国家地理 保护着海岸和生命的消失的森林(3)

Some farmers in Bangladesh -- a country the size of Iowa with a population of 160 million -- refer to their homeland as a divine prank¹: The soil is fantastically fertile, but you're always in danger of getting washed away. In 1998 an especially monstrous² flood inundated³ about 70 percent of the country.

农民把孟加拉国--一个面积跟爱荷华州差不多大的国家，有1.6亿人口--他们的家乡，当作是神开的一个玩笑。那里的土地十分肥沃，但你却时刻处于被河水冲走的危险之中。1998年，一场汹涌的洪水淹没了将近70%的国土。

One thing the region's coastal⁴ communities felt they could always bank on, though, is the Sundarbans, the world's largest contiguous mangrove⁵ forest. Spanning nearly 4,000 square miles on both sides of the Indian-Bangladeshi border, this dense⁶ swamp of flood-tolerant trees stands as a green wall, absorbing storm surges and blunting even the worst cyclones⁷. For villagers, the forest is also an abundant source of honey and its waters a source of fish. "The Sundarbans is our mother," said Joydev Sardar, secretary of the fishermen's association in Harinagar, Bangladesh. "She protects, feeds, and employs us."

当地人觉得唯一一个可以让他们长久安居的地方就是孙德尔本斯，它是世界上面积最大的红树林。它生长于印孟边境，占地面积约4000平方英里。这些能抵抗洪灾的树就像一面绿色的墙，它能吸收暴风雨的侵袭，还能抵挡住最强烈的飓风。对村民来说，树林中的蜂蜜取之不竭，水中的鱼也捕之不尽。孟加拉国哈里纳加渔民委员会的秘书长乔得伍·萨达说道：“孙德本尔斯就像我们的母亲。她保护我们，养育了我们，还给我们提供了工作。”

1 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

2 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

3 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

5 mangrove   

n.(植物)红树，红树林

参考例句：

• It is the world's largest tidal mangrove forest.它是世界上最大的红树林沼泽地。
• Many consider this the most beautiful mangrove forest in all Thailand.许多人认为这里是全泰国最美丽的红树林了。

6 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

7 cyclones   

n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 )；旋风；飓风；暴风

参考例句：

• The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
• Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句