Our Blue Ocean我们的蓝色海洋

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.

如果从遥远的地方观察地球，你会发现地球既不像太阳那样是黄色的，也不像月球那样是白色的。地球是蓝色的。 蓝色是海洋的颜色，地球表面约71%的面积都是海洋。

生活在海洋中的动物比陆地上的多，原因可能就是海洋中的食物非常丰富。这些食物从何而来？海洋中的“首要食物”是植物。如果把海洋中的植物全部移走，那么几乎就没有动物可以存活其中了。为了合成食物，植物需要水和阳光。它们也需要矿物质，而矿物质则来自陆地。

所以只有依存于陆地，海洋中才可能有生命。不过反之亦然：只有依存于海洋，陆地上才可能有生命。人类生存需要水，而水又来自海洋。雨云带走了海中的水汽，海风又将这些云吹到陆地上，然后雨水再落到我们的土地上，汇入河流中。

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.

海洋决定了我们的天气，也造就了我们的气候。由于海洋的存在，地球不会太热或太冷。海水流经世界各地，将温暖的水带到寒冷的地方，又将寒冷的水带到炎热的地方。因为海水的不停流动，生命才有可能在地球上无处不在。

当然，海洋也能带来危险。我们都惧怕海上风暴。但对我们许多人而言，海洋象征着冒险、神秘与希望。乘船航行总会令人激动兴奋。我们不知道我们会在海洋的另一边，或在海洋的最深处发现什么，毕竟海洋最深处是150年前才被发现的世界。不过，就像几千年前的第一代航海人那样， 我们仍然想尝试——我们希望发现新的领域，更加了解我们的世界。

Word Bank

surface n. 表面；表层

mineral n. 矿物；矿物质

opposite n. 对立面；反面

Hot and cold are opposites.

climate n. 气候

adventure n. 冒险；冒险经历