美国学生世界地理教材 第55期:之最最多的西部续(1)

 Chapter 16 The ‘Est,’ Est West (continued) 第16章 “之最”最多的西部（续）

Here is a riddle¹ for you. What is it that has no legs and yet can jump as high as the Washington Monument? I’ll tell you the answer in a minute. 有个谜语给你猜：什么东西没有腿却能跳得和华盛顿纪念碑一样高？ 我一会儿就告诉你答案。 

Between Oregon and Washington is a river named Columbia, after Columbus.  在俄勒冈州和华盛顿州之间有一条以哥伦布的名字命名的河， 叫做哥伦比亚河。

In the Columbia River are large fish called salmon². Salmon live in the salt ocean,  哥伦比亚河里有一种很大的鱼，叫做鲑鱼。 鲑鱼生活在海洋的咸水里，

but when Mrs.Salmon wants to lay her eggs she goes way up the Columbia River, far above the falls to fresh water, looking for a quiet place to do so. 但是当鲑鱼夫人要产卵的时候， 她会沿哥伦比亚河往上游，到远远高于瀑布的淡水里， 找一个安静的地方去产卵。 

How can she get by the falls? She jumps the falls. You may wonder how fish without legs can jump at all, and it is peculiar³ that they can, but they do.  她怎么才能通过瀑布呢？ 她跳过瀑布。你也许很纳闷鱼没有腿怎么会跳呢， 鲑鱼能跳起来真是太奇怪了，但它们就是能。

They bend their tails into a kind of spring, then flip⁴!—up they go; for a salmon can jump as high as the Washington Monument. 鲑鱼把尾巴弯成像弹簧的样子，然后猛然翻转——就跳上去了 ；因为鲑鱼能跳得和华盛顿纪念碑一样高。 

“Are the falls as high as the Washington Monument?” “瀑布有华盛顿纪念碑那么高吗？”  

“No, they are all low.” “没有，那里的瀑布都很低。” 

“But you said a salmon could jump as high as the Washington Monument.” “但是你说鲑鱼能跳得和华盛顿纪念碑一样高啊。”  

“A salmon can, for the Washington Monument can’t jump at all!” “鲑鱼肯定能，因为华盛顿纪念碑根本就不会跳！” 

Millions of salmon together called “schools” swim up the river and fishermen catch them in nets,  千千万万的鲑鱼在一起叫做“鱼群”，这些鱼群游到河流的上游 ，被渔民用网捕捞起来，

but they leave most of them so that they can lay eggs from which little salmon are born,  但渔民会放走大部分的鱼， 好让它们产卵生出小鲑鱼， 

and the little salmon swim down the river and out into the ocean,where they live and grow. 小鲑鱼往河的下游游去最后游到大海里，它们在大海里生长。  

1 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

2 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

3 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

4 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。