特别广播英语第 129 课：Worlds within Worlds 世界中的世界-2

but the photographs which the astronauts were able to take show us the earth in space looking not very different from what the moon looks like when we look at it from the earth. 但是宇航员们能够拍到的照片为我们展示出在太空中地球看上去和我们在地球上看到的月亮没有什么大的不同。

The earth is, however, very different from the moon, which the American astronauts have found to be without life or vegetation, whereas our earth is very much alive in every respect. 然而，地球和月亮确有很大不同，这就是美国宇航员所发现的月球上没有生命和植物。而我们地球的各个地方都有生机。

The moon, by the way , is called a satellite because it goes round our earth as well as round the sun. In other words, it goes round the sun with our earth. 顺便说一下，月亮被称为卫星，是因为它围绕着我们地地球盍同时围绕太阳运转。换句话说，随着地球围绕太阳运行。

The surface of our earth is covered by masses of land and larger areas of water. 我们地球表面覆盖着一块块的陆地和更大面积的水域。

Let us consider the water areas first. The total water area is about three times as large as the land area. 让我们首先考虑一下水域，其总面积大约是陆地面积的三倍。

The very large separate areas of water are called "oceans" and the lesser areas are called "seas." 很大的隔开的水域称为"洋"，小一些的水域称为"海"。

In most of the oceans and seas some of the water is found to be flowing in a particular direction - that is to say, from one part towards another part of the ocean or sea concerned. 在大部分海洋里，人们发现一些水是沿着特有的方向流动。

The water which is flowing in this manner is said to be moving as a "current." 这就是说，从海洋的一个区域流向另一区域以这种方式流动的水叫做"海流"。