沙皇炸弹的威力有多大？：英语精读讲义

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"We all know the atomic bomb is very dangerous,"

“我们都知道原子弹非常危险，”

said the 1950s American-made educational short film Duck and Cover.

20世纪50年代美国制作的教育短片《卧倒并掩护》（Duck and Cover）中这样说道。

It seems somewhat of an understatement. 短語搭配

这似乎有点轻描淡写了。

Videos such as this have been said by some to be propaganda films 語法

一些人认为像这样的视频是政治宣传片，

to scare the West out of its wits regarding Soviet nuclear strength, 習語

目的是让西方对苏联的核力量感到恐惧，

but the movie has also been said to be factually incorrect.

但也有人说这部电影与事实不符。

Some scientists stated that by the time you'd see something to Duck and Cover from,

一些科学家表示，等你看到需要“卧倒并掩护”的情况时，

it would be too late.

就已经太晚了。

Others said it all depends on distance. 短語搭配

另一些人则说，这完全取决于距离。

The British followed with a slew of nightmarish nuclear annihilation information films 用詞

英国人紧随其后，推出了一系列如同梦魇般的核毁灭资讯片，

scaring the bejeebies out of all those Brits glued to their TVs. 習語

把那些守在电视机前的英国人吓得魂飞魄散。

Such disaster infomercials and educational films are now parodied,

此类灾难资讯片和教育片现在常被恶搞，

but those were some scary days.

但那确实是一段令人恐惧的日子。

Today, we're going to look at the biggest threat of them all 表達脈絡

今天，我们将探讨其中最大的威胁，

in this episode of The Infographics Show,

在这一集的 The Infographics Show 中，

how powerful is the Tsar Bomba?

沙皇炸弹到底有多大威力？

Don't forget to subscribe and click the bell button so that you can be part of our notification squad.

别忘了订阅并点击小铃铛按钮，加入我们的通知小分队。

First of all, what is the Tsar Bomba? 表達脈絡

首先，什么是沙皇炸弹？

For years from the late 1940s to the early 1960s,

从20世纪40年代末到60年代初的这些年里，

the Soviets had been testing nuclear bombs at quite a rapid rate. 講解

苏联一直在以相当快的速度测试核弹。

The BBC reports that they tested 26 nuclear bombs in the year of 1958 alone.

据 BBC 报道，仅在 1958 年，他们就试爆了 26 枚核弹。

But the Soviets came up with one particular bomb that was a giant, 短語動詞

但苏联研制出了一枚巨型炸弹，

bigger than those dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,

比投在日本城市广岛和长崎的，

known as Little Boy and Fat Man.

被称为“小男孩”和“胖子”的核弹还要大。

There were plenty of code names and nicknames for this monster.

这个怪物有很多代号和绰号。

Project 27,000,

27,000项目、

product code 202,

产品代码 202、

RDS 220,

RDS 220、

RDS 202,

RDS 202、

Kuz'minka Mat, Vanya, and more,

Kuz'minka Mat、Vanya 等等，

but it came to be known in the West as the Tsar Bomba or King of Bombs. 語法

但在西方，它被称为沙皇炸弹（Tsar Bomba）或“炸弹之王”。

It weighed 60,000 lb,

它重达 60,000 磅，

was 25 ft in length,

长 25 英尺，

and had a diameter of 6.9 ft.

直径为 6.9 英尺。

It had a blast yield of 50 megatons, 用詞

它的爆炸当量为 5,000 万吨，

but it said the Soviets could produce a 100 megaton bomb.

但据说苏联能够制造出 1 亿吨当量的炸弹。

The BBC reports it was more than a metal monstrosity

BBC 报道称，它不仅仅是一个巨大的金属怪物，

too big to fit inside even the largest aircraft.

它大到甚至连最大的飞机都装不下。

It was a city destroyer,

它是一个城市毁灭者，

a weapon of last resort. 短語搭配

是终极武器。

To put that into context, 表達脈絡

为了让你有个概念，

it was so powerful that the plane dropping the bomb on the one and only test 語法

它的威力如此巨大，以至于在仅有的一次试爆中，投放这枚炸弹的飞机

only had a 50% chance of surviving. 短語搭配

只有 50% 的生还几率。

They had to deploy a 1-ton parachute holding the bomb

他们不得不部署一个 1 吨重的降落伞来挂住炸弹，

so it could drop slowly and then detonate. 語法

好让它缓慢下降然后再引爆。

The pilots should then have been 30 mi away

飞行员那时应该已经飞到了 30 英里之外，

and they had a chance of surviving.

这样他们才有生还的可能。

When it did drop and detonate on Severny Island, 語法

当它真的在谢韦尔内岛坠落并引爆时，

part of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago,

该岛属于新地岛群岛，

about 250 mi off the Russian mainland,

距离俄罗斯大陆约 250 英里，

the blast could be seen 630 mi away.

在 630 英里外都能看到爆炸的光芒。

The actual mushroom cloud reached 40 mi in height

实际的蘑菇云高达 40 英里，

and spread over a distance of around 63 mi.

并向外蔓延了约 63 英里的距离。

The worst thing is,

最糟糕的是，

people actually lived in the village of Severny,

谢韦尔内村实际上有居民居住，

which was about 34 mi from ground zero. 用詞

该村距离爆炸中心约 34 英里。

It said all the houses there were completely destroyed,

据说那里的所有房屋都被完全摧毁，

but the death toll has never been reported. 短語搭配

但死亡人数从未被公布。

Even in places hundreds of miles from the detonation site,

甚至在距离爆炸地点数百英里外的地方，

houses were damaged.

房屋也遭到了破坏。

The pilot did escape,

飞行员确实逃脱了，

but not before he lost control of his plane 表達脈絡

但在此之前，他一度失去了对飞机的控制，

and it plummeted around 3,300 ft.

飞机急速下坠了约 3,300 英尺。

According to one source,

据一个消息来源称，

the heatwave from the explosion was enough to cause third-degree burns to human skin as far away as 60 mi 語法

爆炸产生的热浪足以导致 60 英里外的人类皮肤遭受三度烧伤，

and the electromagnetic energy generated by the event crippled communication in the northern Soviet Union for more than an hour. 短語搭配

而爆炸产生的电磁能量使苏联北部的通信瘫痪了一个多小时。

It's also reported that the blast shattered windows as far away as Norway and Finland.

据报道，爆炸甚至震碎了远至挪威和芬兰的窗户。

Now, if we consider that the bomb that fell on Hiroshima on August 6th,

现在，如果我们考虑到 8 月 6 日落在广岛的那枚炸弹，

1945 killed 60,000 to 80,000 people instantly on detonation

在 1945 年爆炸瞬间造成了 60,000 到 80,000 人死亡，

and in total about 135,000 or more due to radiation sickness,

加上死于辐射病的，总计约有 135,000 人或更多，

we might ask what kind of damage this monster might have done 語法

我们可能会问，如果把这个怪物投放到，

if it had been dropped on, say, an American city.

比如说，一座美国城市，会造成怎样的破坏？

We should also state that years after the Japanese destruction,

我们还应该说明，在日本遭受核毁灭多年之后，

scores of people were said to have suffered from cancer as a result of radiation. 講解

据说有许多人因辐射而患上了癌症。

The Tsar Bomba was said to be 1,500 times more powerful 語法

据说沙皇炸弹的威力是

than those bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

投在广岛和长崎的那些炸弹的 1,500 倍。

Some have said it was even too big,

有人甚至说它太大了，

with one US analyst stating,

一位美国分析人士说：

"It's hard to find a use for it

“很难找到它的用武之地，

unless you want to knock down very large cities. 語法

除非你想摧毁特大城市。

It simply would be too big to use."

它实在是大得没法用。”

With this in mind, 表達脈絡

考虑到这一点，

what if one of those bombs was dropped on a city such as London or New York? 語法

如果这样的一枚炸弹被投放到伦敦或纽约这样的城市会怎样？

Would the Duck and Cover advice be any good? 短語搭配

“卧倒并掩护”的建议还会有用吗？

According to NUKEMAP,

根据 NUKEMAP，

a website that actually attempts to illustrate what would happen in such a situation, 語法

一个试图演示在这种情况下会发生什么的网站，

if the Tsar Bomba was dropped on London with the population as it is now, 語法

如果将沙皇炸弹投放在人口如现在这般规模的伦敦，

about 5.8 million people would

大约 580 万人将会

die.

死亡。

If the bomb was dropped on the center of London,

如果炸弹落在伦敦市中心，

The Independent reports that people living in Reading would suffer third-degree burns.

据《独立报》报道，居住在雷丁的人们将遭受三度烧伤。

Reading is about 37 mi from London as the bird flies 習語

雷丁距离伦敦的直线距离约为 37 英里，

and bomb blasts don't take the roads. 表達脈絡

而炸弹冲击波可不挑路走。

All buildings situated around the M25,

位于 M25 高速公路（一条环绕伦敦的高速公路）

a motorway that goes around London,

周围的所有建筑

would collapse and anyone living in that area,

都将倒塌，居住在该地区的任何人，

if not dead from the blast, 語法

如果没有在爆炸中丧生，

would possibly die radiation exposure within a week.

也可能会在一周内死于辐射。

NUKEMAP,

NUKEMAP

which was created by American nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein,

是由美国核历史学家 Alex Wellerstein 创建的，

actually lets you pick a spot and then detonate a bomb 語法

它让你可以在世界各地挑选一个地点，

at places around the world.

然后引爆一枚炸弹。

We chose Manhattan and we also chose the Tsar Bomba.

我们选择了曼哈顿，也选择了沙皇炸弹。

The bomb would have a fireball of about 5 mi

这枚炸弹将产生约 5 英里大的火球，

and the radiation zone would stretch to Times Square and the Brooklyn Bridge.

辐射区将延伸到时代广场和布鲁克林大桥。

This is the zone in which between 50 and 90% of people would immediately die

在这一区域内，如果没有得到医疗救助，

if they didn't get medical assistance.

50% 到 90% 的人将立即死亡。

One person pointed out that both cities of London and New York 短語動詞

有人指出，伦敦和纽约这两座城市

might fare better than other cities 用詞

的情况可能会比其他城市好一些，

because they have so much life going on underground. 短語動詞

因为它们有极其发达的地下生活设施。

Even so, 表達脈絡

即使如此，

for those above ground,

对于那些在地面上的人来说，

just about anyone in the New York metropolitan area

几乎纽约都会区的任何人

would have third-degree burns due to thermal radiation.

都会因热辐射遭受三度烧伤。

The sickness and death that would follow in the weeks to come would be unspeakable. 短語搭配

在接下来的几周里，随之而来的疾病和死亡将是无法言喻的。

We are talking about the 50-megaton bomb here, too, 表達脈絡

而且，我们这里谈论的是 5,000 万吨当量的炸弹，

not the 100-megaton bomb that the Russians could have made.

而不是俄罗斯人原本能制造的 1 亿吨当量炸弹。

We dropped a theoretical 100-megaton bomb on Paris

我们在巴黎投下了一枚理论上的 1 亿吨当量炸弹，

to see what would happen according to NUKEMAP.

想看看根据 NUKEMAP 会发生什么。

The fireball radius would be 3.7 mi

火球半径将达到 3.7 英里，

and an air blast radius of 20.2 mi.

空气冲击波半径将达到 20.2 英里。

This alone, 表達脈絡

单单是这一点，

according to NUKEMAP,

根据 NUKEMAP 的数据，

would mean within this area most residential buildings collapse,

就意味着在该区域内大部分住宅建筑将倒塌，

injuries are universal,

所有人都将受伤，

fatalities are widespread.

死亡人数将不计其数。

Anyone who is 45 mi from the middle of Paris

距离巴黎市中心 45 英里的任何人

would likely suffer third-degree burns or worse.

都很可能遭受三度烧伤或更严重的伤害。

For all these cities,

对于所有这些城市来说，

it would be hard to estimate the number of deaths,

很难估计死亡人数，

but it is likely that anyone living close to the detonation site

但很可能任何居住在爆炸地点附近的人，

would be lucky to survive. 語氣意圖

能活下来就是万幸了。

We've been curious about the United States nuclear program lately, 語法

我们最近对美国的核计划很好奇，

so we decided to listen to an audiobook

所以我们决定听一本有声书，

written by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser.

这本书由调查记者 Eric Schlosser 撰写。

His book,

他的书，

called Command and Control:

名为《Command and Control:》

Nuclear Weapons,

《Nuclear Weapons,》

the Damascus Accident,

《the Damascus Accident,》

and the Illusion of Safety,

《and the Illusion of Safety》，

uncovers secrets about the management of America's nuclear arsenal.

揭示了美国核武库管理的秘密。

It also touches on the subject of deploying weapons of mass destruction 講解

它还触及了部署大规模杀伤性武器

without being destroyed by them first.

却又不被其率先毁灭这一主题。

We use Audible because it allows us to read our favorite books while we're at home

我们使用 Audible，因为它让我们在家时可以阅读喜爱的书籍，

and to listen to them while we're out doing other things.

而在外面处理其他事务时也能听书。

This book in particular is great for anybody who wants to learn more

这本书特别适合任何想进一步了解

about the nuclear readiness of the United States.

美国核战备状态的人。

Audible is offering our listeners a free audiobook with a 30-day trial membership,

Audible 为我们的听众提供免费有声书和 30 天会员试用期，

so you can check out the book we just talked about risk free.

这样你就可以毫无风险地试听我们刚刚谈论的这本书。

Download a title free and start listening.

免费下载一部作品，开始收听吧。

It's that easy.

就这么简单。

Go to audible.com/infographics or text infographics to 500500 to get started today.

今天就访问 audible.com/infographics，或者发送短信 infographics 到 500500 开始吧。

Thanks for watching and as always,

感谢观看，像往常一样，

don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.

别忘了点赞、分享和订阅。

See you next time.

我们下次见。