托福阅读材料之中国民间诺亚方舟横空出世

You may be all happy and carefree today celebrating Halloween, but don’t forget that according to the Mayan calendar the end of days is less than two months away. Luckily, there’s a way around it – a survival pod built by a Chinese inventor who claims it can withstand the end of the world.

您可能今天正在快乐无忧地庆祝万圣节，但不要忘记，根据玛雅历法，我们离世界末日还不到2个月的时间。幸运的是，已经有一个解决办法：由中国人发明家制造的逃生装置，据说它可以经受世界末日的灾难。

It’s big, it’s round, and apparently it will keep you alive in case of a natural disaster or a nuclear meltdown. Officially, it’s called the “Atlantis”, but everyone has started calling it a modern-day Noah’s Arc. Chinese entrepreneur and inventor Yang Zongfu worked on his survival pod for the last two years and spent around $150,000 making it as durable as possible.

它又大又圆，显然它能保证你的生存，无论是自然灾害还是核危机降临。据官方称它叫“亚特兰蒂斯”号，不过每个人都把它叫作现代的诺亚方舟。中国企业家兼发明家杨宗福在过去的两年里都在致力打造他的逃生装置，为了让其尽可能的耐用，他已花费15万美元左右。

Back in August, he announced a series of public tests which would prove his Armageddon-proof survival pod was ready for the end of the world. On August 6, he climbed inside the Atlantis and was pushed down a 50-meter obstacle course on the side of a hill, over a bed of rocks and into a pool. Sadly, as soon as it hit the water, the arc’s door opened proving it was less than water tight.

早在8月，他就开展了一系列公开测试，来证明他的末日逃生装置可以应付世界末日的灾难。8月6日他爬进亚特兰蒂斯号，从50米高的山边障碍训练场被推下，经过岩床落入水池。不幸的是因为它击中了水，装置的门打开了，证明了它防水性还不足。

The inventor himself came out in one piece, but with a cut on his chin. But that didn’t discourage Yang, who moved on to the fire test, in which he set a smaller version of the Atlantis on fire, and pulled out a frozen ice-cream that had been perfectly preserved inside.

发明者安全无损走出了诺亚方舟，但下巴上受了一点割伤。然而这并没有阻止他接下来继续进行防火试验，他将一个较小版的亚特兰蒂斯号放入火中，实验结束后装置里的冰淇淋保存完好。

According to Yang Zongfu, the Atlantis can withstand temperatures of up to 1700 degrees Celsius, and impact forces of 350 tons. It can float on water, and is equipped with safety seats, a communication system, a first aid kit and a toilet. This new-age Noah’s Arc has room for ten people and can carry enough food supplies to keep them alive for 10 months. The inventor doesn’t plan on keeping the secret to surviving the end of the world to himself.

根

据杨先生的设计，方舟能承受 1700摄氏度的高温和350吨的重压， 它能浮在水面上，内有安全座椅，通讯系统以及一个急救箱和马桶。新时代的诺亚方舟可以供十人乘坐并携带足够十个月的食物供养。不过发明者并不打算保密，只为末日自己一人求生。

Yang plans to sell Atlantis survival pods to survivalists crazy rich enough to buy them. Oriental Outlook, a Shanghai-based magazine, recently reported Yang Zongfu has so far received 21 orders for his doomsday ark, which is built in accordance with customer requests and has its own custom interior design.

杨先生打算将亚特兰蒂斯号出售给非常有钱的求生者。上海《瞭望东方》周刊近期报道说，杨宗福的末日逃生装置迄今已经接受到了十几个订单。装置将根据顾客要求制造，并且还可以进行个性化的舱内设计。

Prices for the Atlantis survival pod range from 1 million yuan ($160,000) to 5 million yuan ($800,000). Hurry up and place your order today, there might not be a tomorrow!

亚特兰蒂斯逃生装置售价从100万元（16万美元）到500万元（80万美元）不等。赶快抓紧时间购买，或许就没有明天了！