兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第九冊 Dolphins at Daybreak 02

2 The Reef

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

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

Rough and gray as rock，

I’m plain as plain can be.

But hidden deep inside

There’s great beauty in me.

What am I?

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

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

It was on the ground.

“Why is the ground pink?” said Jack.

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

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

Annie climbed out of the tree house.

Jack picked up the ocean book and flipped through it.

He found a picture of a pink island surrounded by water. He read:

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.

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

Millions of coral skeletons

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

“What is it?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

“Let’s get inside it，” said Annie.

“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.”

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

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

“Don’t worry，” said Annie.

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

He and Annie slipped off their shoes and socks and threw them toward the tree house.

Then they stepped carefully over the sharp coral.

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

She and Jack climbed inside. The hatch slammed shut.

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

Annie sat down.

Jack opened the ocean book and read more on the mini-sub page:

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.

“Oops，” said Annie.

“What’s wrong?” Jack looked up.

Annie was waving her hands in front of the computer. Now the screen showed a map.

“What’s going on?” said Jack.

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

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

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

“Get out!” said Jack.

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.

2礁石

一陣微風(fēng)吹過窗子，海鷗叫著，波濤拍打著海岸。

安妮撿起寫有謎語的紙卷，將它展開，與杰克一起讀起來：

像巖石一樣灰暗而粗糙，

樸素得不能再樸素，

可深藏在我體內(nèi)，

卻有驚人之美，

我是什么?

“讓我們?nèi)ふ掖鸢赴伞?rdquo;安妮說。

她和杰克往窗外一望，樹屋竟然不在樹上，而是在地上。

“地怎么變成粉紅色的了?”杰克問。

“我不知道啊。”安妮說，“但我要出去看看。”

“我得先研究一下再說。”杰克說。

安妮爬出樹屋。

杰克撿起那本有關(guān)海洋的書翻了起來。他發(fā)現(xiàn)里面有一張被海水環(huán)繞的粉紅色島嶼的圖片，他讀道：

這是一座珊瑚礁。珊瑚是微小的海洋動物，它們死了以后，尸骨會留下來。隨著時間的推移，成堆的珊瑚尸骨會形成礁石。

“噢，天哪，微小的尸骨。”杰克說。他拿出筆記本寫道：

數(shù)以百萬的珊瑚尸骨。

“杰克，杰克!快來看呀!”安妮喊道。

“看什么呀?”

“我也不知道?？傊銜矚g的!”安妮說。

杰克將筆記本和那本海洋書扔進(jìn)背包，爬出窗戶。

“它是謎底嗎?”杰克問。

“我看不是，它看上去可不一般。”安妮說。

安妮站在水邊，她的旁邊是一臺外形奇怪的機(jī)器。

杰克快速越過崎嶇不平的珊瑚礁，想看得更清楚一點。

那臺機(jī)器一半在礁石上，一半在清澈藍(lán)色的海水里。它看起來就像一個有著一扇大窗戶的白色大氣包。

“這是一種特別的船嗎?”安妮問。

杰克在那本海洋書中找到了一幅這種機(jī)器的圖片，他讀道：

研究海洋的科學(xué)家被稱作海洋學(xué)家。為了研究海底世界，他們有時會乘坐一種可以潛入水中的小船，即微型潛水艇。

“這是一艘微型潛水艇。”杰克說，并拿出他的筆記本。

“我們進(jìn)去吧。”安妮說。

“不行!”杰克制止道。其實他也想看看里面是什么樣子，但他還是搖著頭說，“我們不能進(jìn)去，因為它不是我們的。”

“就看一眼吧。”安妮說，“這也許可以幫我們找到謎底呢!”

杰克嘆了口氣說，“那好吧。但我們一定得小心，不能碰任何東西。”

“別擔(dān)心。”安妮說。

“而且要把鞋脫下來，以免弄濕了。”杰克說。

杰克和安妮將鞋襪脫下，扔到樹屋那兒，然后小心地走過扎腳的珊瑚礁。

安妮轉(zhuǎn)動微型潛水艇艙口的把手，門開了。

她和杰克剛爬進(jìn)去，艙門就砰地關(guān)閉了。

這個潛水艇真小，里面對著窗子有兩個座位，座位前面是控制板，里面嵌入了一臺計算機(jī)。

安妮坐下來。杰克打開那本書，又讀了一些有關(guān)微型潛水艇的內(nèi)容：

微型潛水艇有著十分堅實的耐壓殼體，可以包住空氣，并抵抗強(qiáng)大的水壓從而保護(hù)艇內(nèi)的乘客。它可以通過電腦控制在海洋中航行。

“糟了。”安妮說。

“出什么事了?”杰克抬頭問道。

安妮在電腦前擺著手，這時屏幕上出現(xiàn)一個地圖。“到底怎么啦?”杰克問。

“我剛才動了幾個按鍵——”安妮說。

“什么?我說過不能動任何東西的!”杰克說。

這時一個螺旋槳轉(zhuǎn)了起來，小潛艇也猛地往后一倒。

“快出去!”杰克叫道。

他和安妮競相撲向艙門，杰克已經(jīng)抓到了門把手。但是，一切都太遲了。小潛艇滑下礁石，然后無聲地朝海底駛?cè)ァ?/p>