VOA常速英语:Geophysicist Probes Ocean's Secrets

短语讲解：

1. For his doctoral thesis at Columbia, Pitman headed back to sea on a research vessel.

head back转身, 折回
例句：We ought to be heading back if we want to reach home before dark.
如果我们想天黑前到家, 现在该往回走了。

2. “Now when they pull apart, volcanic material comes up and fills that void," Pitman says.

pull apart拆开, 拉开
例句：The man had a difficult time pulling those fighting dogs apart.
那人费了很大劲才把两只打架的狗分开。
come up上来; 走近; 发生；出现
例句：I expect something to come up soon.
我预料很快就要出事的。

3. That volcanic material contains a lot of iron. When that volcanic material cools down that iron will become magnetized in the direction of the earth’s field on that place and at that time.

cool down (使)变凉; 冷静下来
例句：Her passion for her teacher has cooled down.
她对她老师的热恋已经冷却下来了。

4. I didn’t imagine ever being involved in something so astonishing and so very, very important to the geological sciences at such a young stage in my career.

involve in使参与〔陷入, 牵扯到〕
例句：The vast masses there have become involved in the health campaign.
那里的广大群众都参加了卫生运动。

5. Pitman says that in addition to explaining how the continents drift around the oceans, the science of plate tectonics explains how they collide and break apart, creating earthquakes and building mountain chains.

in addition to除…之外，还……
例句：In addition to French, he has to study Japanese.
除了法语外，他还得学日语。

6. Later, Pitman turned his attention to the surface of the ocean, and sea level changes.

turn to (把注意力等)转向
例句：More and more people turn to computer science.
愈来愈多的人从事计算机科学研究。

7. It probably served as a fertile oasis for Neolithic peoples.

serve as充当, 担任
例句：We found that birch bark could serve as paper.
我们发现桦树皮可以作纸用。

8. And that water as it comes through the Bosporus is going to cut the Bosporus deeper.

come through穿过; 穿透
例句：The flood came through to my garden.
洪水直涌入我的园子。

9. But he decided to stop teaching when he began to have trouble remembering all of his students’ names.

have trouble在…有困难
例句：I have trouble using chopsticks correctly.
我很难正确地使用筷子。

10. And you know damn well that a lot of them are going to go on to achieve much more than you have achieved.

go on继续下去
例句：If he goes on like this he'll lose his job.
如果他继续这样下去,他会丢掉差事的。