美国学生世界地理教材 第82期:越洋之旅(4)

 But it isn’t rough weather that the captain fears most of all.  但船长最担忧的并不是恶劣的天气。

It is a sea fog, especially when he knows there are other ships near,for when there is a fog he cannot see his way at all. 他怕的是海上的大雾，尤其是当他知道附近还有其他轮船时，因为一旦出现浓雾，他根本就看不清方向。

It is like groping¹ your way about in the dark at night, only the ship has no arms.  就像你在夜晚的黑暗中摸索着向前走一样，只是轮船没有胳膊。

The captain slows the ship down till it barely² moves. He starts a big, deep horn a-blowing by clock-work,  船长把船开得很慢很慢，几乎要停下来。他鸣响一只又大又深的喇叭，

and it blows about once a minute regularly day and night as long as the fog lasts, which may be for several days, 喇叭由发条装置控制，大约每分钟鸣一次，不分昼夜定时响起，直到浓雾散尽。有时大雾会持续好几天， 

while sailors peer³ over the ship’s side listening and looking. They can hear another ship’s fog-horn some distance away,  这段时间船员在船舷上认真值守，时而侧耳倾听，时而仔细查看，他们能听到远处船只的雾号，

but often they cannot see another ship only a few feet away. When at last the fog clears off, land may be in sight—England. 但常常看不见近在咫尺的另一艘船。当大雾最终散去的时候，陆地也许就在眼前——看到英国了。

We can tell land is near long before we actually see it. How do you suppose?  其实在我们看到陆地之前，早就能知道陆地不远了。你猜想是怎么知道的呢？

Large white birds called sea-gulls come out to meet the ship, but not as friends come out to welcome you. 这时叫做海鸥的白色大鸟飞出来迎接轮船，但并不是作为朋友来迎接你的。 

They are looking for food that they know is dumped overboard from the ship’s kitchen.  它们是在找食物，它们知道船上厨房要向舷外倒好吃的东西。

Just before we do land a man comes out in a small boat to meet the big ship. The big ship doesn’t stop;  就在着陆前，有一个人坐一艘小船出来靠近大船。大船并不停下来，

it lets down over the side a ladder made of rope and the man grabs⁴ hold of the rope, kicks the boat away, and climbs aboard.  从船舷放下一个绳子做的梯子，这个人抓住绳子，把小船踢开，爬上大船。

Who do you suppose he is? Why do you suppose they take him aboard? He is the new captain of the ship.  你想他是谁？你猜他们为什么要把他拉到船上来呢？他是大船的新船长，

He is called the pilot, and it is his job to bring the ship into the harbor.  叫做领航员，他的工作就是把轮船领进港口。

A big ship is so big it can’t sail into the dock⁵ itself;  大船很大，不能自己驶进码头；

it has to have small boats called tug-boats push and pull it.  它必须靠几条叫做拖船的小船把它拖拽进去。

A broad gang-plank is laid like a bridge across from the dock to the deck and the passengers and their baggage go ashore⁶.  一块宽宽的跳板被放下，横跨码头和甲板，就像小桥一样，乘客带着行李就上岸了。

The people in England speak English, so you can ask questions and understand their answers,  英国人说英语，所以有问题可以问他们，你也听得懂他们的回答，

though their language sounds strange to us and our language sounds funny to them. They call it “an American accent.” 尽管他们说的话我们听起来怪怪的，而我们说的话他们觉得有点可笑。他们说这是“美国腔”。 

You must show your passport and you must open all your bags and let a man examine everything inside before he will let you go on.  上岸后，你必须出示护照，打开行李让一个人检查里面的所有东西，然后他才能让你走。

So you must have nothing you don’t want him to see. This man is called a customs officer. 因此你不能装任何你不想让他看到的东西在里面。这个人叫做海关官员。

You may have to pay for some things you have. This that you have to pay is called a “duty.” 你也许要为你带的某些东西付钱。你要付的钱叫做“关税”。

1 groping   

探索的，暗中摸索的

参考例句：

• Groping in the dark, he suddenly touched something. 他在暗中摸索着，忽然触动了什么东西。
• Groping with his hands in the dark along the wall, the blind man finds his way to the door. 那位盲人沿墙用手暗中摸索着，找到了通向门的路。

2 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。

3 peer   

n.同辈，同等地位的人，伙伴，贵族；vi.仔细看，费力地看

参考例句：

• Children are easily influenced by their peer.孩子很容易受同辈影响。
• He is a peer.他是一个贵族。

4 grabs   

n.试图抓取，有意抢夺( grab的名词复数 )v.抢先，抢占( grab的第三人称单数 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• The job is up for grabs.Why don't you apply now? 那工作谁都可以争取，你怎么不现在就申请呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She grabs a stack of baby photos and thrusts them into my hands. 她抓起一沓婴儿照片塞到我手里。 来自辞典例句

5 dock   

n.码头；被告席；vt.使(船)进港；扣；vi.进港

参考例句：

• We took the children to the dock to see the ships.我们带孩子们到码头去看轮船。
• The corrupt official stood in the dock.那贪官站在被告席上。

6 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。