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Without water, one might not expect to find any caves,
沒有水的地方似乎不可能有洞穴
but beneath these rolling desert slopes in the United States
但是在美國這些荒涼起伏的山崖之下
lies one of the longest, deepest and most surprising caves in the world.
存在著一座世界上最長、最深，也最令人驚奇的洞穴
Its secrets remained unknown until 1986,
它的秘密直到1986年才被人們發(fā)現
when cavers dug through several metres of loose rock at the bottom of this pit.
洞穴專家們在松散的巖層中挖出了一條幾十米深的通道，直達這個深淵的底部
They named the cave Lechuguilla and since its discovery,
他們把這個洞命名為“龍舌蘭洞”，自從那次發(fā)現之后，
more than 1 20 miles of passageways have been mapped.
迄今已測繪了120多英里的地道
When the first explorers descended, no one guessed at the sheer size of this cave,
第一批探險家進入這個洞后，沒有一個人能預料到它竟然有這么大
but even that was not going to be the biggest surprise.
即便如此，這也不能算是最大的驚奇
Little did they realise that Lechuguilla would soon be regarded by cavers the world over as the most beautiful of all caves.
不久他們便意識到，龍舌蘭洞很快就會被全世界的洞穴專家公認為地球上最美麗的洞穴
They were about to discover some of the most exquisite formations ever seen underground.
因為他們發(fā)現了一些地底世界中最精美的構造。
The walls were covered with the most delicate and fragile crystals.
石壁上布滿了光潔美麗的脆弱結晶。
