特别广播英语第 13 课：The Atlantic Ocean 大西洋-1

The Atlantic Ocean is one of the oceans that separate the Old World from the New. 大西洋是把亚、欧、非这个旧世界与南北美洲这个新发现的世界相隔开的一片大沣。

For centuries it kept the Americas from being discovered by the people of Europe. 若干世纪以来由于有大西洋相隔，使欧洲人一直没能发现南北美洲。

It is more than 4,000 miles (6,000 km) wide where Columbus crossed it. 在哥伦布横渡大西洋的地方，洋面宽达4000多英里（6000公里）。

Even at its narrowest it is about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) wide. 即使在洋面最窄的地方宽度也约有2000英里（3200公里）。

This narrowest place is between the bulge of south America and the bulge of Africa. 这洋面最窄的地方就是介于南美洲的突出点和非洲的突出点之间。

Two things make the Atlantic Ocean rather unusual. 有两点使大西洋非同一般。

For so large an ocean it has very few islands. 一是，这么大的一片汪洋，里面几乎没有岛屿。

Also, it is the world's saltiest ocean. 二是，这里是世界上海水最咸的大洋。

There is so much water in the Atlantic that it is hard to imagine how much there is. 大西洋里有很多很多的海水，以致很难让人想像出来到底有多少海水。

But suppose no more rain fell into it and no more water was brought to it by rivers. 倡假如现在就不再有雨水落进大西洋，假如一切河流的水现在也都不往大西洋里面流，

It would take the ocean about 4,000 years to dry up. 那么大西洋大约再过4000年就会干涸。