16 The Water Cycle

The Water Cycle written by Carol Krueger

卡罗尔·克鲁格写的《水循环》

Every living thing needs water to live. People need water, animals need water, and so do plants. When people drink water, they are drinking the same water that has been going around for years! Water moves in a cycle. That means that it just keeps changing and going around again and again. Did you know that the water we use has moved around the world millions of times?

所有生物都需要水才能生存。 人需要水，动物需要水，植物也需要水。 当人们喝水时，他们喝的是多年来一直存在的水!水是循环运动的。 这意味着它一直在变化，一次又一次地循环。 你知道我们使用的水已经在世界各地流动了数百万次吗?

lake Water is everywhere. It is in rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, and under the ground. It comes down from the clouds as rain, hail or snow. Most of this water ends up in the sea. On hot days, the sun shines on the sea and makes it warm. When it gets too hot, tiny pieces of the sea's surface break away, rise into the air, and reach the sky.

到处都是水。它存在于河流、湖泊、溪流、池塘和地下。 它以雨、冰雹或雪的形式从天而降。 大部分的水最终流入大海。 在炎热的日子里，太阳照在海面上，使它温暖。 当温度过高时，海面上的小碎片就会脱落，上升到空中，到达天空。

sea Then there is a change. The water turns from a liquid into a gas called water vapour. It rises into the air, getting higher and colder. The higher it goes, the colder it gets. When the vapour gets very cold, it changes into water again. It becomes miIlions of tiny water droplets, which float in the air.

海:那就有变化了。 水从液体变成一种叫做水蒸气的气体。 它上升到空气中，越来越高，越来越冷。 海拔越高，温度越低。 当水蒸气变得很冷时，它又变成水。 它变成了数以百万计的小水滴，漂浮在空气中。

clouds The water droplets join together to make clouds. Each cloud has billions of tiny water droplets. There are many clouds floating in the sky. As the wind blows them over the land, they pick up more water vapour from rivers, ponds, and puddles.

云水滴聚在一起形成云。 每一片云都有数十亿个小水滴。 天空中飘着许多云。 当风把它们吹过陆地时，它们从河流、池塘和水坑中吸收了更多的水蒸气。

plants The clouds pick up water vapour from plants, too. Plants have long roots. They drink lots of water from the earth through their roots. When it gets hot, water vapour comes out of the plants through tiny holes in their leaves.

云层也从植物中吸收水蒸气。 植物有长长的根。它们通过根部从泥土中吸取大量的水。 当天气变热时，水蒸气从植物叶子上的小洞里出来。