听力文本

But it isn't rough weather that the captain fears most of all. It is a sea fog, especially when he knows there are other ships near, for when there is a fog he cannot see his way at all. It is like groping your way about in the dark at night, only the ship has no arms. The captain slows the ship down till it barely moves. He starts a big, deep horn a-blowing by clock-work, and it blows about once a minute regularly day and night as long as the fog lasts, which may be for several days, while sailors peer over the ship’s side listening and looking. They can hear another ship’s fog-horn some distance away, but often they cannot see another ship only a few feet away. When at last the fog clears off, land may be in sight—England.

We can tell land is near long before we actually see it. How do you suppose? Large white birds called sea-gulls come out to meet the ship, but not as friends come out to welcome you. They are looking for food that they know is dumped overboard from the ship’s kitchen. Just before we do land a man comes out in a small boat to meet the big ship. The big ship doesn’t stop; it lets down over the side a ladder made of rope and the man grabs hold of the rope, kicks the boat away, and climbs aboard. Who do you suppose he is? Why do you suppose they take him aboard? He is the new captain of the ship. He is called the pilot, and it is his job to bring the ship into the harbor. A big ship is so big it can’t sail into the dock itself; it has to have small boats called tug-boats push and pull it. A broad gang-plank is laid like a bridge across from the dock to the deck and the passengers and their baggage go ashore. The people in England speak English, so you can ask questions and understand their answers, though their language sounds strange to us and our language sounds funny to them. They call it “an American accent.” You must show your passport and you must open all your bags and let a man examine everything inside before he will let you go on. So you must have nothing you don’t want him to see. This man is called a customs officer. You may have to pay for some things you have. This that you have to pay is called a “duty.”

参考译文

但船长最担忧的并不是恶劣的天气。他怕的是海上的大雾，尤其是当他知道附近还有其他轮船时，因为一旦出现浓雾，他根本就看不清方向。就像你在夜晚的黑暗中摸索着向前走一样，只是轮船没有胳膊。船长把船开得很慢很慢，几乎要停下来。他鸣响一只又大又深的喇叭，喇叭由发条装置控制，大约每分钟鸣一次，不分昼夜定时响起，直到浓雾散尽。有时大雾会持续好几天，这段时间船员在船舷上认真值守，时而侧耳倾听，时而仔细查看，他们能听到远处船只的雾号，但常常看不见近在咫尺的另一艘船。当大雾最终散去的时候，陆地也许就在眼前——看到英国了。

其实在我们看到陆地之前，早就能知道陆地不远了。你猜想是怎么知道的呢？这时叫做海鸥的白色大鸟飞出来迎接轮船，但并不是作为朋友来迎接你的。它们是在找食物，它们知道船上厨房要向舷外倒好吃的东西。就在着陆前，有一个人坐一艘小船出来靠近大船。大船并不停下来，从船舷放下一个绳子做的梯子，这个人抓住绳子，把小船踢开，爬上大船。你想他是谁？你猜他们为什么要把他拉到船上来呢？他是大船的新船长，叫做领航员，他的工作就是把轮船领进港口。大船很大，不能自己驶进码头；它必须靠几条叫做拖船的小船把它拖拽进去。一块宽宽的跳板被放下，横跨码头和甲板，就像小桥一样，乘客带着行李就上岸了。英国人说英语，所以有问题可以问他们，你也听得懂他们的回答，尽管他们说的话我们听起来怪怪的，而我们说的话他们觉得有点可笑。他们说这是“美国腔”。上岸后，你必须出示护照，打开行李让一个人检查里面的所有东西，然后他才能让你走。因此你不能装任何你不想让他看到的东西在里面。这个人叫做海关官员。你也许要为你带的某些东西付钱。你要付的钱叫做“关税”。