TED Talk >> Andres Ruzo: The boiling river of the Amazon
Telling this same story at a family dinner, my aunt tells me, "But no, Andrés, I've been there. I've swum in that river." Then my uncle jumps in. "No, Andrés, she's not kidding. You see, you can only swim in it after a very heavy rain, and it's protected by a powerful shaman. Your aunt, she's friends with his wife."
在一次家庭聚餐上我又讲了这个故事，然后我的阿姨告诉我，“不，Andrés，我去过那，我在那条河里游过泳”。然后我叔叔也加入了讨论，“真的，Andrés，她没有开玩笑，只有在大雨过后，才能在里面游泳，它被一位强大的萨满巫师保护着，而你的阿姨，跟他的妻子是朋友”。
You know, despite all my scientific skepticism, I found myself hiking into the jungle, guided by my aunt, over 700 kilometers away from the nearest volcanic center, and well, honestly, mentally preparing myself to behold the legendary "warm stream of the Amazon."
尽管我作为科学家，对此表示怀疑，还是在我的阿姨带领下，踏上了那片丛林， 那里距最近的火山口有700公里， 坦白说，我已经做好了看见那条传奇的 “亚马逊暖流” 的心理准备了。
But then ... I heard something, a low surge that got louder and louder as we came closer. It sounded like ocean waves constantly crashing, and as we got closer, I saw smoke, vapor, coming up through the trees. And then, I saw this.
但是，紧接着，我听到一些声响，随着我们逐步走进，一股低潮变得越来越响彻。就像海浪不停的冲击一样，而当我们走近时， 我看到烟雾和蒸汽从树林中冒出。不久，我看到了这个。
I immediately grabbed for my thermometer, and the average temperatures in the river were 86 degrees C. This is not quite the 100-degree C boiling but definitely close enough. The river flowed hot and fast. I followed it upriver and was led by, actually, the shaman's apprentice to the most sacred site on the river. And this is what's bizarre -- It starts off as a cold stream. And here, at this site, is the home of the Yacumama, mother of the waters, a giant serpent spirit who births hot and cold water. And here we find a hot spring, mixing with cold stream water underneath her protective motherly jaws and thus bringing their legends to life.
我立马拿起了温度计，测量到这条河流的平均温度为86℃。虽然并没有达到100℃的沸点，但也很接近了。这条高温河水流湍急。在这位萨满大师徒弟的带领下，我沿河而上，去往这条河最神圣的地点。 奇妙的事情发生了，这条河的起点是冷流。 而这个地方，是Yacumama的故乡， Yacumama是河之母，是创造冷热水的巨大的蛇灵。而在这里，我们找到了一处热泉，同受她保护的河口下的冷流混合在一起，将这些传说变为现实。
The next morning, I woke up and I asked for tea. I was handed a mug, a tea bag and, well, pointed towards the river. To my surprise, the water was clean and had a pleasant taste, which is a little weird for geothermal systems.
第二天早上，当我醒来的时候，我说想喝杯茶。于是有人递给我一个马克杯，一个茶包， 然后，指着那条河。让我惊讶的是，河水是如此的清澈，喝起来也很可口，这对于地热系统来说是有点异常的。
What was amazing is that the locals had always known about this place, and that I was by no means the first outsider to see it. It was just part of their everyday life. They drink its water. They take in its vapor. They cook with it, clean with it, even make their medicines with it.
更神奇的一点是， 本地人似乎一直都知道有这么个地方， 而我也绝不是第一个发现此地的外来人。这些都是他们的家常便饭。他们饮用河里的水，享用这些蒸汽，用河水烹饪、清洁， 甚至用这些河水来制药。
I met the shaman, and he seemed like an extension of the river and his jungle. He asked for my intentions and listened carefully. Then, to my tremendous relief -- I was freaking out, to be honest with you -- a smile began to snake across his face, and he just laughed.
我见到了萨满大师，似乎他也成了这条河和丛林的一部分。他询问我的来意，用心倾听。不久，我便感到压力减轻了——老实告诉你，我当时可吓坏了——他脸上泛起笑容，他笑了。
I had received the shaman's blessing to study the river, on the condition that after I take the water samples and analyze them in my lab, wherever I was in the world, that I pour the waters back into the ground so that, as the shaman said, the waters could find their way back home.
我对这条河的研究得到了萨满大师的祝福，他只有一点要求，那便是待我取样并带回实验室分析后，不管我在世界的哪一个角落，我要把这些水倒回地上。萨满大师说，这样这些水便能回到河流里。
Question
- What was the first thing Ruzo did when he reached the boiling river?
> He measured the river's temperature. - What did Ruzo promise to the shaman?
> He would pour his water samples back into the ground after analyzing them. - When explaining his intentions to the shaman, Ruzo felt
> apprehensive
Listen and repeat
- He promised to pour the water samples back into the ground after analyzing them in his lab.
