水。：英语精读讲义

Hey, Vsauce.

嘿，Vsauce。

Michael here and I'm in London, right outside Buckingham Palace.

我是 Michael，现在我在伦敦，就在白金汉宫外面。

Oh, I'm actually running a little bit late for tea with the Queen. 短語搭配

哦，其实我和女王约了喝下午茶，但快要迟到了。

Yeah, she's really into tea. 短語搭配

是啊，她特别喜欢喝茶。

But do you know what tea's mainly made out of?

不过，你知道茶主要是由什么制成的吗？

Water.

水。

And so today, 表達脈絡

所以今天，

we're going to talk about water.

我们要聊聊水。

Now,

那么，

we all know that water is vital for life on Earth to exist

我们都知道，水对地球生命的存在至关重要，

and that water covers more than 70% of Earth's surface.

而且水覆盖了地球表面70%以上的面积。

But before we talk about liquid water,

不过，在讨论液态水之前，

I want to talk about a culinary treat that occurs when you put a piece of bread on the ground and then,

我想先说说一种“美食”：把一片面包放在地上，然后，

at the exact same time,

在完全相同的时刻，

on the other side of the Earth,

在地球的另一边，

the exact geographical opposite point,

也就是地理位置上完全相对的点，

you have someone else put another piece of bread. 語法

让另一个人再放下一片面包。

Earth sandwich. 文化背景

地球三明治。

That's right.

没错。

It's a challenge that was popularized by Ze Frank.

这项挑战是由 Ze Frank 推广开来的。

And it turns out that making an Earth sandwich is incredibly difficult. 短語搭配

事实证明，做一个地球三明治难得不可思议。

Why?

为什么？

Because of water.

因为水。

That's right.

没错。

If you take a globe and you look at it so that France is right there in the middle, 語法

如果你拿起一个地球仪，转到让法国正好位于中央，

you're only looking at one-half of the Earth.

你看到的只是地球的一半。

But from that perspective, 表達脈絡

但从这个角度看，

you are looking at almost 90% of Earth's dry land.

你却能看到地球上将近90%的陆地。

It's all right there on that one side.

它们全都集中在这一侧。

It's known as the land hemisphere. 文化背景

这边被称为陆半球。

And the other side,

而另一侧，

the exact other half of the Earth is called the water hemisphere.

也就是地球正好相反的另一半，被称为水半球。

Now,

那么，

you might be saying to yourself, 表達脈絡

你可能会在心里说：

"Okay, great.

“好吧，太棒了。

So Earth sandwiches are almost always soggy.

所以地球三明治几乎总是湿乎乎的。

Why should I care?" 語氣意圖

这跟我有什么关系？”

I don't know.

我也不知道。

But here's something that you should care about, 表達脈絡

但下面这件事，你确实应该关心：

the Three Gorges Dam in China. 文化背景

中国的三峡大坝。

One of the largest hydroelectric dams ever constructed, 語法

它是有史以来建造的最大水力发电大坝之一，

completed in 2006,

于2006年竣工，

and upon completion, 用詞

而竣工之后，

it fundamentally changed something about Earth.

它从根本上改变了地球的某个特征。

You know how a figure skater, 表達脈絡

你知道花样滑冰运动员

spinning in place, 短語搭配

在原地旋转时，

can slow down their speed by moving their arms out, 短語動詞

可以通过伸展开双臂来减慢转速，

by moving some of their body mass away from the middle of their body.

也就是把一部分身体质量移离身体中心。

Well,

那么，

the same thing can happen to Earth.

同样的事情也会发生在地球上。

The Three Gorges Dam did exactly what a figure skater does when they move their arms away from their center.

三峡大坝所做的，恰恰就像花样滑冰运动员把手臂伸离身体中心一样。

It transferred 39 trillion kilograms of water 175 meters above sea level. 短語搭配

它把39万亿千克的水抬升到了海拔175米处。

NASA calculated that that massive amount of water moved caused Earth's rotation to slow down 語法

NASA计算发现，如此巨量的水被移动后，地球自转速度变慢了，

so that every day of your life since that dam was finished has been longer by 0.06 microseconds. 語法

因此自大坝竣工以来，你生命中的每一天都延长了0.06微秒。

It's not something that for all intents and purposes you have to worry about. 習語

不过实际上，你完全不必为此担心。

If you are worried,

如果你真的担心，

you might be hydrophobic. 用詞

那你可能有点怕水。

But you're in good company. 習語

不过，怕水的不只你。

There are a lot of good hydrophobic materials

许多优质材料也具有疏水性，

and they behave in some pretty cool ways.

而且它们的表现相当酷。

Hydrophobic materials are resistant to getting wet. 短語搭配

疏水材料不容易被水浸湿。

That's right.

没错。

They're usually made out of hydrocarbons that don't form good hydrogen bonds with water molecules. 講解

它们通常由碳氢化合物构成，而这些化合物无法与水分子形成良好的氢键。

And because it takes more energy for the water to spread out on those surfaces, 語法

因为水要在这些表面上铺展开来，需要消耗更多能量，

the water just sticks together. 短語動詞

所以水只会聚在一起。

It coheres to itself and forms nice little spheres.

水分子彼此凝聚，形成一个个漂亮的小球。

Now,

那么，

in certain cases,

在某些情况下，

super-hydrophobia occurs and it looks awesome.

还会出现超疏水现象，看起来酷极了。

The leaves of the lotus plant do this.

莲花的叶片就有这种效果。

And when water falls on them,

当水落到叶片上时，

the water just floats around

水会在上面滚来滚去，

like some big old blob of liquid mercury or something. 講解

就像一大团液态水银之类的东西。

It's a very bizarre trick and I have you guys to thank for bringing it to my attention. 短語搭配

这是个非常奇特的现象，多亏你们提醒，我才注意到它。

In fact,

事实上，

it was that message that inspired me to do an episode about water in the first place. 講解

正是那条消息最初启发我做一期关于水的节目。

So thanks.

所以，谢谢你们。

One final note on hydrophobia. 表達脈絡

关于恐水症，最后再补充一点。

It can happen in humans.

这种情况也会出现在人类身上。

And I don't mean being afraid of swimming or not liking the ocean. 表達脈絡

我说的不是害怕游泳，也不是不喜欢海洋。

I mean an actual psychological aversion to the sight of water. 用詞

我说的是一种看到水就会产生心理排斥的真实症状。

Rabies is a virus that

狂犬病是一种病毒性疾病，

if left untreated, 語法

如果不加治疗，

can lead to severe neurological damage. 短語搭配

可能造成严重的神经系统损伤。

In the late stages of rabies, 短語搭配

在狂犬病晚期，

the victim salivates constantly,

患者会不停地流口水，

but their throat and jaw become paralyzed,

但喉咙和下颌会陷入麻痹，

which means that the body cannot control the fluid in its own mouth

这意味着身体无法控制口腔里的液体，

and is in a constant fear of drowning.

并会一直陷在溺水的恐惧中。

This man has contracted rabies and is in the late stages of the disease. 用詞

这名男子感染了狂犬病，目前已进入晚期。

As he attempts to take a drink of fluid,

当他试图喝下一些液体时，

his body recoils instinctively,

他的身体会本能地向后退缩，

as if the water might burn him. 語法

仿佛水会灼伤他一样。

But thanks to vaccination efforts, 短語搭配

但多亏了疫苗接种工作的推进，

the threat of rabies all over the world has been significantly reduced.

狂犬病在全球造成的威胁已经大幅降低。

Now,

那么，

we could say a lot of other stuff about water,

关于水，我们还能聊很多别的内容，

but I might save that for another episode. 短語搭配

不过我可能会留到另一期节目再说。

In the meantime,

在此之前，

and as always,

还是老样子，

thanks for watching.

感谢观看。