美国学生世界地理教材 第131期:鱼儿峡湾瀑布和森林(2)

 The Norwegian people catch herring in nets, then they salt, smoke, or dry them to make sure they will keep almost forever without spoiling¹. 挪威人用网打捞鲱鱼，然后，用盐腌制、用烟熏制、或晒干风干，用各种方法保存鲱鱼，确保长期不变质，

Then they send these dried herring all over the World to be sold. 他们再将鲱鱼干出口到世界各地。

I had a herring for breakfast this morning which may have been swimming round Norway years and years ago—it has been kept all that time. 今天早餐我还吃了一条，说不定这条鲱鱼好多年前就在挪威附近海域游来游去——它一直被保存了到现在。

I also ate a thousand eggs for breakfast this morning. 今天的早餐，我还吃了一千只蛋。

That sounds impossible, but it's really so—only they were not hen's eggs, but herring eggs, 听起来你会觉得这是不可能的，但确实如此——不过不是鸡蛋，而是鲱鱼的“蛋”，

for the mother herring carries her eggs inside of her—thousands of them. 因为鲱鱼妈妈肚子里有很多蛋——有成千上万只，

The herring's eggs we call "roe²." 我们称鲱鱼的蛋为“鱼卵”。

The seashore of Norway is not smooth and level like a bathing³ beach. 挪威的海岸不像一般海滩那样平整，不能做浴场，

There are mountains all along the edge⁴ right in the water and the sea fills the valleys between these mountains. 岸边的山直接矗立水中，所以山谷里满是海水，

These valleys filled with water are called "fiords." 这些充满了海水的山谷我们称之为“峡湾”。

Norway is so far north we would expect the water in these fiords to be very cold in the winter; 挪威地处遥远的北方，我们常常猜想这些峡湾里的海水在冬季一定非常寒冷；

and we know what happens when water gets very cold—it freezes and turns to ice. 而且我们还知道，当水很冷的时候会发生什么事情——水会凝固，结成冰。

But, strange to say, the water in these fiords does not freeze. 但是，奇怪的是，这些峡湾里的水却不会结冰。

The reason it doesn't freeze is because the sun shines down on the water in the Gulf⁵ of Mexico, several thousand miles off. 不结冰的原因是因为阳光照射在几千英里之外的墨西哥湾的海水中。

You may wonder what the Gulf of Mexico several thousand miles off has to do with Norway. 你也许感到很惊讶，几千英里之外的墨西哥湾和挪威有什么关系呢？

Well, the boiler⁶ way off in my cellar⁷ heats the water in the pipes and that heats the radiator⁸ in the farthest room in my house. 让我打个比方吧，虽然我家的锅炉装在地窖，但烧了锅炉就加热了管道中的水，即使离地窖最远的房间也能有暖气。

In the same way the sun heats the water in the Gulf as if it were a big boiler, 同样道理，太阳照射在墨西哥湾中的海水上，海水升温，

and from this Gulf a warm stream of water, called the Gulf Stream, 墨西哥湾就像只大锅炉，加热了海湾里的水，形成一股暖流，叫做“湾流”，

flows as if it were a river in the ocean, 就像是海洋里的一条河，

all the way across the ocean from the Gulf of Mexico to the shore of Norway and warms the fiords. 从墨西哥湾出发，穿过大洋，一直来到挪威海岸，温暖了峡湾。

1 spoiling   

v.变质( spoil的现在分词 )；损坏；毁掉；破坏

参考例句：

• You are spoiling this man's son. 贼夫人之子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The murderer attempted to escape from law punishment by spoiling his own face. 那个杀人犯企图自毁容貌以逃脱法律的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

3 bathing   

n.游泳，洗海水澡

参考例句：

• The place is convenient for bathing.这地方适合游泳。
• Naked bathing is not allowed to this beach.这个海滩禁止裸泳。

4 edge   

n.边(缘)；刃；优势；v.侧着移动，徐徐移动

参考例句：

• Sight along the edge to see if it's straight.顺着边目测，看看直不直。
• She lived on the extreme edge of the forest.她住在森林的最边缘。

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 boiler   

n.锅炉；煮器(壶，锅等)

参考例句：

• That boiler will not hold up under pressure.那种锅炉受不住压力。
• This new boiler generates more heat than the old one.这个新锅炉产生的热量比旧锅炉多。

7 cellar   

n.地窖，地下室，酒窖

参考例句：

• He took a bottle of wine from the cellar.他从酒窖里拿出一瓶酒。
• The little girl hid away in the cellar.小姑娘藏在地下室里。

8 radiator   

n.暖气片，散热器

参考例句：

• The two ends of the pipeline are connected with the radiator.管道的两端与暖气片相连接。
• Top up the radiator before making a long journey.在长途旅行前加满散热器。