选修六Unit5 AN EXCITING JOB一份令人兴奋的工作 I have the greatest job in the world. 我的工作是世界上最伟大的工作。 I travel to unusual places and work alongside people from all over the world. 我跑的地方是稀罕奇特的地方，和我一道工作的人来自世界各地。Sometimes working outdoors, sometimes in an office, sometimes using scientific equipment and sometimes meeting local people and tourists, I am never bored. （我们）有时在室外工作，有时在办公室里，有时工作要用科学仪器，有时要会见当地百姓和旅游人士。但是我从来不感到工作烦人。 Although my job is occasionally dangerous, I don't mind because danger excites me and makes me feel alive. 虽然我的工作偶尔也有危险，但是我并不在乎，因为能激励我，使我感到有活力。However, the most important thing about my job is that I help protect ordinary people from one of the most powerful forces on earth - the volcano. 然而，最重要的是，通过我的工作能保护普通百姓免遭火山的威胁——这是世界上最大的自然威力之一。 I was appointed as a volcanologist working for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) twenty years ago. 作为一名火山学家，我被派到夏威夷火山观测站（HVO）工作。 My job is collecting information for a database about Mount Kilauea, which is one of the most active volcanoes in Hawaii. 我的任务是收集有关基拉韦厄火山的数据资料，这是夏威夷最活跃的火山之一。 Having collected and evaluated the information, I help other scientists to predict where lava from the volcano will flow next and how fast. 收集和评估了这些信息之后，我就帮助其他科学家一起预测下次火山熔岩将往何处流去，流速多少。Our work has saved many lives because people in the path of the lava can be warned to leave their houses. 我们的工作拯救了许多人的生命，因为熔岩要流经之地，老百姓都可以得到离开家园的通知。Unfortunately, we cannot move their homes out of the way, and many houses have been covered with lava or burned to the ground. 遗憾的是，我们不可能把他们的家搬离岩浆流过的地方，因此，许多房屋被熔岩淹没，或者焚烧殆尽。 When boiling rock erupts from a volcano and crashes back to earth, it causes less damage than you might imagine. 当滚烫的岩石从火山喷发出来并撞回地面时，它所造成的损失比想象的要小些， This is because no one lives near the top of Mount Kilauea, where the rocks fall. 这是因为在岩石下落的基拉韦厄火山顶附近无人居住。 The lava that flows slowly like a wave down the mountain causes far more damage because it buries everything in its path under the molten rock. 而顺着山坡下流的火山熔岩所造成的损失却大得多，这是因为火山岩浆所流经的地方，一切东西都被掩埋在熔岩下面了。However, the eruption itself is really exciting to watch and I shall never forget my first sight of one. 然而火山喷发本身的确是很壮观的，我永远也忘不了我第一次看见火山喷发时的情景。 It was in the second week after I arrived in Hawaii. 那是在我抵达夏威夷后的第二个星期。 Having worked hard all day, I went to bed early. 那天我辛辛苦苦等干了一整天，很早就上床睡觉了。 I was fast asleep when suddenly my bed began shaking and I heard a strange sound, like a railway train passing my window. 我在熟睡中突然感到床铺在摇晃，接着我听到一阵奇怪的声音，就好像有列火车在我的窗外行驶一样。Having experienced quite a few earthquakes in Hawaii already, I didn't take much notice. 因为我在夏威夷曾经经历过多次地震，所以对这种声音我并不在意。 I was about to go back to sleep when suddenly my bedroom became as bright as day. 我刚要再睡，突然我的卧室亮如白昼。I ran out of the house into the back garden where I could see Mount Kilauea in the distance. 我赶紧跑出房间，来到后花园，在那儿我能远远地看见基拉韦厄火山。There had been an eruption from the side of the mountain and red hot lava was fountaining hundreds of metres into the air. 在山的一边有火山喷发，红色发烫的岩浆像喷泉一样，朝天上喷射达几百米高。It was an absolutely fantastic sight. 真是绝妙的奇景！ The day after this eruption I was lucky enough to have a much closer look at it. 就在这次火山喷发的第二天，我有幸做了一次近距离的观察。 Two other scientists and I were driven up the mountain and dropped as close as possible to the crater that had been formed during the eruption. 我和另外两位科学家驱车上山，到最靠近这次火山喷口的地方才下车。Having earlier collected special clothes from the observatory, we put them on before we went any closer. 早先从观测站出发时就带了一些特别的安全服，于是我们穿上安全服再走近火山口。All three of us looked like spacemen. 我们三个人看上去就像宇航员一样，We had white protective suits that covered our whole body, helmets, big boots and special gloves. 我们都穿着白色的防护服遮住全身，戴上了头盔和特别的手套，还穿了一双大靴子。 It was not easy to walk in these suits, but we slowly made our way to the edge of the crater and looked down into the red, boiling centre. 穿着这些衣服走起路来实在不容易，但是我们还是缓缓往火山口的边缘走去，并且向下看到了红红的沸腾的中央。The other two climbed down into the crater to collect some lava for later study, but this being my first experience, I stayed at the top and watched them. 另外两人攀下火山口去收集供日后研究用的岩浆，我是第一次经历这样的事，所以留在山顶上观察他们。 Today, I am just as enthusiastic about my job as the day I first started. 如今，我和当初从事这项工作时一样满怀热情。 Having studied volcanoes now for many years, I am still amazed at their beauty as well as their potential to cause great damage. 虽然我从事火山研究很多年了，但是我对火山的壮丽景色以及它那潜在的巨大破坏力至今仍然感到惊愕不已。 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/cbd34646b81aa8114431b90d6c85ec3a87c28b00.html