VOA慢速英语2022 美国学生制造的小船抵达挪威

Students in the northeastern U.S. state of New Hampshire sent a small boat into the Atlantic Ocean in October 2020.

2020年10月，美国东北部新罕布什尔州的学生将一艘小船送入大西洋。

It was a school experiment to see where the ocean currents¹ would take the 1.8-meter long boat which was equipped² with a satellite³ positioning system, or GPS.

这是一项学校实验，目的是观察洋流会把这艘1.8米长的船带到哪里，这艘船配备了卫星定位系统。

The boat was found 462 days later on a small Norwegian island.

462天后，这艘船在挪威的一个小岛上被发现。

The boat was called the Rye Riptides, named for Rye Junior High.

这艘船被称为“黑麦激流号”，以“黑麦初中”命名。

It was covered with student artwork and contained autumn leaves, pictures and coins honoring⁴ different U.S. states.

学生们在它上面画了一些画，船里面装有秋叶、图片和纪念美国不同州的硬币。

A Norwegian student found the boat on February 1 on the island of Smola.

2月1日，一名挪威学生在斯莫拉岛上发现了这艘船。

It is off the nation's northwestern coast.

它位于挪威的西北海岸附近。

The trip covered more than 13,300 kilometers.

这次旅程超过1.33万公里。

The boat lost some of its parts and it was covered in barnacles.

这艘船丢失了一些零件，上面覆盖着藤壶。

The student who found the boat took it to his school.

发现这艘船的那个学生把它带到了他的学校。

The American students are planning a call with the Norwegian students soon.

这些美国学生计划很快与那个挪威学生通电话。

The students worried several times that their boat had gone missing⁵.

有好几次学生们担心他们的船失踪了。

It stopped communicating with the satellite.

它停止了与卫星的通讯。

However, the boat started showing where it was again last summer when it was near Ireland⁶.

然而，这艘船去年夏天在爱尔兰附近时又开始显示它所在的位置。

On January 30, it seemed to have reached land.

1月30日，它似乎已经抵达陆地了。

One of the American students who launched⁷ the boat, Molly Flynn, said she was "surprised the boat actually made it somewhere."

把这艘船放入水中的美国学生之一莫莉·弗林说，“这艘船竟然抵达了某个地方，这让我感到很惊讶。”

Flynn said she was worried the boat would get lost in the middle of the ocean.

弗林说，她担心这艘船会在海洋中央迷路。

She called it "cool and surprising" that it was found.

她称它被发现“很酷，很令人惊讶”。

The students continued to follow the boat even when the teacher who started the project with them retired⁸.

即使和学生们一起开始这个项目的老师退休了，他们仍然继续在追踪这艘船。

Cassie Stymiest runs an educational program based in Maine that started working with the American students on the project in 2018.

凯西·斯蒂米斯特在缅因州开展了一个教育项目，从2018年开始与美国学生合作进行这个项目。

She said: "When you're sending it out, you have no idea where it's going to end up, how it's going to get there, if it ends up anywhere at all.”

她说：“当你把它发出去的时候，你不知道它会到哪里去，如果它真的到了什么地方的话，你也不知道它是如何到达那里的。”

Stymiest said the students "put their hopes and dreams and wishes into it, and I tend to think sometimes that helps."

斯蒂米斯特说，学生们“把他们的希望、梦想和愿望都放在里面，我倾向于认为有时这样是有帮助的。”

1 currents   

电流( current的名词复数 )； 水流； 流速

参考例句：

• The motorboat cut across swift currents and skirted dangerous reefs. 汽艇穿过激流，绕过险滩。
• She was swept away by the treacherous currents. 她给凶险的激流卷走了。

2 equipped   

装备的

参考例句：

• The kitchen was compact but well equipped. 这间厨房虽然空间小但设备齐全。
• Rooms vary in size and come equipped with hairdriers, television and telephone. 房间大小不同，均配有吹风机、电视和电话。

3 satellite   

n.卫星

参考例句：

• The moon is a satellite of the earth.月球是地球的一颗卫星。
• A man-made satellite has been launched.人造卫星上天。

4 honoring   

v.尊敬，给以荣誉( honor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They sat in silence, honoring the clan Jordache for a moment. 他们默默地坐了一会儿，对乔达虚家族表示了一番敬意。 来自辞典例句
• Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check. 美国没有履行这项神圣的义务，只是给黑人开了一张空头支票。 来自辞典例句

5 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

6 Ireland   

n.爱尔兰(西欧国家)；爱尔兰岛(西欧)

参考例句：

• Ireland lies to the west of England.爱尔兰位于英格兰之西。
• Dublin is the capital of Ireland.都柏林是爱尔兰的首都。

7 launched   

v.发射( launch的过去式和过去分词 )；[计算机]开始（应用程序）；发动；开展（活动、计划等）

参考例句：

• He launched a bitter diatribe against the younger generation. 他对年轻一代发起了猛烈的抨击。
• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide. 这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。