How Do You Move a Giant Sequoia?
如何移动一棵巨大的红杉？

The logistics of excavating (挖掘) and relocating town’s century-old, living sequoia(红杉)tree. Inhabitants of Boise, Idaho, watched with trepidation earlier this year as the city’s oldest, tallest resident moved two blocks. The 105-year-old sequoia tree serves as a local landmark, not only for its longevity but also because renowned naturalist and Sierra Club cofounder John Muir provided the original seedling. So, when Saint Luke’s Health System found that the 10-story-tall-conifer( 针叶树) stood in the way of its planned hospital called tree-moving firm Environmental Design.
挖掘和搬迁这个小镇百年历史的活红杉树的物流问题。今年早些时候，爱达荷州博伊西的居民们怀着忐忑的心情观看了这座城市最古老、最高的居民移动了两个街区。这棵105岁的红杉树不仅是因为它的长寿而成为当地的地标，还因为它是由著名的自然主义者和塞拉俱乐部的联合创始人约翰·缪尔提供的原始幼苗。所以，当圣卢克健康系统发现这棵高达10层的针叶树挡住了其计划中的医院时，他们联系了专门从事树木移动的公司环境设计。

The Texas-based company has developed and patented scooping and lifting technology to move massive trees. Weighing in at more than 800,000 pounds, the Boise sequoia is its largest undertaking yet.“I [had] lost enough sleep over this,”says David Cox, the company’s Western region vice president—and that was before the hospital mentioned the tree’s distinguished origin. Before the heavy lifting began, the team assessed the root system and dug a five-foot-deep cylinder , measuring 40 feet in diameter, around the trunk to protect all essential roots. After encapsulating the root ball in wire mesh, the mover s allowed the tree to acclimate to its new situation for seven months before relocating it. The illustration details what followed.—Leslie Nemo
这家总部位于德克萨斯的公司已经开发并申请了一种挖掘和提升技术，用于移动巨大的树木。这棵重达80多万磅的博伊西红杉是他们迄今为止最大的挑战。“我已经为此失去了足够的睡眠，”公司西部地区副总裁大卫·考克斯说——这还是在医院提到这棵树的显赫起源之前。在开始重大的搬运工作之前，团队评估了根系，并在树干周围挖了一个五英尺深、直径40英尺的圆柱形，以保护所有必要的根系。在将根球用金属网包裹后，移动者允许树适应它的新环境七个月，然后才将其搬迁。插图详细说明了接下来的步骤。——莱斯利·尼莫

1. Mark A. Merit and his team at Environmental Design installed underneath the root ball a platform of seven-inch-diameter,44-foot-long steelbars and, just below the rods, a first set of uninflated airbags(shown in gray). The team also dug a shallow ramp.
   1. 环境设计公司的马克·A·梅里特和他的团队在根球下方安装了一个平台，由直径七英寸、长44英尺的钢条组成，就在这些杆子下方，还有一组未充气的空气袋（图中以灰色显示）。团队还挖了一个浅坡。

2. In roughly 15 minutes, the mover s inflated the airbags to about three feet in diameter to raise the root ball to the surface of the hole.
   2. 大约15分钟后，移动者将空气袋充气到大约三英尺直径，以将根球提升到洞口表面。

3. By underinflating the front bags, the team allowed the platform carrying the tree to roll up the ramp and out of the hole while staying level,A trailer hauled the tree along as team members removed the airbags from the back of the platform and replaced them in the front. They repeated the process until the tree arrived at the edge of its new home.
   3. 通过轻微放气前面的袋子，团队允许携带树的平台沿着坡道滚出洞口并保持水平，一辆拖车在团队成员从平台后部移除空气袋并在前面替换它们的同时，将树拖到新家的边缘。他们重复这个过程，直到树到达新家。

4. There a second set of partially inflated bags (shown in white) waited inside the hole. Soil surrounding the sequoia in its original location was relocated as well, because trees are more likely to survive a transplan t when they move with their original soil.
   4. 在那里，有一组部分充气的袋子（图中以白色显示）在洞内等待。红杉树原始位置周围的土壤也被迁移，因为树木在移植时带着原始土壤更有可能存活。

1. Using the first set of airbags, the movers rolled the platform into the new hole.
   5. 使用第一组空气袋，移动者将平台滚入新洞中。

   1. The bags waiting there were then inflated further to take the weight of the sequoia while the transportation bags were deflated and removed from under the tree.
      6. 然后那里等待的袋子进一步充气，以承担红杉的重量，同时运输袋被放气并从树下移除。

   2. The white bags were then deflated in about half an hour to lower the sequoia’s root ball to the bottom of its hole, The bags were removed, but the metal bars were left with the tree because they rust and degrade over a number of years.
      7. 白色袋子然后在大约半小时内放气，以将红杉的根球降低到洞底，袋子被移除，但金属杆留在了树上，因为它们会随着时间的推移生锈和降解。

   3. For the next five years the local park service will monitor and maintain the tree in its new home.
      8. 在接下来的五年里，当地公园服务将监控并维护这棵树在新家的状况。

Root ball encapsulated in wire
根部球被金属线包裹

Partially inflated airbag
部分充气的安全气囊

1. Which of the following words can be used to replace the words underlined “stood in theway of”?
   A. Resisted B. Balanced C. Blocked. D. Promoted.
   答案：C

1. What is the reason for the relocation of Sequoia trees?
   A. Because the Scooping and lifting technology should be put into use.
   B. Because it blocks local hospital expansion plans.
   C. Because it corresponds to government’s plan of Environmental Design.
   D. Because sequoia trees are over a hundred years old.
   答案：B

2. How will the migrated sequoia trees be dealt with?
   A. They will be given new soil in the new living environment.
   B. Metal rods used to move sequoia trees will not be left on the trees.
   C. They will be kept in transport bags all the time.
   D. They will be managed by specialists in the next five years.
   答案：D