英汉双语阅读101：“海上巨兽” 瓦萨号为何20分钟就沉没了？

摘要：When Vasa set sail, it was the world’s most high-tech warship, a remarkable feat of Swedish naval engineering. However, in 1628, o

【背单词】

高效记单词：《新概念英语1词汇专练》

【往期回顾】

英汉双语阅读100：真假化石傻傻分不清？这里有答案！

【本期内容】

Types of Fossil Preservation

化石的保存类型

一、生词准备

1. feat [fiːt] n. 功绩；壮举

2. maiden ['meɪdn] adj. 首次的；初次的

3. gust [ɡʌst] n. 一阵强风

4. horrified ['hɒrɪfaɪd] adj. 惊恐的；吓坏的

5. flaw [flɔː] n. 缺陷；瑕疵

6. vast [vɑːst] adj. 巨大的；广阔的

7. decorated ['dekəreɪtɪd] adj. 装饰的；修饰的

8. carving ['kɑːvɪŋ] n. 雕刻品

9. unprecedented [ʌn'presɪdentɪd] adj. 前所未有的

10. inquest ['ɪnkwest] n. 调查；审讯

11. instability [ˌɪnstə'bɪləti] n. 不稳定；不稳固

12. seaworthy ['siːwɜːði] adj. 适于航海的

13. boon [buːn] n. 恩惠；福利

14. oxygen-poor [ˈɒksɪdʒən pʊə(r)] adj. 缺氧的

15. intact [ɪn'tækt] adj. 完整的；原封不动的

16. raising ['reɪzɪŋ] n. 举起；提升

17. preserving [prɪ'zɜːvɪŋ] n. 保存；保护

18. ornamentation [ˌɔːnəmen'teɪʃn] n. 装饰；装饰品

19. founder ['faʊndə(r)] v. 失败；沉没

20. syndrome ['sɪndrəʊm] n. 综合征；典型表现

21. capability [ˌkeɪpə'bɪləti] n. 能力；才能

22. elegance ['elɪɡəns] n. 优雅；高雅

23. firepower ['faɪəpaʊə(r)] n. 火力

24. critical ['krɪtɪkl] adj. 关键的；重要的

25. anthropological [ˌænθrəpə'lɒdʒɪkl] adj. 人类学的

26. naval ['neɪvl] adj. 海军的

27. archaeologist [ˌɑːki'ɒlədʒɪst] n. 考古学家

28. wreck [rek] n. 残骸；失事船只

29. deck [dek] n. 甲板

30. host [həʊst] n. 许多；一大群

二、短文内容

When Vasa set sail, it was the world’s most high-tech warship, a remarkable feat of Swedish naval engineering. However, in 1628, on its maiden voyage in Stockholm Harbor, tragedy struck. Despite surviving the first gust of wind, the second one caused it to sink within 20 minutes, right before a horrified public. Engineering flaws were to blame. Today, this sunken ship is a valuable resource for naval historians and archaeologists, turning a once-disastrous event into a well-studied tale with lasting influence.

The sinking

Vasa was a vast, beautifully decorated ship. It was covered in wooden carvings that told stories about the Swedish royal family, and most importantly the king, Gustav II Adolf, writes Rhitu Chatterjee for Public Radio International. It was the king who ordered the ship, which carried an unprecedented 64 bronze cannons, to be built–and who watched in horror as it sunk.

“Soon after, there was an inquest that concluded that the ship had been unstable,” Chatterjee writes. “But the reasons behind the instability have remained a point of debate over the centuries.”

An archaeologist who has studied the remains of the ship in great detail thinks it sank because the gun deck was far too heavy–the result of its having been designed and built by someone with no experience building such a well-armed ship, Chatterjee writes. It didn’t help that the king rushed the building process.

The rediscovery

Although Vasa didn’t work out well for Gustav II Adolf, it’s become a boon for archaeologists. “The cold, oxygen-poor water of the Baltic Sea protected Vasa from the bacteria and worms that usually digest wooden wrecks,” writes Laursen. “Perhaps 95 percent of Vasa’s wood was intact when Sweden finally raised the wreck in 1961.”

Although keeping the wooden structures stable while raising the ship proved to be a huge engineering feat, it was managed. Preserving the ship was a process that took almost three decades, Laursen writes. During that time, there wasn’t much room for archaeology, but now that the ship is stable, investigators have worked to uncover why it sank. Beyond the simple engineering problems, writes Laursen, the “human question of why it was not” seaworthy is worth discussing.

The human factor

The management world has a name for human problems of communication and management that cause projects to founder and fail–Vasa syndrome. The events of August 10, 1628 had such a big impact that the sinking is a case study business experts still read about.

“An organization’s goals must be appropriately matched to its capabilities,” write Kessler, Bierly and Gopalakrishnan. In the case of the Vasa, “there was an overemphasis on the ship’s elegance and firepower and reduced importance on its seaworthiness and stability,” they write, “which are more critical issues.” Although it was originally designed to carry 36 guns, it was sent to sea with twice that number. At the same time, the beautiful ornamentation contributed to its heaviness and instability, they write. These and a host of other factors contributed to Vasa’s sinking and provide a cautionary tale for those designing and testing new technologies.

The remains of the ship can be found in Stockholm’s Vasa Museum. According to the museum, it is the only preserved 17th-century ship in the world, and the museum is a place for historical and anthropological study as well as for visitors from around the globe.