小练习 8.31

A time capsule from the 1820s that appeared to be empty when opened in a highly anticipated ceremony at the West Point US military academy was later found to contain coins and a medal.

一个在美国西点军校某万众瞩目的典礼上打开的来自19世纪20年代的时光胶囊在当时似乎是空的，但之后人们又在里面发现了钱币和一枚奖章。

The lead box was searched in front of a room of cadets and a livestream audience, but it appeared to contain nothing but sediment. Hopes of a big discovery were dashed. Yet further examination and a careful sift through the silt revealed a medal and six very old coins.

The coins were minted in years ranging from 1795 to 1828. with values ranging from one cent up to one dollar.

时光胶囊的铅箱在一众军校学员和直播观众们的注视下被打开，但它里面似乎除了沉积物以外什么都不剩。在胶囊中获得大发现的期望破灭了。然而，经进一步检测和仔细搜索，一枚奖章和六枚古老的硬币从淤泥中现出身影。

这些硬币的铸造年份从1795年到1828年不等，而硬币价值则自一美分到一美元不等。

The box also contained a medal that celebrates the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825. The canal was built in eight years and connected the Hudson River in New York to the Great Lakes.

这个箱子里还装着一枚庆祝1825年伊利运河通河的奖章。打通该运河用时八年，它将位于纽约的哈德逊河与五大湖连接在了一起。

After the anti-climax of the event, West Point archeologist Paul Hudson used a wooden pick and a brush to carefully search the sediment inside the box.

"Before long, lo and behold, there's the edge of a coin sticking out," he told Associated Press. "And I thought, well that's OK. That's something, that's a start."

在该事件令人失望地结束后，西点考古学家保罗·哈德森用一个木制凿子和一把刷子仔细检查了盒子中的沉积物。

“没过多久，一枚硬币的边缘从里面伸了出来。”他告诉美联社，“我想，行吧，至少有东西了。”

At Monday's ceremony, young troops had watched as some of West Point's top brass took the stage to celebrate the exciting moment.

In front of them, centre stage, was the grey box - 12in by 12in by 13in (30cm by 30cm by 33cm) - and two school employees, standing by with purple rubber gloves and white masks, prepared to unveil its contents.

在周一的庆典上，年轻的学员们目睹了西点军校的一些高层领导庆祝这个激动人心的时刻。而在他们面前的台中央，则是事件中心的灰盒子——12x12x13英尺（30x30x33厘米）——二两名校内雇员戴着紫色橡胶手套和白色面具站在一边，等待着揭露它的内容物。

The box had been found a few months earlier, during the restoration of a bronze statue of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a celebrated war hero and statesman.

Underneath the marble face of the monument the box was discovered, apparently placed there during the completion of the statue in 1829.

这个箱子是人们在几个月前修复著名战争英雄和政治家萨迪乌斯·柯斯丘兹克的铜像时发现，它藏在纪念碑的大理石碑面下，显然是在1829年雕像完工的时候放在那里的。