第三单元课文解释Text A.doc

Text A第三单元 课文 AThe Atlantic Ocean大西洋The Atlantic Ocean is one of the oceans大西洋是分隔新大陆that separate the old World from the New.与旧大陆的大洋之一For centuries it kept the Americas几个世纪里，from being discovered by the people of Europe.它使南北美洲未被欧洲人发现Many wrong ideas about the Atlantic许多有关大西洋的错误made early sailors unwilling to sail far out into it.导致早期的海员不愿意远航驶入大西洋One idea was that it reached out to "the edge of the world."一个想法是，大西洋洋已远达“世界的边缘” ，Sailors were afraid that they might sail right off the earth.海员们担心他可能会航行到地球队边上彻底掉下去；Another idea was that at the equator the ocean would be boiling hot.另一个想法是，在赤道处，大西洋的海水是滚烫的。

The Atlantic Ocean is only half as big as the Pacific,尽管大西洋的面积只有太平洋的二分之一，but it is still very large.但它仍然非常大It is more than 4,000 miles (6,000 kin) wide where Columbus crossed it.哥伦布穿越的那部分有 4000多英里（6000 公里）宽Even at its narrowest it is about 2,000 miles (3,200 kin) wide.即使在最窄处，也有大约 2000英里（3200 公里）宽This narrowest place is between the bulge最窄处在美非大陆of south America and the bulge of Africa.凸出部分之间Two things make the Atlantic Ocean rather unusual.使大西洋不同寻常原因有二：For so large an ocean it has very few islands.首先，如此大的海洋只有很少几个岛屿；Also, it is the world's saltiest OCean.其次，它是世界上含盐分最多的海洋。

There is so much water in the Atlantic大西洋里的水that it is hard to imagine how much there is.多得不可想象But suppose no more rain fell into it假设不再有雨水落进大西洋，and no more water was brought to it by rivers.河水也不再流入It would take the ocean about 4,000 years to dry up.大西洋也需要大约四千年的时间才能干涸On the average the water is a little more than two miles (3.2 km) deep,平均水深两英里（32 公里）多一点，but in places it is much deeper.但有些地方更深The deepest spot is near Puerto Rico.最深处在波多黎各岛附近，This "deep" measures 30,246 feet--almost six miles (9.6 km).深达 30246英尺，几乎有六英里（9。

6 公里） One of the longest mountain ranges of the world世界上一条最长的山脉rises from the floor of the Atlantic.从大西洋海底升起，This mountain range runs north and south down the middle of the ocean.它由北向南延伸，直达大西洋中部，The tops of a few of the mountains reach up above the sea and make islands.几座山峰露出海面便形成岛屿The Azores are the tops of peaks in the mid-Atlantic mountain range.亚速尔群岛是大西洋中部山脉的峰尖Several hundred miles eastward from Florida从佛罗里达往东几百英里处的there is a part of the ocean called the Sargasso Sea.一部分洋面称为马尾藻海Here the water is quiet,for there is little wind.这里水面平静，几乎没有一丝风。

In the days of sailing vessels the crew were afraid they would be becalmed here.在使用帆船的时代，般员们担心他们会因无风而在此处无法航行，Sometimes they were.有时的确如此Ocean currents are sometimes called "rivers in the sea."洋流有时被称为“海上河流” One of these "rivers" in the Atlantic is called the Gulf Stream.大西洋其中有一条“河流”被命名为墨西哥湾流，It is a current of warm water.是条暖流；Another is the Labrador Current--cold water coming down from the Arctic.另一条叫拉布拉多流，这是来自北冰洋的寒流Ocean currents affect the climates of the lands near which they flow.洋流对其充经地区的气候有影响。

The Atlantic furnishes much food for the people on its shores.大西洋为岸上的人们提供了丰富的食物One of its most famous fishing regions,the Grand Banks,is near New-found land.最有名的渔业区之一是大浅滩渔业区，位于纽芬兰附近Today the Atlantic is a great highway.今天的大西洋是一条主要交通干线It is not,however,always a smooth and safe one.所以大西洋并不总是一个平静和安全的海洋Storms sweep across it and pile up great waves.然而，横扫而来的暴风雨卷起层层巨浪Icebergs float down from the Far North across the paths of ships.遥远的北极漂浮而下的冰川穿过般只经过的航道，We now have such fast ways of traveling今天我们拥有的快捷旅行方式that this big ocean seems to have grown smaller.使大西洋显得小了。

Columbus sailed for more than two months to cross it.哥伦布花了两个多月的时间才穿越大西洋，A fast modem steamship can make the trip in less than four days.今天现代化的快速轮船只需不到四天的时间就可以完成 旅行Airplanes fly from New York to London in only eight hours从纽约到伦敦飞行只需 8小时，and from South America to Africa in four!而从南美到非洲四小时就够了Text B课文 BThe Moon月球We find that the moon is about 239,000 miles我们发现月球离地球大约有大约 239 万英里(384,551 km) away from the earth,（384，551 万公里） ，and,to within a few thousand miles,its distance always remains the same.它与地球保持这个距离，变化不超地几千英里。

Yet a very little observation shows that the moon is not standing still.然而略加观察就可以发现月球并非静止不动Its distance far the earth remains the same,它与地球之间的距离不变，but its direction continually changes.但其方位却不断变化We find that it is traveling in a circle--我们发现月球以圆周或者or very nearly a circle--round the earth,非常接近圆周绕地球一周going completely round once a month,or,more exactly,once every 27 1/3 days.月球是我们在太空中紧近的邻居It is our nearest neighbour in space,如同我们自己一样，and like ourselves it is kept tied to the earth地球引力月球by the earth's gravitational pull.与球紧紧联系在一起。

Except for the sun,the moon looks the biggest object in the sky.除太阳以外，月球是空中看起来最大的物体Actually it is one of the smallest,其实它是最小的天体之一，and only looks big because it is so near to us.只是因为离我们很近，所以看起来大Its diameter is only 2,160 miles (3,389 kin),它的直径只有 2160英里（3389 公里） ，or a little more than a quarter of the diameter of the earth.或者说比地球直径的四分之一略多一点Once a month,or,more exactly,once every 29 1/2 days,我们所说的“满月”每月有一次，确切地说，每 29天半有一次，at the time we call "full moon,"its whole disc looks bright.这时整个月面明亮照人At other times only part of it appears bright,其它时间，月球只有一部分发亮，and we always find that thi。