常春藤生活英語(yǔ)：The Pirate Code 海盜密碼

For years, Barry Clifford has been trying to solve a 300-year-old riddle. It isn't an ordinary riddle, though. It is a clue to the location of the pirate Black Sam Bellamy's treasure. Piracy came alive in the 1720s and incredibly, 2,000 to 3,000 pirates sailed just in the Caribbean. Now, all that is left of their attacks are stories, sunken ships, and hopefully, treasure. This month, National Geographic Channel's The Pirate Code takes viewers on a pirate adventure like never before.

It is said that Black Sam's ship, the Whydah, held about four and a half tons of silver and gold. Since he was one of the most famous pirates ever, such a large amount of treasure is not surprising. Originally, the Whydah was a fast slave ship that transported captured slaves from Africa to the Americas. During one of the Whydah's trips, Black Sam chased and seized her. But soon after, a terrible storm hit the ship. As a result, the Whydah sank near the northeast coast of the US. Barry Clifford is now on a quest to find the Whydah's final resting place. Only NGC's The Pirate Code shows viewers the secrets Clifford reveals.

多年來，貝瑞?克里佛一直試圖解開一個(gè)有三百年歷史的謎語(yǔ)。然而它卻不是個(gè)普通的謎語(yǔ)。它是可以解開海盜黑山姆?貝拉密的寶藏所在的線索。海盜活動(dòng)在 1720年代活躍了起來，令人難以置信的是，光是在加勒比海中航行的海盜就有兩到三千名。如今，他們的燒殺擄掠所遺留下來的就只剩故事、沉船，但愿還有寶藏。本月份，國(guó)家地理頻道的《海盜密碼》帶領(lǐng)觀眾展開一段前所未有的海盜冒險(xiǎn)之旅。

據(jù)說黑山姆的船——維達(dá)號(hào)的上頭載了約四噸半的金銀財(cái)寶。既然他是史上最有名的海盜之一，這么多的寶藏自然不令人意外。維達(dá)號(hào)原本是一艘速度飛快的奴隸船，用來將自非洲抓來的奴隸運(yùn)到美洲。在維達(dá)號(hào)的其中一次航程中，黑山姆追上了她并將她奪下。不過一場(chǎng)嚴(yán)重的暴風(fēng)雨不久之后便襲擊了這艘船。結(jié)果維達(dá)號(hào)就沉沒在美國(guó)東北方的海岸附近。現(xiàn)在，貝瑞?克里佛正追尋維達(dá)號(hào)的長(zhǎng)眠之處。只有國(guó)家地理頻道的《海盜密碼》將向觀眾呈現(xiàn)克里佛揭開的秘密。

Building Your Vocabulary

1.incredibly　adv. 難以置信地;非常地

Incredibly, Kyle didn't get hurt at all in the serious car accident.

令人難以置信的是，凱爾在這場(chǎng)嚴(yán)重的車禍中竟毫發(fā)無傷。

2.hopefully　adv. 但愿

Hopefully, Naomi will enjoy being married.

但愿娜歐蜜會(huì)喜歡婚姻生活。

3.transport　vt. 運(yùn)輸，運(yùn)送

We will transport the products by ship.

我們將用船只運(yùn)送這些產(chǎn)品。

4.seize　vt. 奪取，占領(lǐng)

The police seized the gun from the criminal.

警察從罪犯身上奪走了槍枝。

5.reveal　vt. 揭露

A journalist revealed the company's secrets.

一位記者揭露了那家公司的機(jī)密。

Phrases for Learning

come alive　　活躍起來，變得繁忙

The popcorn business came alive in the early 20th century.

爆米花的生意于二十世紀(jì)初期活躍起來。

參考字詞

1.riddle　n. 謎語(yǔ)

2.pirate　n. 海盜(本文中亦作形容詞用)

3.piracy　n. 海上搶劫，海盜行為

4.code　n. 密碼

5.slave　n. 奴隸(本文中亦作形容詞用)

6.quest　n. 尋求，探求

7.final resting place　n. 長(zhǎng)眠之處

Tips In Use

During one of the Whydah's trips, Black Sam chased and seized her.

(在維達(dá)號(hào)的其中一次航程中，黑山姆追上了她并將她奪下。)

本句使用 she 的受格 her 來表『維達(dá)號(hào)』。在現(xiàn)代英文中，有時(shí)會(huì)將船、國(guó)家、學(xué)校等名詞擬人化，受古英文中名詞有陰陽(yáng)性之分，且這類名詞屬陰性名詞的影響，故習(xí)慣用代名詞 she 來指稱之。用 she 來指稱船或國(guó)家是較為常見的用法，所以讀者也常?？梢栽谖鞣降墓适禄螂娪爸?，看見以女性名字命名的船只。

My father recently bought a yacht. He named her the Elizabeth Louise.

(我爸爸最近買了一艘游艇。他將她命名為伊莉薩白露易絲號(hào)。)

Enjoy Box

海盜旗

在近期風(fēng)靡一時(shí)的《神鬼奇航》、《海賊王》，以及經(jīng)典的《小飛俠》和《北海小英雄》等電影和卡通中，都可以窺見海盜的蹤跡。事實(shí)上，海盜可說是一項(xiàng)歷史悠久的犯罪活動(dòng)，幾乎自海上有船只航行以來，海盜便開始肆虐橫行。在航海業(yè)開始蓬勃發(fā)展的十六世紀(jì)之后，海盜活動(dòng)便更加興盛。當(dāng)時(shí)在英國(guó)，甚至有海盜因打敗敵國(guó)對(duì)手和獻(xiàn)上大量的財(cái)寶而封爵。

海盜船是海盜必備的交通工具，一提到人們對(duì)海盜船的既定印象，絕對(duì)少不了高掛在船上、隨風(fēng)飄揚(yáng)的海盜旗。海盜旗上常見的骷髏頭和骨架圖案象征著死亡，海盜們就是利用它來威嚇?biāo)麄兿胱凡兜拇?。?jù)說不同顏色的海盜旗代表不同的意義。當(dāng)海盜追逐獵物時(shí)，他們會(huì)升起白色的海盜旗來表明身分。若獵物降下自己船上的旗子，就表示愿意投降。如果獵物拒絕投降，海盜船便會(huì)升起黑白兩色的旗幟，以表明意圖。如果獵物之后仍繼續(xù)逃竄，海盜船便會(huì)升起紅色的旗幟，意味著一旦海盜船捕獲獵物，就會(huì)殘暴地不留下活口。數(shù)百年前，各種顏色的海盜旗就這么在汪洋大海中恐嚇著往來的船只，讓見者無不毛骨悚然。