Level 2 Reading 12B

Ch.24 Reading 12B

第24章 阅读12B

DARK DESCENT It's August 2004. Caver Sergio García-Dils de la Vega kisses his girlfriend good-bye at the entrance of Krubera Cave. Krubera, in the western Caucasus Mountains, is the deepest known cave in the world. It will be weeks before he sees her again. A member of an international team of 56 cavers from seven countries, García-Dils's mission was to explore Krubera. The team also hoped to be the first to reach a depth of 2,000 meters, a feat compared to conquering the North and South Poles. One team member even described descending into Krubera as "like climbing an inverted mountain." Like climbers making their way up that famous peak, the cavers descended slowly. They climbed down ropes through huge tunnels, and crawled through tight passages known as "squeezes." Bringing over five tons of equipment and other necessities with them, they established underground camps along the route. At each camp, they stopped to rest, eat, sleep, and plan the next part of the journey. Some days, they worked for up to 20 hours at a time. And each day, they left miles of rope behind them to ease their return ascent, and phone lines to communicate with people above. In the third week, they reached 1,775 meters, the deepest point achieved by cavers so far. Here, progress was blocked by a sump—a passage filled with water. The cavers had only a few options: They could empty out all the water, dive through, or go around it. Gennady Samokhin dove to the bottom but was disappointed: "No chance to get through," he said. Searching for a way around the sump, García-Dils risked entering a cascade of near-freezing water. "The water was so cold, I lost the feeling in my fingers," he said. He, too, was unsuccessful. Finally, the team found a way around the sump through a tight passage they called the "Way to the Dream." At first, they were thrilled. However, it soon led to yet another sump at 1,840 meters. After a short test dive, Samokhin emerged, smiling. There was a promising passage, he reported. Sadly, it would have to wait. After nearly four weeks underground, with supplies running low, the team was out of time. They would have to return to the surface. Four weeks later, following the path opened by García-Dils's team, a team of Ukrainian cavers reached the sump at 1,840 meters relatively quickly. After much searching, they discovered a pit—an area of a cave that falls straight down. Named "Millennium Pit," it allowed them to pass the 2,000-meter depth. More pits and passages led them to 2,080 meters, a spot they named "Game Over." But the caving game is never over. In 2009, Gennady Samokhin returned to Krubera. This time, he reached a depth of 2,191 meters. Then, in 2012, he broke his own record, diving to a point six meters deeper, at a total depth of 2,197 meters. And so the game goes on, with deeper and deeper caves calling out to be explored.

黑暗下降 现在是2004年8月。 洞穴探险家Sergio García-Dils de la Vega在Krubera洞穴入口处与女友吻别。 克鲁贝拉位于高加索山脉西部，是世界上已知最深的洞穴。 他要过几周才能再见到她。 加西亚·迪尔斯是来自七个国家的56名洞穴探险者组成的国际团队的成员，他的任务是探索克鲁贝拉。 该团队还希望成为第一个到达2000米深处的人， 与征服北极和南极相比，这是一项壮举。 一位团队成员甚至将下到克鲁贝拉描述为“就像攀登一座倒置的山” 就像攀登那座著名山峰的登山者一样，洞穴探险者们慢慢地下了山。 他们沿着绳索穿过巨大的隧道，爬过被称为“挤压”的狭窄通道 他们带着五吨多的设备和其他必需品，在沿途建立了地下营地。 在每个营地，他们都停下来休息、吃饭、睡觉，并计划下一段旅程。 有时，他们一次工作长达20个小时。 每天，他们都会在身后留下数英里的绳索，以方便返回，并留下电话线与上面的人沟通。 在第三周，他们到达了1775米，这是迄今为止洞穴探险者达到的最深点。 在这里，一个充满水的通道——集水坑阻碍了前进。 洞穴探险者只有几个选择： 他们可以清空所有的水，潜入水中，或者绕过它。 Gennady Samokhin跳到了底部，但很失望： “没有机会通过，”他说。 García-Dils在寻找绕过水坑的方法时，冒着进入接近冰点的瀑布的风险。 他说：“水太冷了，我的手指都失去了知觉。”。 他也没有成功。 最后，研究小组通过一条他们称之为“通往梦想之路”的狭窄通道找到了绕过集水坑的方法 起初，他们很兴奋。 然而，它很快又导致了1840米处的另一个集水坑。 在短暂的试潜后，萨莫欣微笑着出现了。 他报告说，有一段很有希望的文章。 遗憾的是，它必须等待。 在地下近四周后，由于补给不足，该团队已经没有时间了。 他们必须返回水面。 四周后，沿着加西亚-迪尔斯团队开辟的道路， 乌克兰洞穴探险队相对较快地到达了1840米处的地坑。 经过多次搜寻，他们发现了一个坑——一个笔直向下的洞穴区域。 它被命名为“千禧坑”，允许他们通过2000米的深度。 更多的坑和通道将他们带到2080米的地方，他们称之为“游戏结束” 但洞穴游戏永远不会结束。 2009年，Gennady Samokhin返回克鲁贝拉。 这一次，他到达了2191米的深度。 然后，在2012年，他打破了自己的记录，潜入了6米深的地方，总深度为2197米。 于是游戏继续进行，越来越深的洞穴需要探索。

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