EZCNN 易英网

What is a Riptide? 什么是激流？

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本 

Simpson and Bing-bing are sitting at the beach:  辛普生和彬彬正坐在沙滩上：

B: Look! The lifeguards are launching their boats.

你看！救生员在发动救生艇。

S: The surf has been big all afternoon. Can you see anything?

整个下午的海浪一直很大。你看到了什么吗？

B: Yeah. There’s a dog out there past the surf break! See? I saw it earlier playing frisbee close to the shore.

有。过了浪头那里有一只狗！看到没？稍早我还看到牠在岸边玩飞盘。

S: Poor dog. He must have gone out deep to make a catch, and then got pulled out in a riptide. Do you know what causes a riptide, anyway?

可怜的狗。牠一定是跑到水深的地方去接飞盘，结果被激流拉到海中。不过，你知道激流是如何造成的吗？

B: Sure. First, the wind and waves push water over a sandbar that’s close to the shore. Gravity pulls that water back, but the sandbar and oncoming waves won’t let it out, so a current starts up that runs parallel to the shore.

当然。首先，风和波浪把海水推送过岸边的沙洲。重力把海水拉回来，但是沙洲和持续推进的波浪阻绝后退的海水，所以形成了和岸边平行的潮流。

S: And when the sandbar finally gives away – whoosh! All that water under pressure flows out ferociously, right?

而当沙洲最后抵挡不了──哗啦！负荷压力的水流猛烈地冲泄出去，是吧？

B: Right on. Riptides can flow faster than an Olympic swimmer and are stronger than the strongest man in the world. Those who fight riptides often drown.

没错。激流冲得比奥运选手还快，也比世上最壮的人还要勇猛。强要和激流对抗的人通常会淹死。

S: So if you swim parallel to the shore, you should be able to get out?

所以假如你和岸边呈水平方向游着，就应该可以脱离激流？

B: Uh huh. Either that, or let the riptide carry you out – they usually dissipate just past the breaking waves.

是啊。你可以那么做，或者顺着激流把你带出险境──通常激流过了碎浪就会消退下来。

S: I’m glad you know that trick.

很高兴向你学了这些诀窍。

B: Look, the dog’s safe. How about a dip?

看，那只狗获救了。要不要下水玩玩？

－by Grady Sales

Vocabulary

单词发音

riptide [ˋrɪp͵taɪd] n. 急流,激流

lifeguard [ˋlaɪf͵gɑrd] n.【美】（海上或游泳池的）救生员

surf [sɝf] n.（冲击岩石、海岸的）碎浪，海浪；浪花

frisbee [ˋfrɪzbi] n.（投掷游戏用的）飞碟，飞盘

sandbar [ˋsænd͵bɑr] n. 河口沙洲

oncoming [ˋɑn͵kʌmɪŋ] adj. 即将到来的；接近的；迎面而来的

start up 突然出现; 开始

parallel [ˋpærə͵lɛl] adj. 平行的，同方向的

give away 丧失，失去，错失（优势）

whoosh [hwuʃ] v.（使）发出嘶嘶声

ferociously [fəˋroʃəslɪ] adv. 凶猛地; 非常地，惊人地

right on 说得对,言之有理

dissipate [ˋdɪsə͵pet] v. 驱散（雾等），使消散；消除，使消失

Sentence of the Day

It can be a matter of life and death.

这是生死攸关的事。

a matter of life and death  生死攸关的事情, 成败关键