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Icebergs
冰山
Icebergs are among nature's most spectacular creations, and yet most people have never seen one. A vague air of mystery envelops them. They come into being - somewhere - in faraway, frigid waters, amid thunderous noise and splashing turbulence, which in most case no one hears or sees. They exist only a short time and then slowly waste away just as unnoticed.
冰山是大自然最壯觀的創(chuàng)造之一，但大多數(shù)人卻從未看到過冰山，一種朦朧神秘的氣氛籠罩著它們。冰山形成于久遠(yuǎn)的、寒冷的水體中，而且伴隨著雷聲轟鳴般的嘈雜和水花洶涌的風(fēng)暴，但卻無人耳聞目睹。冰山僅存在短短的一段時(shí)間就慢慢地悄無聲息地融化掉。
Objects of sheerest beauty they have been called. Appearing in an endless variety of shapes, they may be dazzlingly white, or they may be glassy blue, green or purple, tinted faintly or in darker hues. They are graceful, stately, inspiring - in calm, sunlight seas.
冰山具有最純粹的美，人們?nèi)缡钦f。冰山呈現(xiàn)出千姿百態(tài)，可能白得耀眼，或者是閃耀著藍(lán)色、綠色或紫色的玻璃般的光芒，或濃或淡。它們在平靜的陽光照耀的海水中顯得優(yōu)雅堂皇，令人浮想聯(lián)翩。
But they are also called frightening and dangerous, and that they are - in the night, in the fog, and in storms. Even in clear weather one is wise to stay a safe distance away from them.
但是人們亦把冰山稱為恐怖的危險(xiǎn)的。它們的確如此——在夜間、霧天和風(fēng)暴肆虐時(shí)。即便是在晴朗的天氣里，與它們保持一段安全距離也是明智的。
Most of their bulk is hidden below the water, so their underwater parts may extend out far beyond the visible top. Also, they may roll over unexpectedly, churning the waters around them. Icebergs are parts of glaciers that break off, drift into the water, float about awhile, and finally melt.
冰山的大部分體積隱藏于水下，因此其水下部分的伸展遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過可見的頂部。冰山也可能出人意料地翻滾，劇烈地?cái)噭?dòng)周圍的水體。
Icebergs afloat today are made of snowflakes that have fallen over long ages of time. They embody snows that drifed down hundreds, or many thousands, or in some cases maybe a million years ago. The snows fell in polar regions and on cold mountains, where they melted only a little or not at all, and so collected to great depths over the years and centuries.
冰山是冰川的一部分，從冰川斷裂漂流進(jìn)水中，一段時(shí)間后融化。今天的冰山由多年前降落的雪花形成。它們的體內(nèi)是數(shù)百年，或數(shù)千年，有時(shí)甚至是數(shù)百萬年前的降雪。這些雪花落在極地或寒冷的山上，僅有少量融化或根本不融化，這樣經(jīng)過許多年或許多世紀(jì)后積累了巨大的深度。
