48. This development--and its strong implication for US politics and economy in years ahead--has enthroned the South as America's most densely populated region for the first time in the history of the nation's head counting.
[参考译文] 这种发展--以及其对美国政治、经济在未来几年的潜在的强有力的影 响一一使得南部在全国人口普查中有史以来首次成为美国人口最密集 的地区。
49. Often they choose--and still are choosing--somewhat colder climates such as Oregon, Idaho and Alaska in order to escape smog.crime and other plagues of urbanization in the Golden State.
[参考译文] 他们常常选择--现在依然这样选择--居住在那些气候较为寒冷的地 区， 比如俄勒冈、爱达荷，还有阿拉斯加，为的是逃避烟雾、犯罪， 以及"金州"(加利福尼亚)城市化进程中的其他问题。
50. As a result, California's growth rate dropped during the 1970's, to 18.5 percent--little more than two thirds the 1960's growth figure and considerably below that of other Western states.
[参考译文] 结果，加利福尼亚的人口增长率在20世纪70年代时下降到了18.5％一 一稍高于60年代增长率的三分之二，大大低于西部其他各州。
51. Unlike most of the world's volcanoes, they are not always found at the boundaries of the great drifting plates that make up the earth's surface; on the contrary, many of them lie deep in the interior of a plate.
[参考译文] 跟世界上的大多数火山不同的是，它们(热点)并不总是在由构成地球 表面巨大漂流板块之间的边界上出现；相反，它们中有许多位于一个板 块较纵深的内部。
52. The relative motion of the plates carrying these continents has been constructed in detail, but the motion of the plates with respect to another cannot readily be translated into motion with respect to the earth's interior.
[参考译文] 携带这些大陆板块的相对运动已经能够被详细地表述出来，但是这些板 块相对于另一些板块的运动还不能轻易地解释为它们相对于地球内部 的运动。
53. As the dome grows, it develops seed fissures (cracks); in at least a few cases the continentmay break entirely along some of these fissures, so that the hot spot initiates the formation of a new ocean.
[参考译文] 暂缺
54. While warnings are often appropriate and necessary--the dangers of drug interactions, for example--and many are required by state or federal regulations, it isn't clear that they actually protect the manufacturers and sellers from liability if a customer is injured.
[参考译文] 尽管警告常常是适当而且必须的--比如对于药物相互作用的危险提出 警告--许多警告还是按州或联邦政府规定要求给出的，然而(我们) 并不清楚，如果顾客受到伤害时，这些警告是不是确实可以使得生产者 和销售者豁免责任。
55. At the same time, the American Law Institute--a group of judges, lawyers, and academics whose recommendations carry substantial weight--issued new guidelines for tort law stating that companies need not warn customers of obvious dangers or bombard them with a lengthy list of possible ones.
[参考译文] 与此同时，美国法律研究所--由一群法官、律师和理论专家组成，他 们的建议分量极重--发布了新的民事伤害法令指导方针，宣称公司不 必提醒顾客注意显而易见的危险，也不必连篇累牍地一再提请他们注意 一些可能会出现的危险。
