10 A Land of Many Contrasts

Chapter 10 A LAND OF MANY CONTRASTS "Are we there yet?" Coke hollered from the backseat. Dr. McDonald laughed. He had just pulled the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti out of the parking lot of the Best Western El Rancho Palacio in Roswell, New Mexico. "Very funny," he replied. Leaving Roswell, he drove past the International UFO Museum and Research Center, the Alien Zone, and a bunch of alien themed gift shops. "I can't believe how many people actually fall for this alien crap," he said, shaking his head. "It's the biggest con job I've ever seen." Coke and Pep shot looks at each other. "Oh, I don't know, dear," Mrs. McDonald said. "I saw an article in the paper last week that

第十章充满对比的土地“我们到了吗？”可乐在后座上喊道。 麦克唐纳医生笑了。他刚刚把法拉利612 Scaglietti从新墨西哥州罗斯威尔的Best Western El Rancho Palacio酒店的停车场里开出来。 “很有趣，”他回答。离开罗斯威尔后，他开车经过了国际不明飞行物博物馆和研究中心、外星人区和一堆外星人主题的礼品店。 “我真不敢相信居然有这么多人相信外星人的鬼话，”他摇着头说。 “这是我见过的最大的骗局。” 可口可乐和Pep shot互相看了看。 “哦，我不知道，亲爱的，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “我上周在报纸上看到一篇文章

said there could be as many as forty billion habitable Earth-size planets in the galaxy. How do you know there isn't intelligent life out there?" "Intelligent life out there?" Dr. McDonald replied. "I'm not even convinced there's intelligent life in this car. I'll believe in aliens when I see them with my own eyes." "I'm with you, Dad," Coke said, winking at his sister. "What a con job." The twins shared a secret laugh. There was no point trying to convince their parents that just a few hours earlier they had been walking on the moon and searching for Alan Shepard's golf balls for some uptight aliens who had a thing about littering. The nice thing was that their brief adventure in outer space had completely knocked Coke and Pep's other problems out of their minds. They had just about forgotten about the evil Dr. Herman Warsaw, Mrs. Higgins, Doominator, and those nincompoop bowler dudes who had

银河系中可能有多达400亿颗适合居住的地球大小的行星。 你怎么知道外面没有智慧生命？”“外太空有智慧生命？”博士。 麦克唐纳回答道。“我甚至不相信这辆车里有智能生命。 当我亲眼看到外星人时，我会相信他们的存在。” “我和你在一起，爸爸，”科克说着，向妹妹眨了眨眼睛。 “真是个骗局。”这对双胞胎偷偷地笑了起来。 试图让他们的父母相信，就在几个小时前，他们还在月球上行走，寻找艾伦·谢泼德（Alan Shepard）的高尔夫球，而不是一些喜欢乱扔垃圾的神经质外星人，这是毫无意义的。 好在他们在外太空的短暂冒险，完全把可口可乐和佩普的其他问题抛诸脑后。 他们差点就忘了那个邪恶的博士。 赫尔曼·华沙，希金斯夫人，末日终结者，还有那些打保龄球的白痴

been chasing them across the United States for the last four weeks. It was like a man with a stomachache who accidentally smashes his thumb with a hammer. Suddenly, he's not thinking about his stomachache anymore. "Go West, young man!" Dr. McDonald bellowed as he pulled the Ferrari onto Route 70, the major road out of Roswell. The engine purred to life as he pushed his foot against the accelerator. "How many miles is it to San Francisco?" Pep asked. Mrs. McDonald had her laptop computer open in the front seat. She tapped a few keys and reported that they had about 1,300 miles ahead of them, depending on which route they took to California. "If we drove straight without making any stops," Mrs. McDonald said, "we would be home in less than twenty hours." If you'd like to follow the McDonalds on

在过去的四周里，我一直在美国各地追捕他们。 这就像一个胃痛的人不小心用锤子砸碎了他的拇指。 突然间，他不再想他的胃痛了。 “到西部去吧，年轻人！”麦克唐纳咆哮着把法拉利开上了70号公路，这是罗斯威尔城外的主要道路。 当他把脚踩在油门上时，发动机发出咕噜声发动起来了。 “到旧金山有多少英里？”Pep问道。 麦克唐纳夫人把她的笔记本电脑放在前排座位上。 她敲了几个键，报告说他们还有大约1300英里的路程，这取决于他们走哪条路线去加州。 “如果我们直行不停车，”麦克唐纳太太说，“不到20小时就能到家了。” 如果你想跟着麦当劳走

their trip back to California, it's easy. Get on the internet and go to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/), Mapquest (www.mapquest.com), Rand McNally (www.randmcnally.com) or whatever navigation website you like best. On Google Maps, click Get Directions. In the A box, type Roswell NM. In the B box, type Alamogordo NM. Then click Get Directions again. See the map? It would be a straight shot on Route 70 that morning for more than a hundred miles. Twenty hours. Both of the twins thought the same thing—soon, their nightmare would be over. Mrs. McDonald took out her New Mexico guidebook. The southern part of the state is mostly desert and boiling hot in the summer months.

他们回加州的旅行，很容易。 上网，登录谷歌Maps （http://maps.google.com/）、Mapquest （www.mapquest.com）、Rand McNally （www.randmcnally.com）或任何你最喜欢的导航网站。 在谷歌地图上，点击获取方向。 在A框中，输入Roswell NM。 在B框中，输入Alamogordo NM。 然后再次点击“获取方向”。 看到地图了吗？那天早上，在70号公路上直驶100多英里。 20小时。两个双胞胎都在想同样的事情——他们的噩梦很快就会结束。 麦克唐纳太太拿出她的新墨西哥旅游指南。 该州南部大部分是沙漠，夏季炎热。

"It says here that New Mexico is a land of many contrasts," she reported. "Sun-baked deserts, deep caves, and snow-covered mountains. Big, modern cities and thousandyear- old Indian villages. Did you know that in the Aztec language, the word Mexico means 'in the center of the moon'?" "Actually, I did know that," Coke said, looking out the window. His sister rolled her eyes, knowing that her brother wasn't just boasting. He did know just about everything. That's what happens when you're born with a photographic memory. "Hey, there's a museum devoted to Billy the Kid in Fort Sumner," Mrs. McDonald said excitedly. "And in Faywood, New Mexico, there's a rock formation that looks just like a giant toilet." Both sites would be perfect to gather material for her popular website, Amazing but True. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, depending on your point of view), it would be

“这里说新墨西哥是一个充满反差的地方，”她报告说。 “阳光炙烤的沙漠，深邃的洞穴，白雪覆盖的山脉。 现代化的大城市和有千年历史的印第安村庄。 你知道在阿兹特克语中，‘墨西哥’这个词的意思是‘在月亮的中心’吗？”“事实上，我确实知道，”可口可乐看着窗外说。 妹妹翻了个白眼，知道哥哥不是在吹牛。 他确实什么都知道。 这就是天生具有过目不忘能力的人会发生的事。 “嘿，萨姆纳堡有个比利小子博物馆，”麦克唐纳太太兴奋地说。 “在新墨西哥州的费伍德，有一个岩层看起来就像一个巨大的厕所。” 这两个网站都很适合为她的热门网站“Amazing but True”收集材料。 不幸的是（或者也许是幸运的，取决于你的观点），事实的确如此

necessary to drive hundreds of miles out of the way to visit them. "Personally," Dr. McDonald said, "I would be more interested in learning about New Mexico's involvement in the space program and the birth of the atomic bomb." "Bo-ring!" both kids hooted. "Dad, you are such a stick-in-the-mud," Pep said. "I vote for the big toilet," said Coke. "Big toilet! Big toilet! Big toilet!" the twins chanted. "Knock it off back there!" shouted Dr. McDonald. When we think of the desert, a lot of people think of the Sahara in Africa—smooth, desolate, rolling sand dunes sculpted by the wind. But the desert of the American southwest doesn't look anything like that. It's mostly flat with low shrubs, interrupted by occasional road signs. There wasn't much to look at out the window.

有必要驱车数百英里去拜访他们。 “就我个人而言，”麦克唐纳博士说，“我更感兴趣的是了解新墨西哥州参与太空计划和原子弹的诞生。” “嘣-ring!”两个孩子齐声叫道。 “爸爸，你真是个墨守成规的人，”佩普说。 “我选大厕所，”可口可乐说。 “大厕所!大卫生间!大厕所！”双胞胎高呼。 “别在后面吵了！” 麦当劳。当我们想到沙漠的时候，很多人会想到非洲的撒哈拉沙漠——被风塑造成平坦、荒凉、起伏的沙丘。 但美国西南部的沙漠却完全不是这样。 它大部分是平坦的，有低矮的灌木，偶尔有路标。 窗外没什么可看的。