TED演讲:探索世界最深洞穴(1)

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And I say believe because this process is still ongoing¹.  我说相信是因为这个探索过程还未结束。

Right now there are major expeditions being planned for next year that I'll talk a little bit about.  明年有几个很大的探险活动正在策划中，关于这个我会做些介绍

One of the things that's changed here,  现在,变化之一是，

in the last 150 years since Jules Verne had great science-fiction concepts of what the underworld was like,  自从儒勒凡尔纳在科幻小说里描绘了地底世界的样子后,

is that technology has enabled us to go to these places that were previously² completely unknown and speculated about.  在过去的150年里，科技已使我们能够到达一些地方，这些地方是我们先前完全不知且不能想象的。

We can now descend³ thousands of meters into the Earth with relative impunity⁴.  而我们现在能相对安全得深入地球几千米。

Along the way we've discovered fantastic abysses and chambers⁵ so large  沿途我们发现了奇异的深渊和岩洞。

that you can see for hundreds of meters without a break in the line of sight.  那些岩洞大得异乎寻常，一眼望去能看到几百米。

When you go on a thing like this, we can usually be in the field for anywhere from two to four months,  当我们到了这样的岩洞时，我们经常会在那待二至四个月，

with a team as small as 20 or 30, to as big as 150.  我们的队伍规模小时二三十人，大时有一百五十人。

And a lot of people ask me, you know,  许多人问我，

what kind of people do you get for a project like this?  你们选什么样的人参加这样的项目？

While our selection process is not as rigorous as NASA, it's nonetheless thorough.  我们的筛选过程不是像NASA(美国航空航天局)那么严格，但它又是周详的。

We're looking for competence⁶, discipline, endurance, and strength.  我们寻找的是有能力胜任此工作，能严格约束自己，耐力长久而且体力充沛的人。

In case you're wondering, this is our strength test.  如果你想知道的话，这是我们的体能测试。

But we also value esprit de corps⁷ and the ability to diplomatically resolve inter-personal conflict while under great stress in remote locations. 但我们也重视团队精神和善于解决人际矛盾的能力。这些能力，在人们身处僻壤。

We have already gone far beyond the limits of human endurance.  压力巨大到远远超过人类耐力极限的时候尤其重要。

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