海洋探險家在法屬波利尼西亞塔希提島海岸附近 30 米深的地方發現了一處長達三公里的 “原始” 珊瑚礁。

One of the specialist divers who led this seabed exploration described seeing the giant reef as magical. It's made up of rose-shaped corals, some of which are two metres wide – and the whole reef stretches for nearly two miles along the seabed.

帶領這次海底探險的其中一名專業潛水員描述說，看到這處巨大的珊瑚礁，著實不可思議。它由呈玫瑰花瓣形的珊瑚組成，其中有一些珊瑚寬達兩米，整個珊瑚礁沿海底綿延近兩英里（約三公里）長。

Its depth and distance from the coast is thought to be a key reason that it shows no signs of damage from pollution or from warming ocean temperatures, something that poses a major threat to shallower reefs.

據信，這片珊瑚礁的深度和與海岸的距離是其未受污染或海洋溫度升高損害的一大關鍵原因，而這些因素對較淺的珊瑚礁構成了重大威脅。

The discovery is part of an ongoing mission led by Unesco to map more of the seabed, as it's often said we know more about the surface of the Moon than we do about the ocean floor. Only about a fifth of it has so far been mapped.

該發現是一個正在進行的項目的一部分，項目由聯合國教科文組織牽頭，旨在繪制更多的海底地圖，正如人們常說的，我們對海底的了解還不如月球表面多。到目前為止，只有大約五分之一的海底地圖被繪制了出來。

This remarkable discovery, the researchers say, suggests there may be many more pristine marine habitats that we just don't yet know exist.

研究人員指出，這一驚人的發現表明，可能還有更多處于原始狀態的海洋棲息地，只是我們還不知道其存在而已。

詞匯表

rose-shaped 呈玫瑰（花瓣）形的
stretches 綿延，延伸
poses 構成，帶來（問題）
shallower 較淺的
mapped 被繪制成地圖
pristine 處于原始狀態的，未被污染的

閱讀理解：請在讀完上文后，回答下列問題。

1. How big are some of the corals?

2. How big is the coral reef in total?

3. Why do people think the reef is so undamaged?

4. How much of the ocean floor is currently discovered?

答案  

1. How big are some of the corals?
Some of the corals are two metres wide.

2. How big is the coral reef in total?
The reef is nearly two miles long.

3. Why do people think the reef is so undamaged?
It's because of its depth and distance from shore.

4. How much of the ocean floor is currently discovered?
We currently know what a fifth of the ocean floor looks like.