9.2 The Reef

MT英语（ID:mtkouyu）
专辑：【英文原版童话故事】
文本整理：Doris

A breeze blew through the window. Sea gulls cried. Waves lapped the shore.

一阵微风吹过窗子,海鸥叫着,波涛拍打着海岸。

Annie picked up the riddle scroll. She unrolled it. Together she and Jack read the riddle:

安妮捡起写有谜语的纸卷,将它展开,与杰克一起读起来：

Rough and gray as rock,

像岩石一样灰暗而粗糙,

I’m plain as plain can be.

朴素得不能再朴素,

But hidden deep inside

可深藏在我体内,

There’s great beauty in me.

却有惊人之美,

What am I?

我是什么?

“Let’s go find the answer.” said Annie.

“让我们去寻找答案吧。”安妮说。

She and Jack looked out the window. The tree house wasn’t in a tree. It was on the ground.

她和杰克往窗外一望，树屋竟然不在树上，而是在地上。

“Why is the ground pink?” said Jack.

“地怎么变成粉红色的了?”杰克问。

“I don’t know, ” said Annie. “But I’m going out there.”

“我不知道啊。”安妮说, “但我要出去看看。”

“I’m going to do a little research first, ” said Jack.

“我得先研究一下再说。”杰克说。

Annie climbed out of the tree house.

安妮爬出树屋。

Jack picked up the ocean book and flipped through it. He found a picture of a pink island surrounded by water. He read:

杰克捡起那本有关海洋的书翻了起来。他发现里面有一张被海水环绕的粉红色岛屿的图片,他读道：

This is a coral reef. Corals are tiny seaanimals. After they die, their skeletonsremain. Over time, the reef builds up from stacks of coral skeletons.

这是一座珊瑚礁。珊瑚是微小的海洋动物,它们死了以后,尸骨会留下来。随着时间的推移,成堆的珊瑚尸骨会形成礁石。

“Oh,man,tiny skeletons, ” said Jack. He pulled out his notebook and wrote:

“噢,天哪,微小的尸骨。”杰克说。他拿出笔记本写道：

Millions of coral skeletons

数以百万的珊瑚尸骨。

“Jack! Jack! Come look at this, ” cried Annie.

“杰克,杰克!快来看呀!”安妮喊道。

“What is it?”

“看什么呀?”

“I don’t know. But you’ll love it!” she said.

“我也不知道。总之你会喜欢的!”安妮说。

Jack threw his notebook and the ocean book into his pack. He climbed out the window.

杰克将笔记本和那本海洋书扔进背包,爬出窗户。

“Is it the answer to the riddle?” he called.

“它是谜底吗?”杰克问。

“I don’t think so. It doesn’t look very plain, ” said Annie.

“我看不是,它看上去可不一般。”安妮说。

She was standing at the edge of the water. Beside her was a strange-looking machine.

安妮站在水边,她的旁边是一台外形奇怪的机器。

Jack hurried over the bumpy coral to get a better look.

杰克快速越过崎岖不平的珊瑚礁,想看得更清楚一点。

The machine was half on the reef and half in the clear blue water. It looked like a huge white bubble with a big window.

那台机器一半在礁石上,一半在清澈蓝色的海水里。它看起来就像一个有着一扇大窗户的白色大气包。

“Is it a special kind of boat?” asked Annie.

“这是一种特别的船吗?”安妮问。

Jack found a picture of the machine in the ocean book. He read:

杰克在那本海洋书中找到了一幅这种机器的图片,他读道：

Scientists who study the ocean are called oceanographers. Sometimes they travel in small diving vessels called submersibles, or “mini-subs, ” to study the ocean floor.

研究海洋的科学家被称作海洋学家。为了研究海底世界,他们有时会乘坐一种可以潜入水中的小船,即微型潜水艇。

“It’s a mini-sub, ” said Jack. He pulled out his notebook.

“这是一艘微型潜水艇。”杰克说,并拿出他的笔记本。

“Let’s get inside it, ” said Annie.

“我们进去吧。”安妮说。

“No!” said Jack. Actually, he did want to see what the sub looked like inside. But he shook his head. “We can’t. It’s not ours.”

“不行!”杰克制止道。其实他也想看看里面是什么样子,但他还是摇着头说, “我们不能进去,因为它不是我们的。”

“Just a teeny peek, ” said Annie. “It might help us figure out the riddle.”

“就看一眼吧。”安妮说, “这也许可以帮我们找到谜底呢!”

Jack sighed. “Okay. But we have to be careful. Don’t touch anything, ” he said.

杰克叹了口气说, “那好吧。但我们一定得小心,不能碰任何东西。”

“Don’t worry, ” said Annie.

“别担心。”安妮说。

“And take off your shoes so they won’t get wet, ” said Jack.

“而且要把鞋脱下来,以免弄湿了。”杰克说。

He and Annie slipped off their shoes and socks and threw them toward the tree house. Then they stepped carefully over the sharp coral.

杰克和安妮将鞋袜脱下,扔到树屋那儿,然后小心地走过扎脚的珊瑚礁。

Annie turned the handle on the hatch of the mini-sub. It opened.

安妮转动微型潜水艇舱口的把手,门开了。

She and Jack climbed inside. The hatch slammed shut.

她和杰克刚爬进去,舱门就砰地关闭了。

The mini-sub was tiny. Two seats faced the big window. In front of the seats was a computer built into a control panel.

这个潜水艇真小,里面对着窗子有两个座位,座位前面是控制板,里面嵌入了一台计算机。

Annie sat down. Jack opened the ocean book and read more on the mini-sub page:

安妮坐下来。杰克打开那本书,又读了一些有关微型潜水艇的内容：

Mini-subs have strong hulls to keep air in and protect those aboard from waterpressure. Computers are used to guide the mini-sub through the ocean.

微型潜水艇有着十分坚实的耐压壳体,可以包住空气,并抵抗强大的水压从而保护艇内的乘客。它可以通过电脑控制在海洋中航行。

“Oops, ” said Annie.

“糟了。”安妮说。

“What’s wrong?” Jack looked up.

“出什么事了?”杰克抬头问道。

Annie was waving her hands in front of the computer. Now the screen showed a map. “What’s going on?” said Jack.

安妮在电脑前摆着手,这时屏幕上出现一个地图。“到底怎么啦?”杰克问。

“I just pressed a few keys—” said Annie.

“我刚才动了几个按键——”安妮说。

“What? I said not to touch anything!” said Jack.

“什么?我说过不能动任何东西的!”杰克说。

An air blower came on. The mini-sub jerked backward.

这时一个螺旋桨转了起来,小潜艇也猛地往后一倒。

“Get out!” said Jack.

“快出去!”杰克叫道。

He and Annie scrambled for the hatch. Jack grabbed the handle. But they were too late. The mini-sub slid off the reef. Then it dove silently down into the deep.

他和安妮竞相扑向舱门,杰克已经抓到了门把手。但是,一切都太迟了。小潜艇滑下礁石,然后无声地朝海底驶去。