兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第九冊 Dolphins at Daybreak 04

4 Fish City

There were fish everywhere:floating over the swaying sea grass，　eating on the white sandy bottom，　peeping out of coral caves.

Some kinds of coral looked like blue fingers or lacy fans.　Others looked like deer antlers or lettuce leaves or mushrooms or trees.

Jack read in the book:

Coral reefs are only found in warm， tropical waters. Nearly 5 000 different species of fish live around coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Jack pulled out his pencil and notebook.

He started to write a list.

Coral Reef Research

warm water

over 5 000 kinds of fish

“Look!” said Annie.

The sub floated past a huge starfish. Then a pink jellyfish. Then a blue sea horse.

Jack added to his list:

starfish

jellyfish

sea horses

“What is that?”said Annie.

Jack saw a creature that looked like a giant pancake with a long tail.

“A stingray!” said Jack. He put that on his list as well.

“And that?” said Annie.

She pointed at the biggest shell Jack had ever seen. It was as big as a footstool.

“I’ll have to check on that one，” said Jack. He turned the pages of the ocean book. When he got to the page about clams， he read aloud:

The giant clam of the coral reef isthree feet wide and weighs up to200 pounds.

“Wow，” said Annie.

“No kidding，” said Jack. He added “giant clam” to his list.

“Dolphins!” cried Annie.

Jack looked up. Two dolphins were peering in the window.They tapped their noses against the glass.

Their eyes were bright.They seemed to be smiling.

Jack laughed. “It’s like we’re in a fish tank—and they’re looking at us，” he said.

“Their names are Sukie and Sam，” said Annie. “Sister and brother.”

“You’re nuts，” said Jack.

“Here’s a kiss for you， Sukie，” Annie said. She pressed her lips to the glass as if she were kissing the dolphin’s nose.

“Oh， brother，” said Jack.

But the dolphin opened her mouth and tossed her head. She seemed to be laughing.

“Hey， I know the answer to the riddle—dolphins!” said Annie. “They’re gray and plain. But they have great beauty inside.”

“You forgot the ‘rough as a rock’ part，” said Jack. “Dolphin skin looks smooth and slippery.”

“Oh， right，” said Annie.

The dolphins flipped their tails.They swam off into the light blue water.

“Wait!Don’t go!” called Annie. “Sukie!”

But the dolphins were gone.

“It’s time for us to go， too，” said Jack. He was afraid someone might be looking for the mini-sub.

“But we haven’t solved the riddle，” said Annie.

Jack studied the bright underwater world.

“I don’t see the answer，” he said. “There’s nothing plain at all out there.”

“Then maybe the answer’s in the mini-sub，” said Annie.

They looked around the tiny space.

“I’ll check the computer，” said Jack. He studied the row of pictures at the top of the screen.

He pressed the book picture.

The words SHIP’S LOG flashed onto the screen.

4魚城

到處都是魚：它們或漂浮在搖曳的海草上，或在白沙覆蓋的海底進(jìn)食，或從珊瑚洞里往外窺探。

有些珊瑚看起來就像藍(lán)色的手指或蕾絲狀的扇子，另一些則像鹿角、萵苣葉、蘑菇或樹木。

杰克繼續(xù)讀書：

珊瑚礁只在溫暖的熱帶海域出現(xiàn)。在太平洋和印度洋，有近5 000個不同品種的魚類生活在珊瑚礁周圍。

杰克拿出他的鉛筆和筆記本，依次列出：

有關(guān)珊瑚礁的調(diào)查

溫暖水域

5 000多種魚類

“看!”安妮說。

只見小潛艇緩緩經(jīng)過一只巨大的海星，然后是一只粉紅色的水母，接下來是藍(lán)色的海馬。

杰克接著列出：

海星

水母

海馬

“那是什么?”安妮問。

杰克看見外面是一種像長了一根長尾巴的巨大薄餅一樣的生物。

“是刺!”杰克說。他把這個也記了下來。

“那個呢?”安妮指著一個巨大的殼狀物問。

這是杰克見過的最大的殼狀物了，它足有小凳子那么大!

“我得查一查。”杰克說。他翻看著那本有關(guān)海洋的書，當(dāng)翻到蛤那頁時，他讀道：

珊瑚礁的巨蛤有3英尺寬，重達(dá)200磅。[注]

“天哪!”安妮驚嘆道。

“是真的。”杰克說。他隨即將“巨蛤”也記了下來。

“海豚!”安妮喊道。

杰克抬頭一看，只見兩只海豚正往窗里窺探，并用鼻子拍打著窗子。它們的眼睛亮晶晶的，仿佛在向他們微笑。

杰克大笑著說：“怎么我們倒像是進(jìn)了魚缸，在供魚兒們觀賞!”

“這兩只海豚叫蘇琪和山姆。”安妮說，“它們是兄妹倆。”

“你又說什么傻話呢!”杰克說。

“親你一下，蘇琪!”安妮說。她將嘴唇按在窗玻璃上，仿佛在親吻海豚的鼻子。

“噢，我算服了你了。”杰克說。

但那只海豚卻張開嘴巴，甩著腦袋，開心地笑了。

“嘿，我知道謎底了——是海豚!”安妮說。“海豚外表灰色、不起眼，但卻有著美好的心靈。”

“你忘了嗎?還有‘像巖石一樣粗糙’呢!”杰克說，“海豚的皮膚卻很光滑啊。”

“嗯，你說的也對。”安妮說。

海豚晃動著它們的尾巴，朝淡藍(lán)色的海水中游去。

“等等!別走!”安妮喊道，“蘇琪!”

但海豚很快看不見了。

“我們也該走了。”杰克說。他擔(dān)心有人找這艘小潛艇。

“但我們還沒找到謎底呢。”安妮說。

杰克仔細(xì)看了看絢麗的水底世界。

“我看不出哪兒有謎底。”他說，“外面沒一樣是樸素和不起眼的。”

“那么也許答案在小潛艇里。”安妮說。

他們于是環(huán)視起這個小小的船艙。

“我用電腦來查一下。”杰克說。他研究了一下屏幕上方的一條圖標(biāo)，然后按了一下畫著書本的那個圖標(biāo)，立刻，屏幕上出現(xiàn)了“航行日志”幾個字。