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First place I'd like to take you is what many believe will be the world's deepest natural abyss.
我要帶大家去的第一個地方是一個天然的深淵，許多人相信它將會被證明為世界最深之淵。
And I say believe because this process is still ongoing.
我說相信是因為這個探索過程還未結束。
Right now there are major expeditions being planned for next year that I'll talk a little bit about.
明年有幾個很大的探險活動正在策劃中，關于這個我會做些介紹
One of the things that's changed here,
現在,變化之一是，
in the last 150 years since Jules Verne had great science-fiction concepts of what the underworld was like,
自從儒勒凡爾納在科幻小說里描繪了地底世界的樣子后,
is that technology has enabled us to go to these places that were previously completely unknown and speculated about.
在過去的150年里，科技已使我們能夠到達一些地方，這些地方是我們先前完全不知且不能想象的。
We can now descend thousands of meters into the Earth with relative impunity.
而我們現在能相對安全得深入地球幾千米。
Along the way we've discovered fantastic abysses and chambers so large
沿途我們發現了奇異的深淵和巖洞。
that you can see for hundreds of meters without a break in the line of sight.
那些巖洞大得異乎尋常，一眼望去能看到幾百米。
When you go on a thing like this, we can usually be in the field for anywhere from two to four months,
當我們到了這樣的巖洞時，我們經常會在那待二至四個月，
with a team as small as 20 or 30, to as big as 150.
我們的隊伍規模小時二三十人，大時有一百五十人。
And a lot of people ask me, you know,
許多人問我，
what kind of people do you get for a project like this?
你們選什么樣的人參加這樣的項目？
While our selection process is not as rigorous as NASA, it's nonetheless thorough.
我們的篩選過程不是像NASA(美國航空航天局)那么嚴格，但它又是周詳的。
We're looking for competence, discipline, endurance, and strength.
我們尋找的是有能力勝任此工作，能嚴格約束自己，耐力長久而且體力充沛的人。
In case you're wondering, this is our strength test.
如果你想知道的話，這是我們的體能測試。
But we also value esprit de corps and the ability to diplomatically resolve inter-personal conflict while under great stress in remote locations.
但我們也重視團隊精神和善于解決人際矛盾的能力。這些能力，在人們身處僻壤。
We have already gone far beyond the limits of human endurance.
壓力巨大到遠遠超過人類耐力極限的時候尤其重要。
