knew there was land directly northwest of our original position. 他知道在我们原先位置的正西北有陆地。 So his task was to make sure we stayed on that course. 因此，他的任务就是确保我们要在那个航线上。As you can see from the map we kept to a straight course pretty well. 正如你在地图上所见到的那样，我们很好地保持着这条笔直的航线。 In addition, the captain kept us all busy reading the tables to work out our position. 此外，船长还让我们大家都忙于解读表格，以计算出我们的位置。Although this took a great deal of time, it didn't matter. Time was, after all, what we had a lot of! 虽然这项工作占去了大量的时间，但那并没有关系。毕竟我们有的是时间！
Our daily food was shared equally among us all: one piece of bread and one cup of water. 我们的日常食物全都是平均分配的：一片面包和一杯水。It was starvation quantities but the extreme lack of water was the hardest to cope with psychologically. 这点儿分量的食物只能让人处于饥饿之中，可是我们心理上最难受的却是极度缺水。 Imagine all that water around you, but none of it was safe to drink because the salt in it would drive you mad! 想想看，你的四周全都是水，但是一滴都不能喝，因为水中的盐分会弄得你精神失常! All the time the captain tried to preserve our good spirits by telling stories and talking hopefully about what we would do when we got back to England. 船长一直试图让我们保持良好的精神状态，他给我们讲故事，并且满怀希望的同我们谈论回到英国后所要做的事。 We only half believed him. 我们对他只是将信将疑罢了。
The tension in the boat got worse as the supply of food and water gradually disappeared. 随着食物和水的供应渐渐短缺，船上的气氛也越来越紧张。We could foresee that we would die if we could not reach land very soon and we sank gradually into a sleepy, half-alive state. 可以预见到，如果不能很快地靠岸登陆，我们必死无疑。逐渐地我们陷入一种昏昏入睡、奄奄一息的状态。 The captain was as weak as the rest of us, but he was determined not to give up. 船长同我们这些人一样地虚弱，但是他决意不放弃。 He continued his navigational measurements every day. 他每天继续不停地进行航海测量。He kept us busy and tried to take our minds off our stomachs and our thirst. He kept us alive. 他总是使我们忘记饥渴。他使我们活了下来。 You could not imagine a more disturbing sight than what we looked like when arriving in Timor over forty days after being set loose in our small boat. 你简直无法想象我们被放在小船上漂泊了40天后在帝汶岛登陆时的凄惨样子。 Our clothes were torn, we had fever and our faces showed the hardships we had suffered. 我们衣衫褴褛，发着高烧，从脸上就能看出我们
所遭受的痛苦。But after a rest, some good meals and some new clothes, everything changed. 但是经过一段时间的休息，吃了几顿好饭，穿了几件新衣服之后，一切情况就都变了。 We couldn't stop talking about our voyage and everybody wanted to hear about it. 我们不停地讲述着我们的经历，并且大家都听我们讲。We were the heroes who had escaped the jaws of death by completing the greatest navigational feat of all time! 我们完成了历史上最伟大的航海壮举，我们成了从鬼门关里逃出来的英雄！
5.选修九Unit 3 GLIMPSES OF AUSTRALIA澳大利亚小览 AUSTRALIA澳大利亚
Capital: Canberra首都：堪培拉Offcial name: Commonwealth of Australia正式国名：澳大利亚联邦Area: 7,686,850 km2面积：7686850平方公里Population: 20 million人口：2千万 Highest point: Mount Kosciuszko, 2,228 metres above sea level最高点：科西阿斯科山，高出海平面2228米
Lowest point: Lake Eyre, 15 metres below sea level最低点：艾尔湖，低于海平面15米 Australia is the only country that is also a continent. 澳大利亚是唯一一个既是国家又是大陆的国家。It is the sixth largest country in the world and is in the smallest continent - Oceania. 它是世界上第六大的国家，并且位于最小的大陆——大洋洲。It is a mainly dry country with only a few coastal areas that have adequate rainfall to support a large population. 这是一个干旱气候为主的国家，只有少部分沿海地区有充足雨量，可以维持着大量人口的生存。Approximately 80 of Australians live in the south-eastern coastal area, which includes Australia's two largest cities – Melbourne and Sydney. 大约有80%的澳大利亚人居住在东海沿海地区，这里包括澳大利亚两个最大的城市——墨尔本和悉尼。 The centre of the continent, which is mainly desert and dry grassland, has few settlements. 大陆中央主要是沙漠和干草地，很少有人居住。
Australia is famous for its huge, open spaces, bright sunshine, enormous number of sheep and cattle and its unusual wildlife, which include kangaroos and koalas. 澳大利亚以其开阔的疆域、明媚的阳光、数不尽的牛羊和奇特的野生动植物而闻名，其中包括袋鼠和树袋熊。Australia is a popular destination with tourists from all over the world who come to experience its unique ecology. 澳大利亚是一个受人欢迎的旅游胜地，世界各地的游客来到这里体验它独特的生态环境。
Australia is made up of six states. 澳大利亚是由六个州组成的。Like the states in
America, Australian states are autonomous in some areas of government. 像美国的州一样，澳大利亚的州政府的某些部门自治。 However, Australia has a federal government responsible for matters that affect people all over the country, such as defence, foreign policy and taxation. 然而，澳大利亚有一个联邦政府负责管理涉及全国人民的事务，诸如国防、外交政策和税收等。The federal parliament is located in Canberra.联邦议会设在堪培拉。
CITIZENSHIP CEREMONIES PLANNED AROUND AUSTRALIA澳大利亚的公民庆典活动 On 26 January, Australia Day, in over 200 locations across the nation , more than 9,000 people will become Australian citizens. 1月26日是澳大利亚日，全国200多个地方的9000多人将成为澳大利亚的公民。
\many different cultural and social backgrounds into our communities and our nation,\said the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. ―我们以这些公民庆典的形式欢迎来自不同文化和社会背景的人加入到我们这个群体和国家中来。‖公民与多元文化事务部部长说。 \encourage tolerance, respect and friendship among all the people of Australia.\―来自许多不同的出生地的人参加澳大利亚日庆典活动。这种庆典活动是在澳州全体人民中鼓励宽容、尊重和友爱的一种极佳的方式。‖
Most citizenship ceremonies will be followed by displays of singing and dancing from many of the migrants' homelands and the tasting of food from all over the world. 通常在公民庆典活动之后有一些来自移民国家的歌舞表演，还有品尝世界各地美味佳肴的活动。 Go by plane and see clouds乘飞机观云彩 Go by TRAIN and see Australia坐火车看澳洲
Enjoy 3 nights on board the Indian-Pacific乘印度洋——太平洋号列车三日游
On this 4,352-km journey from Sydney to Perth via Adelaide you'll view some ot Australias unique scenery from the superb Blue Mountains to the treeless plains of the Nuliarbor. 从悉尼经阿德莱德到珀思长达4352公里的旅途中，你将欣赏到澳大利亚特有的美景，既有巍峨秀美的蓝山，也有望不见树木的那拉伯平原。Along the way you will spot a fascinating variety of wildlife. 沿途中，你还将看到各种各样引人入胜的野生动植物。 Enjoy 2 nights on board the Ghan乘格安列车二日游
As you travel from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs, you'll observe some of Australia's most
spectacular landscapes - from the rolling hills surrounding Adelaide to the rusty reds of Australia's centre and the tropical splendour of Darwin. 从阿德莱德经爱丽丝温泉到达达尔文的旅程中，你可以看到澳大利亚最壮丽的风景——从环绕阿德莱德的延绵起伏的群山，到澳大利亚中部的红色土地，到达尔文美丽的热带景观。
For more information, timetables and fares go to www.gsr.com.au/trains.htm 查询详情、时间表与费用等请登陆：www.gsr.com.au/trains.htm Dear Shen Ping, 亲爱的沈平：
I wish you could see this amazing rock. 真希望你能够亲眼看到这块令人惊叹的岩石。It is part of one of Australia's 14 Worm Heritage Sites and rises about 335 metres out of a vast, flat sandy plain. 它是澳大利亚14项世界遗产之一，矗立在一片广阔的沙地平原上，高达335米。A t different times of the day it appears to change co/our, from grey-red at sunrise, to golden and finally to burning red at dusk. 在不同时间里，这块岩石会呈现出不同的颜色，从日出时的灰红，到金黄，最后到黄昏时的火红。Aboriginal people have lived near Uluru for thousands of years and you can walk around it with an Aboriainal guide to learn about their customs, art, religion and day-to-day life. 澳洲土著人居住在乌卢鲁附近已经有几千年了。你可以找一位土著人向导带你去走一走，了解那里人们的习俗、艺术、宗教和日常生活。 It is also possible to climb the rock, but most people don't do this out of respect for the Aboriginal people who consider the rock to be sacred. 要爬上这个巨石也是可能的，但大多数人们出于对土著人的尊敬而不这么做，因为他们认为这块岩石是神圣的。 I‘ll be back in Sydney in a fortnight because I've made a reservation on the Indian Pacific train to Perth. 我会在两个星期后返回悉尼，因为我已经预定好了印度洋——太平洋号火车票前往佩思。 love Jack杰克
Tours outside Hobart霍巴特市外之旅
Drive 250 km northwestwards from Hobart along the A10 highway and you'll arrive at the southern end of the magnificent Cradle Mountain National Park and World Heritage area. 从霍巴特沿A10号公路朝西北方向行驶250公里，你就来到景色壮观的摇篮山国家公园暨世界遗产保护区的南端。 This park is famous for its mountain peaks, lakes and ancient forests. 这座公园以山峰、湖泊和远古森林而闻名。A popular attraction for active tourists is the 80-km walking track that joins the southern and northern ends of the park. There are also a range of short walks. 喜爱运动的旅游者还有个好去处，那就是贯穿公园南北的一条80公里长的徒步旅行路线，此
外还有一些短途旅行路线。
6.选修九Unit3 DANGEROUS CREATURES澳大利亚的危险动物
Australia is home to more than 170 different kinds of snake and 115 of these are poisonous. 澳大利亚是170多种蛇的家乡，其中有115种是毒蛇。 In fact, Australia has more kinds of venomous snake than any other country in the world. 事实上，澳大利亚比世界上任何其他国家的毒蛇品种都多。Luckily, the poison of most snakes can kill or paralyze only small creatures. 幸运的是，多数毒蛇的毒素只能杀死小动物，或使它们瘫痪。 A few varieties, however, can kill humans, so it is just as well that snakes are very shy and usually attack only if they are disturbed and feel threatened. 不过，还是有少数几种蛇能置人于死地。好在蛇都是胆小怕事，通常是在被打扰和感到有威胁时才会出击。
There are also approximately 2,000 different kinds of spider in Australia and, like snakes, most have a poisonous bite. 在澳大利亚，还有着将近2000种不同种类的蜘蛛。它们同蛇一样，多数蜘蛛咬起来也有毒。However, the majority have no effect on humans or cause only mild sickness. 然而，绝大多数蜘蛛的毒素对人体并没有影响，或者只能引起轻微病痛。Only a few have venom that is powerful enough to kill a human being. 只有少数蜘蛛有剧毒，足以致人于死地。 While a small number of Australians are bitten by spiders each year, most recover without any medical treatment. 虽然每年有少数人被蜘蛛咬伤，但是多数人不经治疗就能痊愈。 The seas around Australia contain over 160 different kinds of shark, which vary in size from just 20 centimetres to over 14 metres. 在环绕着澳大利亚的海域里有160多种鲨鱼，它们的体长从20厘米到14米不等。However, although they look dangerous because of their wide mouths and sharp teeth, all but two or three kinds are harmless to humans. 尽管它们有宽大的嘴巴和锋利的牙齿，看上去很危险，然而除了两三种之外，其余的对人类并没有危害。
Another potentially dangerous sea animal is the jellyfish. 另外一种具有潜在危险的海洋动物就是水母。Most kinds of poisonous jellyfish can cause severe pain to anyone who touches them but the poison of the box jellyfish can actually kill a human, especially if that person has a weak heart. 多数有毒水母都会使任何触碰到它们的人痛苦不已，而箱水母的毒素则足以致人死亡，特别是如果这个人的心脏虚弱的话。 The tiniest amount of poison from a box jellyfish can kill in less than five minutes and it is probably the most poisonous animal in the world. 箱水母极少量的毒素就可以在五分钟之内致人死命，它也许是世界上最毒的动物。