拉什莫尔山背后隐藏的工程奇迹：英语精读讲义

There is something unusual about Mount Rushmore.

拉什莫尔山有一些与众不同之处。

Unlike most sculptures, 語法

不同于大多数雕塑，

which look painstakingly crafted,

它们看起来都是精心制作的，

Mount Rushmore almost seems like it formed out of the mountain naturally

拉什莫尔山几乎就像是在山上自然形成的，

and not by the work of a great sculptor.

而不是出自某位伟大雕塑家之手。

The reality is Mount Rushmore is not only a work of art, 語法

事实上，拉什莫尔山不仅是一件艺术品，

but an engineering masterpiece.

更是一项工程杰作。

Despite having zero artistic experience, 語法

尽管毫无艺术经验，

an enormous team of gold miners managed to bring these giant heads into existence 短語搭配

一个由金矿工人组成的庞大团队，成功地让这些巨大的头像呈现在世人面前，

using jackhammers,

他们使用的仅仅是风镐、

dynamite and some clever engineering.

炸药和一些巧妙的工程技术。

We modeled the entire thing to show you how they mapped the design onto the mountain

我们对整个结构进行了建模，向你展示他们是如何将设计图映射到山体上的，

using ancient Greek technology and how all of this was done without losing a single man.

他们运用了古希腊的技术，并在没有损失一名工人的情况下完成了这一切。

But in order to understand why Mount Rushmore exists in the first place, 短語搭配

但为了了解拉什莫尔山最初存在的原因，

we need to go back in time.

我们需要回到过去。

In the early 1920s,

在20世纪20年代初，

the state of South Dakota was just a few decades old

南达科他州才成立几十年，

and it was struggling to get its foot in the door. 習語

正艰难地试图寻找立足之地。

State historian Doane Robinson saw how tourists from all over the country

州历史学家 Doane Robinson 看到来自全国各地的游客

had been flocking to a new sculpture in the state of Georgia

纷纷涌向佐治亚州的一座新雕塑，

and this gave him an idea.

这给了他一个灵感。

He reached out to the sculptor Gutzon Borglum and asked if he'd like to make an enormous sculpture of America's Wild West heroes. 短語動詞

他联系了雕塑家 Gutzon Borglum，问他是否愿意为美国的狂野西部英雄制作一座巨大的雕塑。

Borglum was excited by the idea,

Borglum 对这个想法感到兴奋，

but thought that more national figures like presidents would draw more attention.

但他认为像总统这样的国家级人物会吸引更多的关注。

And so,

于是，

in the summer of 1925,

在1925年的夏天，

he traveled to South Dakota and came across Mount Rushmore, 短語動詞

他前往南达科他州，并偶然发现了拉什莫尔山，

a 500-ft tall cliff edge made from fine-grained granite.

这是一座高500英尺、由细粒花岗岩组成的悬崖。

He knew that this would be the perfect blank canvas for his project. 習語

他知道这将是他项目的完美空白画布。

With the mountain secured, 語法

在确定了这座山之后，

he started studying photographs of the presidents and put together a 1-to-12 scale model. 短語動詞

他开始研究总统们的照片，并拼凑了一个1比12比例的模型。

Now,

现在，

he had to figure out how he was actually going to make the real thing. 短語動詞

他必须弄清楚到底该如何制作真正的雕像。

At the time, Mount Rushmore had nothing,

当时，拉什莫尔山一无所有，

no roads, no electricity, and no way for workers to even climb the mountain.

没有路，没有电，工人甚至无法爬上这座山。

And so,

于是，

in the summer of 1927,

在1927年夏天，

a road was built that could carry goods and people to the site.

一条能够将货物和人员运送到现场的道路建成了。

Soon after,

不久之后，

an entire village popped up around the base of the site with tool shops, blacksmiths, and houses for the workers. 短語動詞

在现场周围的山脚下出现了一个完整的村庄，里面有工具店、铁匠铺和工人们的住所。

An enormous staircase was built to the top of the mountain

一条巨大的楼梯被修建到山顶，

and a cable car was set up to carry tools and materials back and forth.

并且设置了一台缆车来回运送工具和材料。

A winch house was also built at the top of the mountain

山顶还建造了一个绞车房，

where operators could raise and lower the brave workers on small seats to any point on the mountain.

操作员可以在那里将坐在小椅子上的勇敢工人们升降到山上的任何位置。

With all of this in place, 短語搭配

一切准备就绪后，

the team could finally start carving out the first head of George Washington.

团队终于可以开始雕刻乔治·华盛顿的第一个头像了。

With the help of carefully placed dynamite,

在精心布置的炸药的帮助下，

the crew started tearing off large chunks of surface rock until they had a rough egg-shaped head.

工人们开始剥离大块的表面岩石，直到形成一个粗糙的蛋形头部。

From here,

从这里开始，

it was up to the workers to carve out the face using jackhammers. 語法

就轮到工人们用风镐雕刻出面部轮廓了。

But handling these 30-kg jackhammers on the side of a cliff would be a huge challenge

但是在悬崖边上操作这些30公斤重的风镐将是一个巨大的挑战，

and powering them would require more clever engineering.

而且为它们提供动力将需要更巧妙的工程技术。

The jackhammers ran on compressed air. 短語動詞

风镐依靠压缩空气运行。

And so,

于是，

a building at the base of the mountain was set up to power them.

他们在山脚下建造了一座建筑物来为它们提供动力。

It contained three massive air compressors that ran on electricity provided by the local gold mine.

它包含三台巨大的空气压缩机，由当地金矿提供的电力驱动。

These would run all day,

它们会全天运转，

compressing air into a pipe that ran for 2,000 ft all the way up the side of the staircase

将空气压缩进一根沿着楼梯一侧长达2000英尺的管道中，

and into a building at the top of the mountain.

并进入山顶的一栋建筑。

From here,

在这里，

up to 16 jackhammers could be connected at a time. 用詞

一次最多可以连接16台风镐。

To stop the jackhammers from jumping all over the rock, 語法

为了防止风镐在岩石上跳动，

they developed their own techniques,

他们开发了自己的技巧，

sometimes installing chains to grab onto

有时安装链条来抓握，

and sometimes using their own feet to guide the jackhammer into the rock.

有时用自己的脚引导风镐钻入岩石。

The workers became experts at operating the jackhammers,

工人们成了操作风镐的专家，

but without any artistic or sculpting experience,

但在没有任何艺术或雕塑经验的情况下，

how did they know where to drill?

他们怎么知道该在哪里钻孔呢？

On the Stone Mountain Memorial,

在石山纪念碑的建造中，

Borglum used a large projector to map out his design. 短語動詞

Borglum 使用一台大型投影仪来规划他的设计图。

But Mount Rushmore was much larger and the 3D nature of the faces would make this method impossible.

但拉什莫尔山要大得多，而且面部的3D特性使得这种方法根本无法实现。

He had to figure out how to transfer the data from his model onto the mountain.

他必须想出如何将模型上的数据转移到山上。

Did you know that your own personal data is being transferred into the hands of marketing agencies

你知道你个人的数据正在被转移到营销机构的手中吗，

who then fill your inbox with spam?

然后他们会让你的收件箱充满垃圾邮件？

Luckily,

幸运的是，

you have the right to protect your own data and that's where Incogni, today's sponsor, 表達脈絡

你有权保护自己的数据，而这正是今日赞助商 Incogni，

comes in.

发挥作用的地方。

They reach out to these data brokers on your behalf 短語搭配

他们会代表你联系这些数据经纪商，

and ask them to remove all data they have about you.

要求他们删除关于你的所有数据。

All you need to do is create an account, 語法

你需要做的只是创建一个账户，

sit back, and watch Incogni do their thing. 習語

然后坐下来，看着 Incogni 为你办事。

They contact each company individually,

他们会逐一联系每家公司，

saving you an enormous amount of work.

为你节省大量的工作。

I've been using Incogni for months now and it has basically eliminated spam from my life.

我已经使用 Incogni 好几个月了，它基本上消除了我生活中的垃圾邮件。

Incogni now has a family plan that will also protect your loved ones from online scams and spam.

Incogni 现在推出了家庭计划，也可以保护你的亲人免受网络诈骗和垃圾邮件的侵害。

To protect your data and remove spam from your life,

为了保护你的数据并消除生活中的垃圾邮件，

visit incogni.com/primalspace and use code primalspace to get 60% off the annual Incogni plan.

请访问 incogni.com/primalspace 并使用代码 primalspace 获取 Incogni 年度计划的四折优惠。

In order to turn Mount Rushmore into a reality, 短語搭配

为了将拉什莫尔山变为现实，

Borglum had to figure out how to map his 5-ft model onto the 60-ft cliff edge. 短語搭配

Borglum 必须弄清楚如何将他的5英尺模型映射到60英尺的悬崖面上。

He took inspiration from the Greeks who were able to make identical copies of Roman statues 短語搭配

他从希腊人那里获得了灵感，希腊人能够完美复制罗马雕像，

using a pointing machine. 文化背景

他们使用的是一种叫作点测仪的机器。

This was a tool that could measure specific points on a sculpture relative to a reference point. 用詞

这是一种能够测量雕塑上特定点相对于参考点的位置的工具。

This could then be transferred onto a different sculpture,

然后，这可以转移到另一个雕塑上，

giving the artist a guide to carve to.

为艺术家的雕刻提供指导。

By doing this for thousands of points,

通过对成千上万个点进行这样的操作，

the exact shape of the sculpture could be replicated.

就可以复制出雕塑的精确形状。

This worked well for replicas of the same size.

这对于相同大小的复制品很有效。

But in order to scale up his design, 短語動詞

但为了放大他的设计，

Borglum would have to get creative.

Borglum 必须发挥创造力。

He came up with his own pointing machine, 短語動詞

他发明了自己的点测仪，

which was essentially a metal arm with a weighted point at one end that could swing around a fixed axis.

那本质上是一根金属臂，一端有一个带配重的指针，可以围绕固定轴摆动。

By placing the weighted point somewhere on his model,

通过将配重指针放置在模型上的某个位置，

he could get three measurements:

他可以获得三个测量值：

the angle of the point,

指针的角度、

its horizontal distance,

它的水平距离，

and its vertical distance.

以及它的垂直距离。

By simply multiplying these measurements by 12, 語法

只需将这些测量值乘以12，

the exact same point could be transferred onto the mountain.

就能把完全相同的点转移到山上。

But for that, Borglum would need to make a much larger pointing machine

但为了做到这一点，Borglum 需要制造一台大得多的点测仪，

on top of Mount Rushmore.

放在拉什莫尔山顶。

And so, that's exactly what he did. 表達脈絡

于是，他确实这样做了。

Using this giant machine,

使用这台巨型机器，

thousands of points could be marked directly onto the mountain,

可以将成千上万个点直接标记在山上，

showing the workers where to drill and exactly how deep they should drill. 語法

向工人们显示应该在哪里钻孔以及应该钻多深。

Instead of carving out the entire part, 語法

工人们不是雕刻出整个部分，

the workers would drill a series of holes close together in a honeycomb pattern.

而是在蜂窝状的图案中钻出一系列紧密相邻的孔。

Then,

然后，

the rock between the holes would be hammered out. 短語動詞

孔之间的岩石就会被敲掉。

After a couple hours of solid drilling,

在连续钻孔几个小时后，

a steel worker would come down on a harness with replacement bits to keep the workers drilling. 語法

一名钢铁工人会系着安全带下来，带着备用钻头，以保持工人们继续钻孔。

The work was tough and the men spent 8 hours a day dangling over a 500-ft cliff edge 語法

工作非常艰苦，人们每天要在500英尺高的悬崖边上悬空8小时，

for just 50 cents an hour.

而每小时只有50美分的报酬。

Over the next few years,

在接下来的几年里，

work progressed and eventually George Washington's head was done.

工作取得了进展，最终乔治·华盛顿的头像完成了。

Borglum had assembled a well-oiled team and so, 習語

Borglum 组建了一支运转良好的团队，于是，

he turned his attention to the finer details. 短語搭配

他将注意力转向了更精细的细节。

One of the trickiest parts about the sculpture was the eyes. 語法

雕塑中最棘手的部分之一是眼睛。

Typical Greek sculptures have perfectly smooth eyes,

典型的希腊雕塑拥有完全光滑的眼睛，

which look flat and lifeless.

看起来扁平且毫无生气。

To give the eyes a realistic shine,

为了给眼睛增添逼真的光泽，

he cut out a hole that was deep enough to always be in shadow. 語法

他挖了一个足够深的洞，使它总是处于阴影中。

Then, at the center of the pupil,

然后，在瞳孔的中心，

a square section would be left uncut to give the impression of a reflection in the eye. 短語搭配

会留下一块方形的部分不切割，以给人一种眼中反光的错觉。

This was an extremely risky process

这是一个极其危险的过程，

since the rock could fall under its own weight at any moment.

因为岩石随时可能在自身重量的作用下塌落。

Its effect was amazing and When viewed from far away, 語法

它的效果令人惊叹，从远处看时，

these square sections gave the eyes a shiny texture.

这些方形部分赋予了眼睛闪亮的质感。

To finish off the heads, 短語動詞

为了完成头像，

workers would do a process called bumping, 用詞

工人们会进行一个称为打磨的过程，

which would smoothen out the surface and pulverize it,

这会使表面变光滑并将其粉碎，

turning it into a whiter color.

使其变成更白的颜色。

The carving of Mount Rushmore went on for 14 years, 短語動詞

拉什莫尔山的雕刻持续了14年，

but in the end,

但最终，

it was never quite finished.

它并没有完全完工。

The original plan was to have each president carved down to their waist 語法

最初的计划是将每位总统雕刻到腰部，

and a secret tomb designed with lavish decorations

还有一个设计有豪华装饰的秘密墓穴

had only just been started when the project came to an end. 語法

才刚刚开始，该项目就结束了。

The Second World War took away all of the attention and money from Mount Rushmore.

第二次世界大战夺走了外界对拉什莫尔山的所有关注和资金。

And just a couple years later,

就在短短几年后，

Gutzon Borglum passed away. 用詞

Gutzon Borglum 去世了。

Ultimately,

最终，

Borglum and Robinson achieved their goal of putting South Dakota on the map. 習語

Borglum 和 Robinson 实现了让南达科他州名扬天下的目标。

And now, time for the Primal Space giveaway.

现在，到了 Primal Space 抽奖环节。

The winner of the previous giveaway is Sam.

上一期抽奖的获胜者是 Sam。

Congrats.

恭喜。

In the next video,

在下一个视频中，

we'll be giving away one of these awesome Metmo Cube desk toys,

我们将送出这款超棒的 Metmo Cube 桌面玩具，

precisely machined out of solid stainless steel.

由坚固的不锈钢精密加工而成。

All you need to do is sign up at the link below,

你需要做的只是在下面的链接注册，

like the video,

给视频点赞，

and leave a comment saying what you think about Mount Rushmore.

并留言说说你对拉什莫尔山的看法。

Thank you very much for watching and I'll see you

非常感谢你的观看，我们下次再见

in the next video.

在下一个视频中。

Oh.

哦。