到底有多少個大洲？：英語精讀講義

How many continents are there?

世界上有多少個大洲？

If you grew up in the English-speaking world, 文法

如果你在英語世界長大，

you might think that the answer is obvious.

你可能會覺得答案顯而易見。

1 2 3 4 5 6 7.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7。

But not everyone counts continents the same way. 文法

但並不是每個人都這樣計算大洲的數量。

The usual definition,

通常的定義是，

that they're large landmasses separated from others by oceans,

它們是被海洋分隔開的巨大陸地，

is fine until you actually start to think about it. 表達脈絡

這個定義乍聽沒問題，直到你開始仔細思考。

And then you run into problems. 片語動詞

然後你就會發現一些問題。

Problems like this.

比如像這樣的問題。

Here's Europe,

這裡是歐洲，

here's Asia,

這裡是亞洲，

and you'll notice a lack of ocean between them. 片語搭配

你會注意到它們之間並沒有海洋。

Then why are they two different continents?

那為什麼它們是兩個不同的大洲？

The usual reason for the split is a cultural one, 文法

通常的劃分理由是文化因素，

that Europe is so different from Asia that it's best to pretend it's a separate entity. 文法

也就是歐洲和亞洲文化差異太大，所以最好把它們當成兩個獨立的實體。

Okay,

好吧，

maybe.

也許是這樣。

But if the cultural argument is valid, 文法

但是，如果文化的說法站得住腳，

then surely it also applies to India and the Middle East.

那麼它肯定也適用於印度和中東。

Now you have nine continents and a new problem.

現在你有了九個大洲，以及一個新的問題。

If culture defines continents,

如果文化決定了大洲的劃分，

then you'll never stop drawing increasingly unhelpful lines.

那你就會一直畫出越來越多毫無意義的界線。

So some places ditch the cultural division and combine Europe and Asia into Eurasia. 用詞

因此，有些地方拋棄了文化劃分，將歐洲和亞洲合併為歐亞大陸。

This Eurasia is not to be confused with this Eurasia, 片語搭配

這個歐亞大陸不要與那個歐亞國混淆，

which has always been at war with Eastasia. 文化背景

那個一直在與東亞國交戰的國家。

Making Eurasia gives a six-continent view of the world.

將歐亞合併，世界就變成了六大洲。

But what about over here?

但是這裡呢？

North America and South America.

北美洲和南美洲。

They're connected at Panama,

它們在巴拿馬是相連的，

or at least they used to be until Teddy Roosevelt decided that someone had to cut that country in half and it might as well be him. 講解

或者至少它們曾經是相連的，直到老羅斯福決定必須有人把那個國家劈成兩半，而那個人不妨就是他。

But even still,

但即便如此，

the canal's only 13 meters deep.

這條運河也只有 13 公尺深。

You could walk all the way from Northern Alaska across the narrow Panama Canal and, 片語搭配

你可以從阿拉斯加北部一路走來，穿過狹窄的巴拿馬運河，而且，

if it weren't for the deadly, 文法

要不是因為那致命的、

impenetrable,

無法穿越的、

poison-filled Brazilian rainforest,

充滿毒物的巴西雨林，

make it all the way to the southern tip of Chile.

你可以一路走到智利的最南端。

So North and South America,

所以北美洲和南美洲，

despite the canal, 文法

儘管有運河存在，

aren't really divided,

並沒有真正被分開，

which is why some places, 表達脈絡

這就是為什麼有些地方，

particularly South America,

特別是南美洲，

treat America as a single continent,

把美洲看作是一個大洲，

not two,

而不是兩個，

which brings the total number of continents down to five. 片語搭配

這把大洲的總數降到了五個。

But if you disregard the Panama Canal, 文法

但如果你無視巴拿馬運河，

then you also have to disregard the Suez Canal,

那麼你也得無視蘇伊士運河，

and you've just created the monstrously large Afro-Eurasian continent,

這樣你就創造了巨大的非歐亞大陸，

85 million square kilometers,

面積達 8500 萬平方公里，

home to 5.7 billion people. 片語搭配

擁有 57 億人口。

With this four-continent view of the world,

有了這個四大洲的世界觀，

we must surely be done because there are no more continents to merge

我們肯定完事了，因為再也沒有大洲可以合併，

and our definition from the beginning is now consistent.

而且我們一開始的定義現在終於一致了。

Except,

不過，

we're not done because of that troublesome word large.

我們還沒完，因為「巨大」這個詞很麻煩。

Exactly how large is continental large?

到底多大才算是大洲級別的大？

Is Australia really a dinky continent or is it king of the islands? 慣用語

澳洲真的是一個迷你大洲，還是僅僅是島嶼之王？

Why not make Greenland the smallest continent?

為什麼不把格陵蘭島作為最小的大洲呢？

It's pretty big even if you took away its ice. 文法

即使去掉冰層，它也相當大。

And speaking of ice, 片語搭配

說到冰，

what about Antarctica?

南極洲呢？

The forgotten continent unfairly smushed against the bottom of maps just because no one lives there. 用詞

這塊被遺忘的大陸，只因為無人居住，就不公平地被擠在地圖的最底下。

Remove the ice sheet that covers Antarctica and you reveal it for the archipelago it really is,

移除覆蓋南極洲的冰蓋，你會發現它實際上是一個群島，

not the single landmass it pretends to be.

而不是它偽裝成的一整塊陸地。

And to complicate matters, 表達脈絡

更複雜的是，

the largest of these Antarctic islands is smaller than Australia.

這些南極島嶼中最大的一個比澳洲還要小。

So if you want to keep calling Antarctica a continent, 文法

所以如果你想繼續稱南極洲為一個大洲，

then there's a bunch of other islands that might want to be continents too.

那也有一堆其他島嶼可能也想成為大洲。

Islands like New Guinea,

像新幾內亞、

Borneo,

婆羅洲、

Madagascar,

馬達加斯加、

Baffin Island,

巴芬島、

Sumatra,

蘇門答臘，

and Honshu.

還有本州島。

While this seems inclusive to the point of silliness, 片語搭配

雖然這聽起來包容得有些愚蠢，

ultimately someone has to decide what large means and that's going to be an arbitrary line.

但最終必須有人來決定「巨大」到底意味著什麼，而這將是一條武斷的界線。

This problem will be familiar to anyone who remembers the is Pluto a planet or not a planet fiasco, 文化背景

對於記得冥王星到底是不是行星這場鬧劇的人來說，這個問題一定很熟悉，

which hinged mostly on this same issue of size. 片語動詞

它主要也是取決於大小問題。

So now we're more confused than before we started. 文法

所以現在我們比開始時更加困惑了。

There might be three continents or dozens.

也許有三個大洲，也許有幾十個。

You know what will sort this out? 片語動詞

你知道什麼能解決這個問題嗎？

Science.

科學。

Confusion plus science equals answers. 表達脈絡

困惑加上科學等於答案。

Let's ask a geologist what a continent is.

讓我們問問地質學家什麼是大洲。

For them,

對他們來說，

a continent is a tectonic plate, 文化背景

大洲就是板塊，

parts of the Earth's crust that move together.

是地殼中一起移動的部分。

So geologists,

那麼地質學家們，

show us your continents.

向我們展示你們的大洲吧。

The Antarctic plate,

南極洲板塊、

the Australian plate,

澳洲板塊、

the Eurasian plate,

歐亞板塊、

the South American plate,

南美洲板塊、

the African plate.

非洲板塊。

So far,

到目前為止，

this is looking pretty good.

看起來還不錯。

The Middle Eastern plate,

中東板塊、

the Indian plate,

印度板塊、

the Caribbean plate,

加勒比板塊、

the Pacific plate.

太平洋板塊。

There isn't even anything there.

那裡明明什麼都沒有啊。

Well,

好吧，

there's mostly nothing there.

大部分區域是什麼都沒有。

The Nazca plate,

納斯卡板塊、

the Scotia plate.

斯科舍板塊。

Really?

真的嗎？

At least North America is still looking reasonable, 表達脈絡

至少北美洲看起來還算合理，

until you include a chunk of Russia,

直到你把俄羅斯的一塊、

half of Japan,

日本的一半，

and half of Iceland.

還有冰島的一半都算進去。

Well,

好吧，

this is unhelpful.

這沒啥幫助。

Thanks a lot, 語氣意圖

多謝了，

geologists.

地質學家們。

The heart of the problem is that the word continent doesn't have a simple and consistent definition for everyday use. 講解

問題的核心在於，「大洲」這個詞在日常使用中並沒有一個簡單而一致的定義。

So how many continents are there?

那麼到底有多少個大洲呢？

Well,

這個嘛，

how many do you want there to be? 語氣意圖

你希望有多少個？

Six.

六個。

The answer is clearly six. 語氣意圖

答案很明顯是六個。