65 Life on the Edge Extreme Homes

CHAPTER 1 Unlikely Homes SEE WHAT LIFE IS LIKE IN THESE UNLIKELY HOMES. Describe your perfect home. Would it be comfortable, with lots of space? Would you like a yard or maybe a garden? Maybe you would like theaters or a library nearby. Or would you like something more extreme? If so, why not move to Scott Base? Scott Base has thirty bedrooms, modern bathrooms, and its own professional cook! There's a room with comfortable chairs for relaxing, reading books, or watching videos. If you prefer to be outside, Scott Base has a lot to offer, too. There is a field for skiing, and even a golf course for the summer months. There is one small problem: Scott Base is in Antarctica. If you want to play golf there, you should bring a jacket, or two, or three. Summer temperatures at Scott Base almost never climb above 0C. The golf balls they use are pink, so they can be found easily in the ice and snow.

第一章不可能的家看看在这些不可能的家里生活是什么样子。 描述一下你完美的家。 它会舒适吗，有很多空间？ 你喜欢院子还是花园？ 也许你会喜欢附近的剧院或图书馆。 或者你想要更极端的？ 如果是这样，为什么不搬到斯科特基地呢？ 斯科特基地有30间卧室，现代化的浴室，还有自己的专业厨师！有一个房间，里面有舒适的椅子，可以放松、看书或看视频。 如果你喜欢户外活动，斯科特基地也有很多可供选择。 这里有一块滑雪场地，夏季甚至还有高尔夫球场。 有一个小问题：斯科特基地在南极洲。 如果你想在那里打高尔夫球，你应该带一件或两件或三件夹克。 斯科特基地的夏季气温几乎从未超过0摄氏度。 他们使用的高尔夫球是粉红色的，所以在冰雪中很容易找到。

Scott Base is a research center for scientists studying things like Antarctica, wildlife, and climate change. There are many research bases in Antarctica. Some, like Belgium's modern Princess Elisabeth Station, are only open during Antarctica's summer months, November to February. Others, like New Zealand's Scott Base, are open all year. In Antarctica, winter temperatures drop very low. Between the months of March and October, the average temperature for Scott Base is around -30C. (That's cold, but it's not the coldest temperature ever measured on Earth. That was —89.2C at Russia's Vostok Station in 1983.) The cold isn't the only problem. Winter brings 24-hour darkness to Antarctica. For people staying through the winter at Scott Base, the last sunshine they see is in April. They don't see the sun again until late August. Of course, summers in the Antarctic have the opposite problem: 24-hour sunlight. Both extremes can make it difficult for the people who live there to work and sleep.

斯科特基地是科学家研究南极洲、野生动物和气候变化等问题的研究中心。 南极洲有许多研究基地。 有些站，比如比利时的伊丽莎白公主站，只在南极洲的夏季（11月至2月）开放。 其他的，比如新西兰的斯科特基地，全年开放。 在南极洲，冬季气温降得很低。 从3月到10月，斯科特基地的平均气温在零下30摄氏度左右。 (这很冷，但并不是地球上有史以来最冷的温度。 1983年，俄罗斯东方空间站（Vostok Station）的温度是零下89.2摄氏度。)寒冷并不是唯一的问题。 冬天给南极洲带来了24小时的黑暗。 对于在斯科特基地过冬的人来说，他们最后一次看到阳光是在4月。 直到八月底他们才会再次看到太阳。 当然，南极的夏天有相反的问题：24小时的阳光。 这两种极端都会让住在那里的人难以工作和睡觉。

Many kinds of workers, including researchers, electricians, mechanics, and cooks, live at Scott Base, Most workers live there for either six or thirteen months. However, if you have special training and you enjoy the cold and dark, perhaps there's an even more extreme place for you to live. Why not try the International Space Station? The International Space Station (ISS) is 350 kilometers above the Earth and traveling at 28,000 kilometers per hour. Because the ISS is traveling so fast, it takes two days to get there. A spaceship must match its speed before it can connect with the station. There are always six people living at the ISS, though most visitors stay less than six months. Each person is given a closet-sized bedroom, but the bedrooms have no beds. Beds are useless in zero gravity. Showers are useless, too. Most people in the station clean themselves with wet towels.

许多种类的工人，包括研究人员、电工、机械师和厨师，都住在斯科特基地。大多数工人在那里居住6个月或13个月。 然而，如果你接受过特殊训练，并且喜欢寒冷和黑暗，也许还有一个更极端的地方适合你生活。 为什么不试试国际空间站呢？ 国际空间站（ISS）位于地球上空350公里处，以每小时2.8万公里的速度运行。 因为国际空间站的速度非常快，需要两天才能到达那里。 宇宙飞船必须达到它的速度才能与空间站连接。 国际空间站总是有六个人居住，尽管大多数游客停留不到六个月。 每个人都有一间壁橱大小的卧室，但卧室里没有床。 床在零重力下毫无用处。 淋浴也没用。车站里的大多数人都用湿毛巾擦身。

The ISS has an area for cooking and lots of food for its residents. However, eating can be a problem. On Earth, we use gravity to help us swallow food. In space, swallowing is more difficult. Many people say it is a lot like eating while lying down. If you do plan on visiting the ISS, be prepared to be very busy. There are jobs to do almost every hour of the day, including two hours of exercising. People in zero gravity must work hard at staying fit. Otherwise, their return to Earth's gravity could be too hard on their body. Sometimes, when people return from the ISS, they must be carried away on stretchers because they are too weak to walk.

国际空间站有一个烹饪区，并为其居民提供了大量食物。 然而，饮食可能是一个问题。 在地球上，我们利用重力帮助我们吞咽食物。 在太空中，吞咽更加困难。 很多人说这很像躺着吃东西。 如果你计划参观国际空间站，准备好很忙吧。 每天几乎每个小时都有工作要做，包括两个小时的锻炼。 失重状态下的人必须努力保持健康。 否则，他们回到地球引力下可能会对身体造成太大的压力。 有时，当人们从国际空间站返回时，他们必须用担架抬走，因为他们太虚弱了，无法行走。

CHAPTER 2 Dangerous Homes WOULD YOU LIVE AT A PLACE CALLED "FIRE MOUNTAIN"? THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN INDONESIA DO. Scott Base and the ISS are temporary homes. People who choose to live in those extreme places know they will stay there for only a few months. But around the world there are permanent homes that are more extreme, and more dangerous. People have lived in many of these places for thousands of years. One such place is Indonesia's Mount Merapi, also known as "Fire Mountain." Mount Merapi is in the center of the island of Java, one of the world's most densely populated islands. The 2,911-meter tall mountain is an active volcano, extremely active. It erupts regularly, every five to ten years, and that makes it a very dangerous home.

你会住在一个叫“火山”的地方吗？ 印度尼西亚有成千上万的人这样做。 斯科特基地和国际空间站是临时住所。 选择住在这些极端地方的人知道他们只会在那里呆几个月。 但在世界各地，有更极端、更危险的永久家园。 人们已经在这些地方生活了数千年。 其中一个地方是印度尼西亚的默拉皮火山，也被称为“火山”。 默拉皮火山位于爪哇岛的中心，爪哇岛是世界上人口最稠密的岛屿之一。 这座2911米高的山是一座活火山，非常活跃。 它定期喷发，每五到十年一次，这使它成为一个非常危险的家园。

A group of eruptions in October and November of 2010 covered the area in a cloud of hot ash. People driving cars 250 kilometers from the volcano had to turn on their lights because of the darkness caused by the ash cloud. Near Mount Merapi, over 300 people were killed and over 100,000 had to get away fast. Most left with just the clothes they were wearing and had to live in tents or other temporary shelters. Even with its history of eruptions, many people still choose to live near Mount Merapi. One reason is the dense population on Java around 1,000 people for every square kilometer. With so little space, some people must live in places others feel are too dangerous. Another reason is farming. The rich land around Mount Merapi is perfect for farmers to grow many types of plants.

2010年10月和11月的一组火山喷发将该地区覆盖在热火山灰云中。 在离火山250公里的地方，由于火山灰造成的黑暗，驾驶汽车的人们不得不打开灯。 在默拉皮火山附近，超过300人死亡，超过10万人不得不迅速逃离。 大多数人离开时只带着身上的衣服，不得不住在帐篷或其他临时避难所。 即使有火山喷发的历史，许多人仍然选择住在默拉皮火山附近。 原因之一是爪哇岛人口稠密，每平方公里约有1000人。 在如此狭小的空间里，有些人必须住在别人觉得太危险的地方。 另一个原因是农业。 默拉皮山周围肥沃的土地非常适合农民种植多种植物。