詞匯：
1. split asunder 向不同方向裂開，散開
2. saga 英雄傳說，冒險(xiǎn)故事
3. maiden voyage 處女航
4. celebrate 贊美，慶祝。這里指大肆宣傳
5. leviathan 巨型遠(yuǎn)洋輪
6. eerie 可怕的，怪異的
7. splendor 美妙的景象
8. vicariously 產(chǎn)生共鳴的，代理的
9. luxury liner 豪華巨輪
10. bollard 系攬柱
11. porthole 舷窗
12. railing 欄桿
13. evoke 喚起，引起，（招）魂
14. still 靜物攝影照片
15. garner 收集，積累
16. highlight 最精彩場面，最重要部分
17. feat 功績
18. gash 裂縫
19. hull 船體
20. plow into= plough into 撞上，干勁十足的投入
21. buckle 使彎曲
22. stern 船尾
23. bow 船頭
24. swivel 旋轉(zhuǎn)

難句譯注：

1.The saga of the White Star liner Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, carrying more than 1,500 passengers to their death, has been celebrated in print and on film, in poetry and song.
[結(jié)構(gòu)簡析] 被動(dòng)語態(tài)，中插定語從句which struck 和分詞短語carrying more than 都是修飾 liner.
[參考譯文] 白星級(jí)定期輪班泰坦尼克號(hào)于1912年的首航中因撞上冰山而沉沒，船上一千五百多名乘客全部罹難。此后關(guān)于它的種種傳說一直為各種刊物，電影，詩歌和歌曲廣泛宣傳。

2.Watching on television, they vicariously joined the undersea craft Alvin and Jason Jr. (J.J.) as they toured the wreckage of the luxury liner, wandering across the decks past corroded bollards, peering into the officer’s quarters and through rust-curtained portholes.
[結(jié)構(gòu)簡析] 主從句，主句前有分詞短語watching, 修飾主句中的they （觀眾），而從句中（as）they 是指Alvin 和Jason Jr. 后面的分詞短語都是說明從句中的they。
[參考譯文] 觀眾們看著電視，就像親臨其境似的參與深水工作船阿爾文號(hào)和機(jī)器人探測器小賈森的工作。隨他們巡視這艘豪華舉輪殘骸，漫游甲板，經(jīng)過侵蝕的系欄柱，凝視高級(jí)船員艙，穿過滿是鐵銹的舷窗。

3.Views of the railings where doomed passengers and crewmembers stood evoked images of the moonless night 74years ago when the great ship slipped beneath the waves.
[結(jié)構(gòu)簡析] 主從句，主句中定從where修飾railings。
[參考譯文] 看到那些欄桿使人想起七十四年前就在這艘巨輪沉入汪洋的那個(gè)暗無星月的夜晚，罹難的旅客和水手們也曾站在欄桿旁。

4.He also brought back evidence that the ship broke apart not when she hit bottom, as he had thought when viewing the first Titanic images last September, but as she sank: the stern, which settled on the bottom almost 1,800ft. from the bow, had swiveled 180 on its way down.
[結(jié)構(gòu)簡析] 結(jié)構(gòu)復(fù)雜。That clause 是evidence 的同位語。That 從句中用了not…but 句型。 Not句中為主從句加狀從 as he had though …，but 句中為主從句，中插入定語從句which settled 修飾the stern。
[參考譯文] 他還帶回證據(jù)說明船不是撞在海底時(shí)斷裂的，而是在下沉?xí)r斷裂的。船尾下沉?xí)r旋轉(zhuǎn)一百八十度，它在海底幾乎離船頭一千八百英尺遠(yuǎn)。而在他去年九月第一次見到泰坦尼克號(hào)時(shí)，還以為船是撞到海底才斷裂的。

寫作方法與文章大意：

文章描述了對(duì)沉沒巨輪（泰坦尼克號(hào)）探測的情況，也是一篇三段式模式的文章：先時(shí)間，地點(diǎn)，所發(fā)生沉輪的事實(shí)，再引了錄像帶把進(jìn)行探測的全過程呈現(xiàn)，最后是驚人的結(jié)果。?