全球最大冰山A23a被“销号”

近日，曾经全球最大冰山A23a完成末次崩塌，残余面积跌破冰山编号阈值正式被“销号”。

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. What is the primary purpose of the article?

A. To provide a detailed history of all major icebergs in Antarctica.

B. To explain the scientific mechanisms behind iceberg calving.

C. To report on the ongoing disintegration of a specific, historically significant iceberg.

D. To argue for increased funding for tracking climate change in polar regions.

无注释原文：

World's biggest iceberg, A23a, has broken up

From: BBC, Sep 3, 2025

The world's largest iceberg is “rapidly breaking up” into several large “very large chunks,” scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have said.

Previously weighing nearly a trillion metric tonnes (1.1 trillion tons) and spanning an area of 3,672 square kilometers (1,418 square miles) — slightly bigger than Rhode Island — the A23a iceberg has been closely tracked by scientists ever since it calved from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in Antarctica in 1986.

A23a has held the “largest current iceberg” title several times since the 1980s, occasionally being surpassed by larger but shorter-lived icebergs, including A68 in 2017 and A76 in 2021.

Andrew Meijers, an oceanographer at BAS, told CNN in an email Wednesday: “The iceberg is rapidly breaking up, and shedding very large chunks, themselves designated large icebergs by the US national ice centre that tracks these.”

The “megaberg” has now shrunk to about 1,700 square kilometers (656 square miles), according to Meijers, which equates to roughly the size of Greater London.

A23a remained grounded on the Antarctic's Weddell Sea floor for more than 30 years, probably until it shrank just enough to loosen its grip on the seafloor.

Then in 2020, it was carried away by ocean currents before it became stuck again in a Taylor column — the name given to a spinning vortex of water caused by ocean currents hitting an underwater mountain — until it was reported to be on the move again last December. In March this year it ran aground on a continental shelf before floating loose again in May.

Meijers explained the circumstances that led to the iceberg's breakup. “It has been following the strong current jet known as the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front (SACCF) anti-clockwise around South Georgia ever since it floated loose in May, after grounding on the continental shelf for a few months in March.

“This jet is likely to ultimately take away the berg and its bits off to the north east — still as part of iceberg alley.”

He said A23a is “following a similar fate” to other megabergs, such as A68 in 2021 and A76 in 2023, which also disintegrated around South Georgia, a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean, though it has stayed in one piece for longer than either of those.

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注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译，仅供参考

含注释全文：

World's biggest iceberg, A23a, has broken up

From: BBC, Sep 3, 2025

The world's largest iceberg is “rapidly breaking up” into several large “very large chunks,” scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have said.

英国南极调查局（BAS）的科学家表示，世界上最大的冰山正在“迅速破裂”，分解成数个“极其庞大”的碎块。

chunk /tʃʌŋk/ 表示“大块；厚块；一部分；（尤指）大部分，一大块”，英文解释为“a roughly cut piece；a part of something, especially a large part”如：a chunk of cheese 一大块奶酪，a chunk of meat 一大块肉，a chunk of text 一大段文字，a substantial chunk of profits 利润的很大一部分。

📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述中资银行崛起的文章中提到：If recent form is a guide, a chunk will be recycled into developing countries. 如果近期的情况可作为一种参考，那么其中的一大块又会被收集利用，流向发展中国家。

🎬电影《冰河世纪4：大陆漂移》（Ice Age: Continental Drift）中的台词提到：Now get this chunk of ice seaworthy by sundown 太阳下山前把这块浮冰给我找来。

Antarctica /ænˈtɑːk.tɪ.kə/ 表示“南极”，英文解释为“the continent around the South Pole”

📍the South Pole表示“南极”，英文解释为“the point on the earth's surface that is furthest south”

Previously weighing nearly a trillion metric tonnes (1.1 trillion tons) and spanning an area of 3,672 square kilometers (1,418 square miles) — slightly bigger than Rhode Island — the A23a iceberg has been closely tracked by scientists ever since it calved from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in Antarctica in 1986.

A23a冰山曾重达近一万亿公吨（1.1万亿吨），面积达3,672平方公里（1,418平方英里），比美国罗德岛州略大。自1986年从南极洲的菲尔希纳-龙尼冰架崩离后，科学家们便一直对它进行密切追踪。

metric ton /ˌmet.rɪk ˈtʌn/ 表示“公吨，米制吨（=1,000 公斤）”，英文解释为“a unit of weight equal to 1,000 kilograms”

span /spæn/ 1）表示“横跨”，英文解释为“A bridge or other structure that spans something such as a river or a valley stretches right across it.”举个🌰：Travellers get from one side to the other by walking across a footbridge that spans a little stream. 旅游者通过一座横跨小溪的人行桥从一边走到另一边。

2）表示“持续”，英文解释为“If something spans a long period of time, it lasts throughout that period of time or relates to that whole period of time.”举个🌰：His professional career spanned 16 years. 他的职业生涯持续了16年。

calve /kɑːv/ 表示“生小牛，产犊”，英文解释为“When a cow calves, it gives birth to a calf (= a young cow).”举个🌰：Four cows calved overnight. 晚上有4头母牛产犊。

也可以表示“（冰川或冰架）崩解、断裂”，英文解释为"When a glacier or an ice shelf calves, a large piece of ice breaks off from it and becomes an iceberg."

A23a has held the “largest current iceberg” title several times since the 1980s, occasionally being surpassed by larger but shorter-lived icebergs, including A68 in 2017 and A76 in 2021.

自20世纪80年代以来，A23a曾数次夺得“现存最大冰山”的头衔，其间偶尔被一些体积更大但存在时间更短的冰山超越，例如2017年的A68和2021年的A76。

surpass /səˈpɑːs/ 表示“超过，优于，胜过”，英文解释为“to do or be better than”举个🌰：His time for the 100 metres surpassed the previous world record by one hundredth of a second. 他以0.01秒的优势打破了100米短跑的前世界纪录。

Andrew Meijers, an oceanographer at BAS, told CNN in an email Wednesday: “The iceberg is rapidly breaking up, and shedding very large chunks, themselves designated large icebergs by the US national ice centre that tracks these.”

英国南极调查局（BAS）的海洋学家安德鲁·梅杰斯（Andrew Meijers）周三在发给美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）的邮件中表示：“这座冰山正在快速崩解，分裂出非常巨大的碎块，这些碎块本身已被负责追踪的美国国家冰中心认定为大型冰山。”

oceanographer /ˌəʊʃəˈnɒɡrəfə(r)/ 表示“海洋学家”，英文解释为“A person who studies the physical and biological aspects of the ocean.”举个🌰：Oceanographers have been tracking the A23a iceberg since it calved in 1986. 自 A23a 冰山于1986年崩解以来，海洋学家们一直在追踪它的轨迹。

shed /ʃed/ 丰县生育八孩女子事件调查处理情况文中作名词，表示“（通常为木质、存放物品用的）棚子，小屋”，英文解释为“a small building, usually made of wood, used for storing things”如：a tool/storage shed 工具/储物棚，a garden/bicycle shed 花园/自行车棚。

作动词，shed 1）表示“使脱落；使掉落；蜕；脱”，英文解释为“to lose a covering, such as leaves, hair, or skin, because it falls off naturally, or to drop something in a natural way or by accident”举个🌰：The trees shed their leaves in autumn. 树木在秋天落叶。

2）表示“（常为报刊用语）去除，摆脱”，英文解释为“(often used in newspapers) to get rid of something you do not need or want”举个🌰：900 jobs will be shed over the next few months. 接下来几个月中要裁减900个职位。

📍shed tears, blood, light, etc. 表示“流泪/流血/发光（等等）”，英文解释为“to produce tears, light, blood, etc.”举个🌰：She shed a few tears at her daughter's wedding. 她在女儿的婚礼上流下了泪。

The “megaberg” has now shrunk to about 1,700 square kilometers (656 square miles), according to Meijers, which equates to roughly the size of Greater London.

梅杰斯指出，这座“巨型冰山”的面积现已缩减至约1,700平方公里（656平方英里），大约相当于英国大伦敦地区的面积。

A23a remained grounded on the Antarctic's Weddell Sea floor for more than 30 years, probably until it shrank just enough to loosen its grip on the seafloor.

A23a在南极洲的威德尔海海底搁浅了三十多年，很可能是因为其体积缩小到刚好足以减弱它对海底的吸附力。

grounded /ˈɡraʊn.dɪd/ 1）表示“明智的，理智的；（对生活）持有合理和现实态度的”，英文解释为“Someone who is grounded makes good decisions and does not say or do stupid things. Having a sensible and realistic attitude to life;”举个🌰：He's very grounded even though he has so much money. 虽然他这么有钱，但他的头脑还是很清醒。Away from Hollywood, he relies on his family and friends to keep him grounded. 离开好莱坞之后，他靠家人和朋友使自己保持平衡心态。

2）表示“（船）搁浅的；（飞机）停飞的”，英文解释为“used to describe an aircraft that is prevented from flying for some reason, or a ship that cannot move because it has hit solid ground”

Then in 2020, it was carried away by ocean currents before it became stuck again in a Taylor column — the name given to a spinning vortex of water caused by ocean currents hitting an underwater mountain — until it was reported to be on the move again last December. In March this year it ran aground on a continental shelf before floating loose again in May.

随后在2020年，它被洋流推动，但之后又困在了一个“泰勒柱”中——这是指洋流撞击海底山脉时产生的旋转水体涡流——直到去年12月有报道称它再次开始移动。今年3月，它在大陆架上搁浅，随后于5月再次浮起并自由漂流。

current作名词，熟词僻义，表示“水流；气流；电流”，英文解释为“a movement of water, air, or electricity in a particular direction”如：to swim against/with the current 逆流/顺流而游。

vortex /ˈvɔː.teks/ 表示“旋涡；涡流”，英文解释为“a mass of air or water that spins around very fast and pulls objects into its empty centre”或者表示“（困境的）旋涡”，英文解释为“a dangerous or bad situation in which you become more and more involved and from which you cannot escape”举个🌰：I was sucked into a vortex of despair. 我被卷入了绝望的旋涡里。

continental /ˌkɒn.tɪˈnen.təl/ 表示“大洲的，大陆的；大陆性的，似大陆的”，英文解释为“of or relating to continents”举个🌰：Geologists map past and future continental drift. 地质学家绘制过去和未来的大陆漂移图。

Meijers explained the circumstances that led to the iceberg's breakup. “It has been following the strong current jet known as the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front (SACCF) anti-clockwise around South Georgia ever since it floated loose in May, after grounding on the continental shelf for a few months in March.

梅杰斯解释了导致冰山破裂的环境因素。“自今年3月在大陆架上搁浅数月并于5月再次浮起后，它就一直沿着被称为南南极绕极流锋面（SACCF）的强劲急流，逆时针环绕南乔治亚岛移动。”

“This jet is likely to ultimately take away the berg and its bits off to the north east — still as part of iceberg alley.”

“这股急流最终很可能会将冰山及其碎块带向东北方向——那里仍属于‘冰山走廊’的范围。”

alley/alleyway 1）表示“小街；小巷，胡同”，英文解释为“a narrow road or path between buildings”

2）表示“（冰山）航道、路径”，英文解释为“In oceanography, a route or passage through which icebergs commonly travel, often used in the phrase 'iceberg alley'.”

He said A23a is “following a similar fate” to other megabergs, such as A68 in 2021 and A76 in 2023, which also disintegrated around South Georgia, a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean, though it has stayed in one piece for longer than either of those.

他表示，A23a正“步其他巨型冰山的后尘”，例如2021年的A68和2023年的A76，它们同样在南大西洋的英国海外领地南乔治亚岛附近解体，不过A23a保持完整状态的时间比那两座冰山都要长。

disintegrate /dɪˈsɪn.tɪ.ɡreɪt/ 表示“分解，分化，分裂”，英文解释为“to become weaker or be destroyed by breaking into small pieces”举个🌰：The spacecraft disintegrated as it entered the earth's atmosphere. 宇宙飞船进入大气层时解体了。

territory /ˈter.ɪ.tər.i/ 表示“领土；领域；领地；活动范围”，英文解释为“(an area of) land, or sometimes sea, that is considered as belonging to or connected with a particular country or person”举个🌰：He was shot down in enemy territory. 他在敌方领土上被击落。

📍《消失的她》你觉得怎么样？文中也出现了这个词：Chinese mystery drama “Lost in the Stars” was the top-grossing film on the planet over the latest weekend – despite playing only a single territory. 尽管只在一个地区上映，中国悬疑电影《消失的她》（Lost in the Stars）上周末仍成为全球票房收入最高的电影。其中，playing only a single territory表示这部电影仅在一个特定的地区或市场上映，而没有在其他地方上映。这是一种特殊的用法，可能在标准的英语语法中看起来有些不寻常，但在电影行业的上下文中是常见的。在这个上下文中，说一部电影plays a territory就是说该电影在某个地区被上映或展示。当然，你也可以使用介词，比如说playing in a single territory，这样的表达方式也是正确的，意思完全相同。但在电影行业的行话或者新闻报道中，常常会省略介词，因为这样的说法更简洁。

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