托福听力练习对照文本第四十九篇

　　Not long ago, some of you may have read about a team of mountain-climbing scientists who helped to recalculate the elevation of the highest mountain in the world: Mt. Everest.

　　不久前, 你们中的一些(人)可能已经读过关于一队登山科学家帮助重新计算了世界最高峰：珠穆朗玛峰的海拔。

　　Of course, the elevation of Mt. Everest was determined many years ago, using traditional surveying methods.

　　当然，珠穆朗玛峰的海拔许多年前就被确定了，使用的是传统的调查方法。

　　But these scientists wanted to make a more precise measurement using a new method that takes advantage of recent advances in technology.

　　但是这些科学家想要做一个更精确的测量使用一个新的方法利用最近的科技进步。

　　It's called the Global Positioning System.

　　它(科技)被称作全球定位系统。

　　The Global Positioning System uses 24 satellites that circle the Earth.

　　这个全球定位系统使用围绕地球的24颗卫星

　　Each of these satellites is constantly sending out signals.

　　每颗卫星都是在不断地发送信号。

　　And each signal contains important information that can be used to determine the longitude, latitude, and elevation of any point on the Earth's surface.

　　而且每个信号都包含着重要的信息，能够被用来确定经度，纬度，和地球表面上任意点的海拔。

　　Well, in order to use this system to calculate Mt. Everest's elevation, scientists needed to put a special receiver on its summit to receive signals from the satellites.

　　好，为了使用这个系统计算珠穆朗玛峰的海拔，科学家需要在它的顶点放置一个特殊的接收器接收来自卫星的信号。

　　The problem with this was that, in the past, the receivers were much too heavy for climbers to carry.

　　这事儿的问题曾经是，在过去，接收器对于登山者携带来说都太沉重了。

　　But now these receivers have been reduced to about the size and weight of a handheld telephone, so climbers were able to take a receiver to the top of Everest and, from there, to access the satellite system signals that would allow them to determine the precise elevation.

　　但是现在这些接收器已经被减小到大约一个手持电话的尺寸和重量，所以攀登者能够带着接收器去珠穆朗玛之巅并且，从那里，接入能够允许他们去确定精确海拔的卫星系统信号

　　And it turns out that the famous peak is actually a few feet higher than was previously thought.

　　结果是这个著名的山峰事实上比之前想的要高几英尺。