水。：英語精讀講義

Hey, Vsauce.

嘿，Vsauce。

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

我是 Michael，現在我人在倫敦，就在白金漢宮外面。

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

喔，其實我跟女王約了喝下午茶，但快要遲到了。

Yeah, she's really into tea. 片語搭配

對，她真的很愛喝茶。

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

不過，你知道茶主要是由什麼做成的嗎？

Water.

水。

And so today, 表達脈絡

所以今天，

we're going to talk about water.

我們要來聊聊水。

Now,

那麼，

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

我們都知道，水對地球生命的存在至關重要，

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

而且水覆蓋了地球表面70%以上的面積。

But before we talk about liquid water,

不過，在談液態水之前，

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

我想先說說一種「美食」：把一片麵包放在地上，然後，

at the exact same time,

就在完全相同的時刻，

on the other side of the Earth,

在地球的另一端，

the exact geographical opposite point,

也就是地理位置上完全相對的點，

you have someone else put another piece of bread. 文法

讓另一個人再放下一片麵包。

Earth sandwich. 文化背景

地球三明治。

That's right.

沒錯。

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

這項挑戰是由 Ze Frank 推廣開來的。

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

結果發現，要做出一個地球三明治簡直難得不得了。

Why?

為什麼？

Because of water.

因為水。

That's right.

沒錯。

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

如果你拿一個地球儀，把它轉到讓法國正好位於中央，

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

但從這個角度看，

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

你卻能看到地球上將近90%的陸地。

It's all right there on that one side.

它們全都集中在這一側。

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

這邊稱為陸半球。

And the other side,

而另一側，

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，稱為水半球。

Now,

那麼，

you might be saying to yourself, 表達脈絡

你可能會在心裡想：

"Okay, great.

「好吧，太棒了。

So Earth sandwiches are almost always soggy.

所以地球三明治幾乎每次都會濕答答的。

Why should I care?" 語氣意圖

這跟我有什麼關係？」

I don't know.

我也不知道。

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

但接下來這件事，你確實應該關心：

the Three Gorges Dam in China. 文化背景

中國的三峽大壩。

One of the largest hydroelectric dams ever constructed, 文法

它是有史以來建造的最大水力發電大壩之一，

completed in 2006,

於2006年完工，

and upon completion, 用詞

而在完工後，

it fundamentally changed something about Earth.

它從根本上改變了地球的某項特徵。

You know how a figure skater, 表達脈絡

你知道花式滑冰選手

spinning in place, 片語搭配

在原地旋轉時，

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

可以把雙臂向外伸來減慢轉速，

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

也就是把部分身體質量移離身體中心。

Well,

那麼，

the same thing can happen to Earth.

同樣的事也會發生在地球上。

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

三峽大壩所做的，正像花式滑冰選手把手臂伸離身體中心一樣。

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

它把39兆公斤的水抬升到海拔175公尺處。

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

NASA計算發現，如此巨量的水被移動後，地球自轉速度變慢了，

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

因此自大壩完工以來，你生命中的每一天都延長了0.06微秒。

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

不過實際上，你完全不需要為此擔心。

If you are worried,

如果你真的擔心，

you might be hydrophobic. 用詞

那你可能有點怕水。

But you're in good company. 慣用語

不過，怕水的不只你。

There are a lot of good hydrophobic materials

許多優良材料也具有疏水性，

and they behave in some pretty cool ways.

而且它們的表現相當酷。

Hydrophobic materials are resistant to getting wet. 片語搭配

疏水材料不容易被水弄濕。

That's right.

沒錯。

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

它們通常由碳氫化合物組成，而這些化合物無法與水分子形成良好的氫鍵。

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

因為水要在這些表面上攤開，需要耗費更多能量，

the water just sticks together. 片語動詞

所以水只會聚在一起。

It coheres to itself and forms nice little spheres.

水分子彼此凝聚，形成一顆顆漂亮的小球。

Now,

那麼，

in certain cases,

在某些情況下，

super-hydrophobia occurs and it looks awesome.

還會出現超疏水現象，看起來酷斃了。

The leaves of the lotus plant do this.

蓮花的葉片就有這種效果。

And when water falls on them,

當水落到葉片上時，

the water just floats around

水會在上面滾來滾去，

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

就像一大團液態水銀之類的東西。

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

這是個非常奇特的現象，多虧你們提醒，我才注意到它。

In fact,

事實上，

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

正是那則訊息一開始啟發我做一集關於水的節目。

So thanks.

所以，謝謝你們。

One final note on hydrophobia. 表達脈絡

關於恐水症，最後再補充一點。

It can happen in humans.

這種情況也會發生在人類身上。

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

我說的不是害怕游泳，也不是不喜歡海洋。

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

我指的是一種看到水就會產生心理排斥的真實症狀。

Rabies is a virus that

狂犬病是一種病毒性疾病，

if left untreated, 文法

如果不加以治療，

can lead to severe neurological damage. 片語搭配

可能造成嚴重的神經系統損傷。

In the late stages of rabies, 片語搭配

在狂犬病晚期，

the victim salivates constantly,

患者會不停流口水，

but their throat and jaw become paralyzed,

但喉嚨和下顎會陷入麻痺，

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

這表示身體無法控制口腔裡的液體，

and is in a constant fear of drowning.

並會一直陷在溺水的恐懼中。

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

這名男子感染了狂犬病，目前已進入晚期。

As he attempts to take a drink of fluid,

當他試著喝下一些液體時，

his body recoils instinctively,

他的身體會本能地向後退縮，

as if the water might burn him. 文法

彷彿水會灼傷他一樣。

But thanks to vaccination efforts, 片語搭配

但多虧了疫苗接種工作的推動，

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

狂犬病在全球造成的威脅已大幅降低。

Now,

那麼，

we could say a lot of other stuff about water,

關於水，我們還能聊很多其他內容，

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

不過我可能會留到另一集再說。

In the meantime,

在那之前，

and as always,

還是老樣子，

thanks for watching.

謝謝收看。