1.  Johannesburg's new 94,000-seat stadium, inspired by the shape of a traditional African pot, sparkles against the city's skyline. With all eyes on the World Cup host, South Africa aims to dazzle: President Zuma calls 2010 the most critical year since 1994, when apartheid ended.

受启发于非洲一种传统的锅的形状，落座于约翰内斯堡，有94,000个座位的新体育场，在这个城市夜晚的天际闪耀着光辉。作为倍受瞩目的世界杯东道主，南非的目标就是要光彩夺目：总统祖马称2010年是继种族隔离结束的1994年以来最为至关重要的一年。 

 

 

 

2.  At 116 feet, the tallest Buddha in the caves peers out of a nine-story pagoda, the facade of Cave 96, built into the string of grottoes.

高达116英尺的佛像为该洞穴中最高的佛像，他正端详着对面一座9层的宝塔，它是第96号洞窟的表面建筑，与其它石窟并列建立。 

 

 

 

 

3.  Youngsters grown up enough to migrate 2,500 miles to Texas still beg for crabs and clams from an adult probing brackish water at Aransas.

少年鹤的翅膀已经硬到足够迁徙2500英里到德克萨斯了，但仍要向成年鹤企要蟹和蛤蜊，大鹤正在阿瑞萨斯的咸水里觅食。 

 

 

 

 

4.  United States—Over the past 17 years a decidedly sticky situation has developed in Seattle's Post Alley, where countless colorful wads—pressed down with coins or used to spell out names and places—form the "gum wall."

美国：在过去的17年里，位于西雅图后巷的一座小屋被不断地粘上不计其数的五颜六色的胶状物——或用硬币压制出来，或用来拼出名字和地点——于是就形成了这面著名的“口香糖墙”。 

 

 

 

 

5.  The black splotches mingled with ice and meltwater, above, are cryoconite—powdery debris blown to Greenland from often distant deserts, fires, coal plants, and diesel engines. Cryoconite reduces the ice's albedo, or reflectivity, allowing increased absorption of solar heat.

黑色的斑点与冰及融化的水混在一起，覆盖在它们上面的就是冰尘——这些粉状碎片通常来自于遥远的沙漠，燃烧物，火力发电厂以及柴油发动机，最后被吹向格陵兰岛。冰尘减少了冰的反照率，或反射率，从而可以吸收更多的太阳能。

 

 

 

 

6.  A 51-foot Buddha from the Middle Tang period (781-847) reclines to await death, when he will pass serenely into nirvana. Followers painted on the cave walls express their agony.

一座来自中唐时期（781-847）的51英尺高的佛像侧卧着等待圆寂，那一刻他安详地进入涅磐。他的追随者在洞穴的墙上作画表达他们的痛苦。  

 

 

 

 

7.  Glacial meltwater flows into Tasermiut fjord in south Greenland on a late September afternoon. The region's 4,000-foot-high granite cliffs draw world-class rock climbers.

一个9月下旬的下午，冰川融水流入格陵兰岛南部的Tasermiut峡湾。该地区4000英尺高的花岗岩峭壁吸引了大量世界级的攀岩者。

 

 

 

 

8.  Bowing to its hatchling's hunger, a crane offers an insect morsel. Nestled at center, another egg should hatch in two days—though usually only one chick will survive the season. Parents take turns tending the nest.

为了填饱幼雏的肚子，一只鹤正在喂它一块虫肉。位于中心位置的巢里，超不过两天时间，另一小鹤可能就会破壳而出——仅管通常在这个季节最多只有一个幼雏会幸存下来。父母会轮流照料巢里宝宝。

 

 

 

 

9.  United States—Like a glass sculpture forged in the Pacific's eternal churn, a four-foot-tall backwash splash—the result of two waves colliding in the shallows near Kaena Point on Oahu, Hawaii—refracts the saturated glow of dawn.

美国：像在太平洋不息的波浪上铸造了一个玻璃雕塑，一个4英尺高的反流飞溅了起来——这是夏威夷瓦胡岛浅水区两个波浪相撞导致的结果——折射出了高饱和度的黎明光芒。

 

 

 

 

10.  The natural, fluid poses of the Buddha's retinue characterize the High Tang period, when historians say both Buddhism and art reached their highest expression in the grottoes.

自然，流畅的佛陀姿势形成了盛唐时期佛像的特征，历史学家说，无论是佛教还是艺术都达到了石窟文化的最高境界。

 

 

 

 

11.  Late afternoon light glints off the ice near Isortoq. The ice sheet covers four-fifths of the country and contains nearly 7 percent of Earth's fresh water, but it is shrinking by some 50 cubic miles each year.

傍晚的余晖洒在伊索托克峡湾的冰上，闪闪发光。这块冰层覆盖了这个国家五分之四的区域，并包含地球近百分之七的淡水资源，但它正以每年大约50立方英里的速度萎缩着。

 

 

 

 

12.  The golden-fronted bowerbird was first sighted in the Foja    Mountains in 1981.

正面羽毛为金色的园丁鸟第一次被人发现是在1981年的Foja山里。