世界上十大令人叹为观止的美景(下)

5.冰河国家公园

While Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Yosemite might get more attention than other national parks,Glacier National Park in Montana may take the cake as the most breathtaking. There is no shortage of amazing views along the 730 miles (1,174 kilometers) of hiking trails throughout the park. The park is known for its tall mountain peaks, isolated alpine lakes, abundant wildlife and, of course, the glaciers. It does indeed get its name from the huge glaciers that helped to shape the park'ssignature rock formations 10,000 years ago. In 1850, the park had 150 glaciers, but sadly only 26 now remain because of the effects of climate change on this high-altitude treasure. Don'tforget to take the snow line into account. You'll have to wait until mid-June for a snow-free hikein the lower elevations, and as long as late July for the higher elevations.

尽管黄石国家公园、大峡谷国家公园和约塞米蒂国家公园比其他的国家公园更受到世人的关注，但在“最令人惊艳”的国家公园排行中，冰河国家公园却名列第一。公园里长达730英里(1，174公里)的徒步旅行路线中，美景360度无死角充溢眼球。该公园以其高大的山峰、分离的高山湖泊、丰富的野生动物，当然，还有冰川而闻名。一万年前的巨型冰河塑造了该公园的标志性岩层，甚至连公园的名字也来源于此。1850年，当时公园内有150条冰河，而由于气候变化的影响，这高海拔瑰宝现在只剩下26条了。不过要去旅行的朋友们要注意雪线的高度，只有等到六月中旬才能在无积雪的低海拔区域远足，想要去到更高的地方就得耐心等到七月底。

4.Underwater at the Galapagos Islands

4.加拉帕戈斯群岛的水下世界

Naturalist Charles Darwin may not have known what he was getting into when he first exploredthe Galapagos Islands as part of a five-year journey to chart the area for the Royal Navy. He andhis cohorts discovered hundreds of new species and collected thousands of samples from theplants and animals that live there. Almost 200 years later, the wonder of the life that livesabove and below the sea at this archipelago remains as breathtaking as ever. Despite the inevitable tourism trade that's grown over the years, the islands are fiercely protected and divers can still rub elbows with sea creatures that haven't learned to be afraid of humans. There are more than 300 species of fish, 650 shells and mollusks, 120 crabs and 200 starfish and urchins alone. Add to that the giant sea tortoise, marine iguana, penguins, sea otters, dolphinsand sharks, and it's clear why diving in the protected waters of the Galapagos Islands is on thelist of most SCUBA enthusiasts.

自然学家查尔斯·达尔文在其五年航程中第一次来到加拉帕戈斯群岛时，或许对眼前的这片水域一无所知。当时他受命于皇家海军，绘制该地区的航海图。达尔文及其同伴们在岛屿上发现了几百个新物种，采集了当地数千类动植物的标本。直到约200年后的今天，不论是水下亦或是陆地上的加拉帕戈斯群岛，其独有的壮景依然让人惊叹。近些年来，尽管地区旅游业不可避免的发展起来，但是加拉帕戈斯群岛还是处于极好的保护之中，潜水爱好者们也仍然可以和海底那些不怎么怕人的小生物们近距离接触。在这片海域中，鱼类有300多种，贝壳类及软体动物650种，蟹类120种，单单海星及海胆就有200种。除此之外，这里还生活着巨型海龟，加拉帕戈海鬣蜥，企鹅，海獭，海豚和鲨鱼。这样一来，想必你也很清楚为何加拉帕戈斯岛受保护的水域是水肺潜水(SCUBA，译者注：Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus，指潜水员自行携带水下呼吸系统所进行的潜水活动)爱好者的心头所好了吧。

3.Earth from Space

3.太空中的地球

Unfortunately not many people will be able to see this one firsthand, but even high resolution images of the Earth from outer space can be pretty breathtaking. Satellite photos areappreciated for their aesthetic value now. The first photograph of Earth from outer space is agrainy black-and-white taken by a 35 millimeter movie camera in 1947. Even this captivatedresearchers, but the rocket that flew the camera into space was unmanned. When SovietCosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly into outer space 14 years later, his postflight description was this: "There was a good view of the Earth which had a very distinct andpretty blue halo. It had a smooth transition from pale blue, blue, dark blue, violet and absolutely black. It was a magnificent picture". Since that flight space exploration has neverbeen the same. It's doubtful that anyone who has ever witnessed the Earthrise was any lessawe-struck as Gagarin was. Perhaps with continued colonization efforts and space tourism,more people can witness this sight firsthand.

很不幸，能够亲眼看到这种画面的人并不多。不过即使只是这样一张高分辨率的照片，也已经足够让人惊奇不已了。现今，卫星照片由于自身所具有的审美价值而受到了人们的喜爱。1947年，人类用一台口径35毫米的电影摄像机拍摄了第一张颗粒面的黑白卫星照。那时尽管研究人员对外太空着迷不已，但搭载摄像机进入太空的仍是一艘无人火箭。14年后，苏联宇航员尤里·加加林成为了飞入外太空的第一人。后来，在对这次太空之行的描述中，加加林说道：“从外太空观赏地球简直太美妙了。它拥有着如此独特而又美丽的蓝色光晕，颜色的过渡也缓慢柔和：先是浅蓝，再是蓝色，然后深蓝色，再到蓝紫色，最后完全变黑。这真是一副瑰丽奇景。”对于太空的每一次探索都是各不相同的，因此后来登上太空，看到地球升起的人会不会像加加林那样感到非常震撼还难说。随着人类对太空的进一步探索和开拓，或许未来更多的人有机会亲身体验这一奇观。

2.The Sistine Chapel Ceiling

2.西斯廷教堂的天顶画

Since art is completely subjective, it's impossible to find a single work of art that everyone would agree is breathtaking, but you probably won't hear too many arguments against the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Michelangelo, the original Renaissance man, is regarded more often as a great sculptor even though his most famous work is arguably the vast frescopainting. Fresco is a challenging technique in which the artist paints on wet plaster, forminga bond causing the paint to actually become part of the surface. The Italian painter, sculptoran poet (among other things) spent four years painting more than 400 figures above his head while standing, contrary to legend that he worked on his back. One great aspect of the ceiling is that you can stand just about anywhere underneath it and view a single, distinct work of art. Upon completion of the arduous work, the great artist said, "After four tortured years, more than 400 over life-size figures, I felt as old and as weary as Jeremiah. I was only 37, yet friends did not recognize the old man I had become".

艺术是完全主观的，所以很难找到一件艺术作品让所有人都为之惊诧。然而，你可能不会听到太多关于反对罗马西斯廷教堂天顶画的观点。米开朗基罗是文艺复兴的代表人物，尽管他最著名的作品无疑是巨大的壁画，但他更多的是被当成一个伟大的雕塑家。创作湿壁画是一项具有挑战性的工艺, 艺术家们要在湿漉漉的墙灰上描绘，使画上去的色彩与墙皮混在一起，不易脱落。这位意大利画家、雕塑家和诗人(还有其他身份)花了四年时间，站着画了他头顶上的400多个人物，而传闻他其实是躺着画的。天顶画一个伟大之处是，你可以站在它下面的任意位置，欣赏这个独特的艺术作品。在完成这项艰巨的工作时，这位伟大的艺术家曾说：“经过这煎熬的四年，画了超过400个栩栩如生的人物，我觉得我和耶利米一样年老、疲惫。我只有37岁啊，但朋友们已经认不出我这位‘老人’了。”

1.Northern Lights

1.北极光

An aurora is a bright glow that occurs in the night sky when energetic particles, mostly electrons, enter the Earth's upper atmosphere from the magnetosphere. When they breakthrough, they collide with atoms and molecules, which take some of the energy and store it,creating what's known as an excited atom. The only way to calm this atom down is for it to riditself of the energy by firing off a photon. This makes the glow we see here on Earth. There are all kinds of auroras, but the most well-known are the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights. Theseare the multi-colored lights in the Northern Hemisphere's polar region. Green, white, purple and red glowing "curtains" blanket the dark, clear skies of the North Pole about 1,500 times a year during what's called a sub storm. This is when the sun releases hot plasma gas as energy into the magnetosphere. This gas breaks up and penetrates the Earth's atmosphere and curious humans below marvel at the breathtaking result. For your best chance at witnessing the Northern Lights, trvael north during the winter in Canada, Alaska or Scandinavia and then keep and eye on the skies.

极光出现于夜空中，是高能粒子，主要是电子，从地球的磁层进入高层大气时而产生的明亮光芒。冲破大气层过程中，这些高能粒子与高层大气的原子或分子碰撞，促使这些原子或分子吸收一部分的能量并将其储存，产生一种所谓的激发态原子。唯一让这种原子回到基态的方式是发射光子，降低自身的能量。然后就产生了我们在地球上所看到的极光。尽管极光多种多样，但最有名的还是北极光。北半球极地地区那些五颜六色光芒，绿光、白光、紫光和红光像“窗帘”一样覆盖整个北极明净的夜空，这种现象在每年的“亚暴”期间发生，大约会出现1,500次。太阳释放热等离子气体作为一种能量进入磁层，这些气体会分解并穿过地球大气层。然而，人们对这美丽的景象除了好奇，更多的是惊叹。目睹北极光的最好机会是冬季，飞往北方的加拿大、阿拉斯加或者斯堪的纳维亚，然后注意观察天空的变化。