the band, see "The Beatles ," 我是有意的点了这个的, 但假如我因为某种原因搞错了, 它会提醒我,如果找到的乐队,看“甲壳虫乐队”,
on purpose:有目的地,故意地; somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地; by mistake:错误地;由于差错; remind:v.提醒;使想起; Beatles:n.披头士合唱(摇滚乐队);
for the car see "Volkswagon Beetle," 找的是车,那看“大众甲壳虫”,
but I am here for beetle beetles. 但我是来看真的甲虫的。
This is the most successful order on the planet by far. 它是地球上最成功的物种。
Something between 20 and 25 percent of all life forms on the planet, including plants, are beetles. 地球上所有的生命中,包括植物在内,有 百分之二十到二十五都是甲壳虫。
That means the next time you are in the grocery store, take a look at the four people ahead of you in line. 这意味着,下一次你在杂货店的时候, 看看你队伍前方的四个人。
grocery:n.食品杂货店;食品杂货; take a look at:看一看;检查;
Statistically , one of you is a beetle. 统计上来说,你们其中有一个是甲壳虫。
Statistically:adv.统计地;统计学上;
And if it is you, you are astonishingly well adapted . 而如果这是你,你适应得非常好。
astonishingly:adv.令人惊讶地; adapted:adj.适于…的; v.使适应,使适合; (adapt的过去分词和过去式)
There are scavenger beetles that pick the skin and flesh off of bones in museums. 有在博物馆吃骨头上的皮肤和肉的拾荒者甲壳虫。
scavenger:n.食腐动物;清道夫;[助剂]清除剂;拾荒者; flesh:n.肉;肉体;v.喂肉给…;发胖;
There are predator beetles, that attack other insects and still look pretty cute to us. 有攻击其他昆虫但 任然看起来很可爱的捕食者甲壳虫。
predator:n.[动]捕食者;[动]食肉动物;掠夺者;
There are beetles that roll little balls of dung great distances across the desert floor to feed to their hatchlings . 有甲壳虫将粪便滚成小球 并将它滚过沙漠上很长的距离来喂养它的后代。
dung:vt.施粪肥于;n.粪; hatchlings:n.人工孵化的鱼苗或小鸟;
This reminded the ancient Egyptians of their god Khepri, who renews the ball of the sun every morning, which is how that dung-rolling scarab became that sacred scarab on the breastplate of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun. 这让古代的埃及人想起了它们的神赫普里, 他在每天早上都重新点燃太阳的火球。 这就是为什么滚粪便的圣甲虫 变成了图坦卡蒙法老胸甲上的圣甲虫。
reminded:v.提醒;使想起;(remind的过去分词和过去式) Egyptians:n.埃及人;埃及语;(Egyptian的复数) renews:vt.使更新;续借;复兴;重申;vi.更新;重新开始; scarab:n.圣甲虫;圣甲虫形宝石; breastplate:n.护胸甲;胸革带;腹甲; Pharaoh:n.法老;暴君;
Beetles, I was reminded, have the most romantic flirtation in the animal kingdom. 甲壳虫们,提醒了我,它们有着动物界中最浪漫的调情手段。
romantic:adj.浪漫的;爱情的;n.浪漫的人;耽于幻想的人; flirtation:n.调情;调戏;挑逗;不认真的考虑;
Fireflies are not flies, fireflies are beetles. 萤火虫不是像苍蝇,萤火虫是甲虫。
Fireflies:n.萤火虫;(firefly的名词复数);
Fireflies are coleoptera, and coleoptera communicate in other ways as well. 萤火虫是甲虫类的,而甲虫类也会用很多其他的方法来交流。
Like my next link: 就像我下一个连接:
The chemical language of pheromones . 信息素的化学语言。
chemical:n.化学制品,化学药品;adj.化学的; pheromones:n.[生化]信息素(pheromone的复数形式);
Now the pheromone page took me to a video of a sea urchin having sex. 这信息素的网页带我到了一个海胆交配的视频。
sea urchin:[无脊椎]海胆;
Yeah. 嗯。
(Laughter) （笑声）
And the link to aphrodisiac . 以及一个催情剂的链接。
aphrodisiac:adj.激发性欲的;n.春药;催欲剂;
Now that's something that increases sexual desire, possibly chocolate. 它提高性欲, 像巧克力。
sexual:adj.性的;性别的;有性的;
There is a compound in chocolate called phenethylamine that might be an aphrodisiac. 巧克力中有一种东西叫苯乙胺, 它很有可能是一种催情剂。
compound:v.合成; adj.混合; n.大院; phenethylamine:n.苯乙胺;
But as the article mentions, because of enzyme breakdown , it's unlikely that phenethylamine will reach your brain if taken orally . 但这篇文章说, 因为酶的作用, 如果口服的话,苯乙胺很有可能不会到达你的大脑。
enzyme:n.[生化]酶; breakdown:n.分解;损坏;分类;(关系)破裂;adj.专门修理故障的; unlikely:adj.不大可能发生的;非心目中的;非想象的;难以相信的; orally:adv.口头上地;口述地;
So those of you who only eat your chocolate, you might have to experiment. 所以在座的只吃你们的巧克力的,你可能需要尝试一下。
The link I clicked on here, " sympathetic magic," mostly because I understand what both of those words mean. 在这里点的链接叫 感应巫术 ,因为我明白这两个词的意思,
sympathetic:adj.同情的;赞同的;和谐的;n.交感神经;容易感受的人;
But not when they're together like that. 但不明白它们的组合。
I do like sympathy . I do like magic. 我喜欢同情,我也喜欢魔术。
sympathy:n.同情;慰问;赞同;
So when I click on "sympathetic magic," 所以当我点了“感应魔术”时,
I get sympathetic magic and voodoo dolls. 我看到了感应魔术和巫毒娃娃。
voodoo:n.伏都教(一种西非原始宗教);伏都教徒;vt.施伏都巫术迷惑;adj.伏都教的;
This is the boy in me getting lucky again. 我的童心又被挑起了。
Sympathetic magic is imitation . 感应魔术的基础是模仿。
imitation:n.模仿;仿制品;赝品;效仿;
If you imitate something, maybe you can have an effect on it. 如果你模仿一样事物,或许你也可以影响到它。
imitate:v.模仿;仿效;模仿(某人的讲话、举止);作滑稽模仿;
That's the idea behind voodoo dolls, and possibly also cave paintings. 这是巫毒娃娃的原理,也有可能关联到石洞壁画。
The link to cave paintings takes me to some of the oldest art known to humankind . 石洞壁画的链接带我到了一些人类最古老的艺术。
humankind:n.人类(总称);
I would love to see Google maps inside some of these caves. 我很想看用谷歌地图看看这些洞穴的内部。
Google:谷歌;谷歌搜索引擎;
We've got tens-of-thousands-years-old artwork. 我们有万年之前的艺术品。
Common themes around the globe include large wild animals and tracings of human hands, usually the left hand. 全球的一些共同主题包括巨型动物以及人类手掌的轮廓描绘, 通常是左手。
We have been a dominantly right-handed tribe for millenia, so even though I don't know why a paleolithic person would trace his hand or blow pigment on it from a tube, 我们从千年前便是主右手的部落, 所以虽然我不知道为什么一个旧石器时代的人会描画他的手, 又或往它上面（从管子中）吹出色素,
right-handed:adj.用右手的,惯用右手的;向右转的; tribe:n.部落;族;宗族;一伙; paleolithic:adj.旧石器时代的; trace:追溯,追踪 pigment:n.[物][生化]色素;颜料;vt.给…着色;vi.呈现颜色;
I can easily picture how he did it. 我可以很容易的想象出他是怎么做到的。
And I really don't think it's that different form our own little dominant hand avatar right there that I'm going to use now to click on the term for "hand," 而我也不觉得它和在我们这里用的手型光标有什么区别 我将用它点击“手”这个词汇的链接。
dominant:adj.显性的;占优势的;支配的,统治的;n.显性; avatar:n.电影《阿凡达》;
go to the page for "hand," where I found the most fun and possibly embarrassing bit of trivia 在“手”的页面上,我找到了在很长时间内都是最好玩但也让我羞愧的
embarrassing:adj.令人尴尬的; v.使尴尬; (embarrass的现在分词) trivia:n.琐事;
I've found in a long time. It's simply this: 一个细节。它很简单:
The back of the hand is formally called the opisthenar. 手的背面正式的被叫做 Opisthenar （手背）。
Now that's embarrassing, because up until now, every time I've said, "I know it like the back of my hand," 这有些尴尬,因为知道现在, 每次当我说,“我熟悉它就像我熟悉我的手背一样“,
I've really been saying, "I'm totally familiar with that, 我其实都在说,”我非常的熟悉它,
familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友;
I just don't know it's freaking name, right?" 我只是不知道它的名字（那个复杂的单词）而已？”
freaking:adj.该死的,他妈的;v.(使)强烈反应,畏惧;(freak的现在分词)
And the link I clicked on here, well, lemurs , monkeys and chimpanzees have the little opisthenar. 我点击的这个链接, 说狐猴,猴子和黑猩猩都有小的手背。
lemurs:n.[脊椎]狐猴; chimpanzees:n.[脊椎]黑猩猩(chimpanzee的复数);
I click on chimpanzee, and I get our closest genetic relative . 我点了黑猩猩,然后我被带到了和我们的基因最近的亲戚。
genetic:adj.基因的;遗传学的; relative:adj.相对的;有关系的;成比例的;n.亲戚;相关物;[语]关系词;亲缘植物;
Pan troglodytes , the name we give him, means "cave dweller ." Pan troglodytes （黑猩猩）这个给它的名字,意思是“穴居者”。
troglodytes:n.鹪鹩(属)(Troglodyte的复数形式); dweller:n.居民,居住者;
He doesn't. 他其实不住在穴内。
He lives in rainforests and savannas . 他住在雨林和大草原上。
savannas:n.热带稀树草原(savanna的复数);
It's just that we're always thinking of this guy as lagging behind us, evolutionarily or somehow uncannily creeping up on us, and in some cases, he gets places before us. 只是我们总是觉得它被我们甩在身后, 奇怪的在进化的过程中尾随着我们, 而在某些情况下,他在我们的之前到达一些地方。
lagging:v.缓慢移动;发展缓慢;滞后;落后于;(lag的现在分词) evolutionarily:进化上; uncannily:adv.惊异地;神秘地;不寻常地;危险地; creeping:adj.爬行的; n.爬行; v.爬行; (creep的现在分词);
Like my next link, the almost irresistible link, Ham the Astrochimp. 像我的下一个链接,一个几乎无法抗拒的链接,太空猩猩汉姆。
irresistible:adj.不可抵抗的;不能压制的;极为诱人的;
I click on him, and I really thought he was going to bring me full circle twice, in fact. 我点击了他,以为他会带我两次回到游戏的原点。
He's born in Cameroon , which is smack in the middle of my tropics map, and more specifically his skeleton wound up in the Smithsonian museum getting picked clean by beetles. 他在喀麦隆出生, 喀麦隆就在我的热带地图的中央, 而更特别的,它的骨骼在史密斯森协会博物馆中被甲虫清理的很干净。
Cameroon:n.喀麦隆(西非国名); smack:v.用巴掌打; n.打巴掌; v.恰好; specifically:adv.特别地;明确地; skeleton:n.骨架,骨骼;纲要;骨瘦如柴的人;adj.骨骼的;骨瘦如柴的;概略的; wound:n.创伤,伤口;v.使受伤;受伤,伤害; Smithsonian:n.史密森尼(美国博物馆);史密森学会;
In between those two landmarks in Ham's life, he flew into space. 在这两件汉姆的里程碑中, 他飞入了外太空。
landmarks:n.地标,[航]陆标;标志(landmark复数形式);
He experienced weightlessness and re-entry months before the first human being to do it, 他比第一个人类太空员, 苏联宇航员尤里·加加林,早几个月
weightlessness:n.失重;无重状态; re-entry:n.重新返回;重新获取所有权;夺得一墩并夺得出牌权的牌(等于reentry);
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. 经历失重并重返地球。
Soviet:adj.苏维埃的;苏联的;n.苏维埃(前苏联的各级代表会议);苏联人; cosmonaut:n.(俄)宇航员(等于astronaut);
When I click on Yuri Gagarin's page, 当我点击了尤里·加加林的网页,
I get this guy who was surprisingly short in stature , huge in heroism . 我看到了这个身材让人惊讶的短小,但 异常英雄的一个人物。
surprisingly:adv.令人惊讶地;出乎意料地 stature:n.身高,身材;(精神,道德等的)高度; heroism:n.英勇,英雄气概;英雄行为;勇敢的事迹;
Top estimates , Soviet estimates , put this guy at 1.65 meters, that is less than five and a half feet tall max, possibly because he was malnourished as a child. 最高的估计,苏联的估计,说他有1米65, 而这最多只有5个半英尺高, 有可能因为当他是孩子的时候他有过营养不良。
estimates:n.估计;估价;估计的成本;v.估价;估算(estimate的第三人称单数和复数) malnourished:adj.营养不良的;营养失调的;
Germans occupied Russia. 当时德国人侵入了俄罗斯。
occupied:adj.被占领的; v.占用; (occupy的过去分词和过去式)
A Nazi officer took over the Gagarin household , and he and his family built and lived in a mud hut . 一个纳粹军官抢了加加林家的房子, 然后他和他的家人造了一个泥房居住。
household:n.家庭;一家人;同住一所(或一套)房子的人;adj.家庭的;家常的;王室的; hut:n.小屋;木屋;[军事]临时营房;[美俚]牢房;v.(使)住临时营房[小屋];
Years later, the boy from that cramped mud hut would grow up to be the man in that cramped capsule on the tip of a rocket who volunteered to be launched into outer space, the first one of any of us to really physically leave this planet. 很多年后,那个拥挤的泥房中的小男孩 会长成为那个在火箭顶端的 拥挤的航天仓中的, 自告奋勇的被发射出外太空的男人, 我们之中第一个来真正地离开这个星球。
cramped:adj.狭小的;拥挤的;密密麻麻的;v.阻碍,阻止;(cramp的过去分词和过去式) capsule:n.太空舱;荚;航天舱;(装药物的)胶囊;adj.简略的;小而结实的;v.节略; volunteered:v.自愿做;义务做;自愿参军;(volunteer的过去分词和过去式) launched:v.发射;发起;开展;开始;(launch的过去式和过去分词) outer:adj.外面的,外部的;远离中心的;n.环外命中;
And he didn't just leave it, he circled it once. 而他不仅仅离开了它。 他围绕着它转了一圈。
Fifty years later, as a tribute , the International Space Station , which is still up there tonight, synced its orbit with Gagarin's orbit, at the exact same time of day, and filmed it, 五十年后,为了向他致敬, 至今还在上面的国际太空站 将它的轨道与加加林的轨道在一天中 同样的时间时重叠, 并拍了下来。
tribute:n.礼物;[税收]贡物;颂词;(尤指对死者的)致敬,悼念,吊唁礼物; Space Station:n.太空站;航天站;宇宙空间站; synced:[口语][电影,电视]=synchronize; orbit:n.轨道;眼眶;势力范围;生活常规;vi.盘旋;绕轨道运行;vt.绕…轨道而行;
so you can go online and you can watch over 100 minutes of what must have been an absolutely mesmerizing ride, possibly a lonely one, the first person to ever see such a thing. 你可以上网看这个大概100多分钟的 迷人的旅行, 一个孤独的旅行, 作为第一个看到它的人类。
mesmerizing:v.迷住;吸引;(mesmerize的现在分词)
And then when you've had your fill of that, you can click on one more link. 当你看完了它后, 你可以再点击一个连接,
You can come back to Earth. 并回到地球。
You return to where you started. 你回到你开始的地方。
You can finish your game. 你可以完成你的游戏。
You just need to find one more fact that you didn't know. 你只需要在找一个你不知道事实。
And for me, I quickly landed on this one: 对我来说,我很快的看到了它:
The Earth has a tolerance of about .17 percent from the reference spheroid , which is less than the .22 percent allowed in billiard balls. 地球离参考椭球有着大概百分之0.17的公差, 比桌球的百分之0.22标准更小。
tolerance:n.公差;耐量;宽容;容忍; reference:n.参考,提及;参考书目;证明书;v.引用; spheroid:n.球状体;回转椭球体; billiard:adj.台球的;撞球用的;n.连撞两球所得的分数;
This is the kind of fact I would have loved as a boy. 我小的时候非常喜欢这种事情。
I found it myself. 我自己找到了它。
It's got some math that I can do. 它有着一些我可以做的数学。
I'm pretty sure my dad doesn't know it. 我很确定我爸爸也不知道。
What this means is that if you could shrink the Earth to the size of a billiard ball, if you could take planet Earth, with all its mountain tops and caves 这个的意思是,你可以将地球缩小到一个桌球的大小, 如果你可以将地球,以及它上面的高山和洞穴
shrink:v.收缩;减少;退缩;畏缩;n.精神病学家;心理学家;
and rainforests, astronauts and uncontacted tribes and chimpanzees, voodoo dolls, fireflies, chocolate, sea creatures making love in the deep blue sea, 和雨林,航空员和未接触部落和黑猩猩,巫毒娃娃们, 萤火虫,巧克力,在海洋内交配的海生物们,
creatures:n.生物;动物;(具有某种特征的)人(creature的复数)
you just shrink that to the size of a billiard ball, it would be as smooth as a billiard ball, presumably a billiard ball with a slight bulge around the middle. 你将它缩小的一个桌球的大小, 它会想桌球一样的光滑, 大概就像一个中间稍微有些突出的桌球。
presumably:adv.大概;推测起来;可假定; slight:adj.轻微的;略微的;细小的;纤细的;n.侮慢;冷落;轻视;v.侮慢;冷落;轻视;
That's pretty cool. 这很有意思。
I didn't know that. 我以前也不知道。
Chimborazo! 钦博拉索！
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）