Our Blue Ocean我們的藍色海洋

If we look at our planet from a long way away， it is not yellow like the Sun， nor white like the Moon—it is blue. Blue is the color of the oceans， and about 71 percent of the surface of our planet is ocean.

More animals live in the oceans than on the land. This is possible only because there is so much food in the oceans. Where does the food come from？ The first food of our oceans is plants. If you take all the plants out of the oceans， very few animals can live there. To make their food， plants need water and sunlight. They also need minerals， and the minerals come from the land.

So life in the oceans is possible only with help from the land. But the opposite is also true： life on land is possible only with help from the oceans. We need water to live， and that comes to us from the oceans. Rain clouds take water from the oceans， and ocean winds carry the clouds over the land， where the rain falls onto our fields and into our rivers.

如果從遙遠的地方觀察地球，你會發現地球既不像太陽那樣是黃色的，也不像月球那樣是白色的。地球是藍色的。 藍色是海洋的顏色，地球表面約71%的面積都是海洋。

生活在海洋中的動物比陸地上的多，原因可能就是海洋中的食物非常豐富。這些食物從何而來？海洋中的“首要食物”是植物。如果把海洋中的植物全部移走，那么幾乎就沒有動物可以存活其中了。為了合成食物，植物需要水和陽光。它們也需要礦物質，而礦物質則來自陸地。

所以只有依存于陸地，海洋中才可能有生命。不過反之亦然：只有依存于海洋，陸地上才可能有生命。人類生存需要水，而水又來自海洋。雨云帶走了海中的水汽，海風又將這些云吹到陸地上，然后雨水再落到我們的土地上，匯入河流中。

The oceans make our weather—but they also make our climate. Because of our oceans， our planet is neither too hot nor too cold. The waters of the oceans move around the world， bringing warm water to cold places and cold water to hot places. Life is possible everywhere on our planet because the water in our oceans is always moving.

Of course， the oceans can also be dangerous. We are all afraid of storms at sea. But for many of us， oceans are places of adventure， mystery and hope. It is always exciting to climb into a boat. We do not know what we will find on the other side of the ocean， or in the deepest parts of the ocean—a hidden world until 150 years ago. But we want to find new places and learn more about our world， just as the first ocean travelers did thousands of years ago.

海洋決定了我們的天氣，也造就了我們的氣候。由于海洋的存在，地球不會太熱或太冷。海水流經世界各地，將溫暖的水帶到寒冷的地方，又將寒冷的水帶到炎熱的地方。因為海水的不停流動，生命才有可能在地球上無處不在。

當然，海洋也能帶來危險。我們都懼怕海上風暴。但對我們許多人而言，海洋象征著冒險、神秘與希望。乘船航行總會令人激動興奮。我們不知道我們會在海洋的另一邊，或在海洋的最深處發現什么，畢竟海洋最深處是150年前才被發現的世界。不過，就像幾千年前的第一代航海人那樣， 我們仍然想嘗試——我們希望發現新的領域，更加了解我們的世界。

Word Bank

surface n. 表面；表層

mineral n. 礦物；礦物質

opposite n. 對立面；反面

Hot and cold are opposites.

climate n. 氣候

adventure n. 冒險；冒險經歷