55. Why Antarctica Is Being Explored
1. When the United States was born, the continent of Antarctica was as remote as the moonmore so, in a way, because the moon was clearly visible and the very existence of Antarctica was uncertain. But now that remote land area is so attainable1 and so important that it has become the subject of an international treaty which protects it from national rivalries2 yet leaves it open to all for exploration and use. The pact3 arranging this is even being viewed as a model applicable to the moon and other celestial4 bodies.
1、在美国诞生之时，对大家来讲南极洲就像月球一样遥远从某种角度说，甚至更远，由于月亮了解可见，而南很大陆是不是真实存在还没办法确定。但今天，这块遥远的陆地已变得这样触之可及并且这样要紧，以致它已遭到一个国际公约的保护，使其免于成为国家间竞相抢夺的对象，而是对所有国家开放，供大伙一同开发和借助。这个公约甚至被视为一个范文，适用于月球和其他天体的开发。
2. Yet many people, thinking of the distant continent only as a bleak5, rocky, cold and inhospitable land mass, may wonder: Why all the fuss? Why protect something so unpromising?
2、到今天仍有不少人觉得这块遥远的国内只是一大片荒凉、寒冷、岩石林立、根本没办法居住的土地。他们可能非常奇怪：为何这样小题大做?为何要保护如此一块毫无前途的土地?
3. The answer lies in a number of factors, not the least of which is isolation6 itself. Antarctica is a very large area of the earths surface, butuntil recent yearswas the least studied. More knowledge of it is important for all mankind.
3、这类问题的答案由很多原因所决定，并不止是这块国内本身与世隔绝这么简单。南极洲是地球表面上一块巨大的土地，但，直到近年，人类的研究都极少涉及于此。更多地知道南极洲对全人类来讲都尤为重要。
4. A look at a globe is perhaps the best way to appreciate the significance of this peculiar7 continent. The globe shows that the entire southern hemisphere is preponderantly waterthe widest parts of the Atlantic and Pacific, the unbroken sweep of Antarctic seas circling the world. Although much of South America, parts of Africa and all of Australia lie south of the equator, most of the worlds land lies north of the line.
4、注意观察地球仪或许能帮助大家知道这个神奇国内的重要程度。地球仪显示，水在整个南半球占绝对优势包含大西洋和太平洋最广阔的部分与萦绕地球的南极海洋。尽管绝大多数南美洲、部分非洲与整个澳洲坐落于赤道以南，但地球上的大多数陆地还是分布在赤道以北。
5. Antarctica stood in splendideven awesomeisolation from the rest of the world for countless8 years. Its forbidding climate and wild seas prevented the migration9 and development of land animals such as the Arctic regions know. On the continent itself are a few insects, some lichens10 and mosses11, but nothing else that is land supported. However, there are amphibious penguins12 and seals and a rich marine13 life, ranging from the minute organisms called plankton14 to the biggest creature the world has ever known, the blue whale.
5、南极洲的壮观秀丽引人敬畏，在无数的岁月里，它就如此孤独傲立于世界。和大家已熟悉的北极地区一样，它那让人很难亲近的气候和狂野的海浪使得陆地动物没办法迁移至此和繁衍。倚赖于南极洲陆地存活的只有极少的一些昆虫、地衣和苔藓。然而，这里却有着两栖的企鹅和海豹与丰富的海洋生命包含从被叫做浮游生物的微小生物，直到迄今所知世界上最大的动物蓝鲸。、
6. The Antarctica treaty applies to all areas below latitude15 60 degrees south. This line, running around the globe some 2,000 miles from the South Pole itself, just misses the lower tip of South America, and is well below the Cape16 of Good Hope and New Zealand. There are a number of small islands between this line and the Antarctic continent, but the waters here are known to mariners17 as the screaming Sixties because there is so little obstruction18 to the world-circling winds.
6、《南极洲公约》适用于除公海以外坐落于南纬60度以南的所有地区。南纬60度线距南极点大约2000英里，它环绕地球，刚好错过南美洲的最南端，远在好望角和新西兰之南。该线和南极洲之间分布着一些小岛，但，这里的海域被水手们称为狂啸的60度，由于这里障碍物极少，阻挡不了世界环风。
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