8 The Plastic Problem

Chapter 8 The Plastic Problem All seven kids pushed together, leaning against the whale's rubbery skin. I hope we don't hurt it! thought Sofia. The whale rocked sideways, but then slowly rolled back. "Again!" hollered Max. "One, two... three!" This time, Sofia pushed as hard as she could. Her feet slipped in the sand, but she dug her heels in and pushed harder. Finally, the whale rolled and splashed into the water- filled channel.

所有的七个孩子挤在一起，靠在鲸鱼的橡胶皮上。 我希望我们不会伤害它！认为索非亚。 鲸鱼侧着身子摇晃，但随后又慢慢地向后翻滚。 “又来了！”麦克斯大叫。“一个,两个… 三!”这一次，索菲亚尽了最大的努力。 她的脚在沙子里滑了一跤，但她还是把脚跟插进去，更用力地推。 最后，鲸鱼打了个滚，溅进了充满水的水道。

"Yes!" cried Max. He pumped his fist and held his hand up for a high five. But Sofia wasn't quite ready to celebrate. "The channel looks so narrow," she said. "Is there room for the whale to swim?" "Give it a moment," said the vet in a reassuring voice. Sofia held her breath. Go! she wanted to cry. Swim! The whale shifted slightly in the channel. It rolled once and lifted its head above the waves. Then, with a chirp and a flip of its tail, it darted toward the rolling surf. "We did it!" whooped Max. He slapped Gunnar's palm, and Sofia threw her arms around Agnes and Lana. "Well done!" said the vet. "It sounds like you saved the beluga." Sofia sighed. "I wish we could save every beached whale. And every hungry puffling." She suddenly remembered something that had been nagging at her. "That plastic bag isn't the only litter we saw today. We

“是的！”麦克斯叫道。他握紧拳头，举起手来击掌。 但索菲亚还没准备好庆祝。 “这条水道看起来太窄了，”她说。 “有地方让鲸鱼游吗？”“给它一点时间，”兽医安慰地说。 索菲亚屏住了呼吸。走吧!她想哭。 游泳!那条鲸在海峡中微微移动。 它翻滚了一下，抬起头来。 然后，随着一声啾啾和尾巴的摆动，它冲向翻滚的海浪。 “我们成功了！”他拍了拍加纳的手掌，索非亚搂住了阿格尼斯和拉娜。 “干得好！”兽医说。 “听起来你拯救了白鲸。” 索非亚叹了口气。“我希望我们能拯救每一头搁浅的鲸鱼。 还有每一只饥饿的小狗。” 她突然想起一件一直困扰着她的事。 “那个塑料袋不是我们今天看到的唯一垃圾。 我们

saw a puffin trying to feed a piece of plastic to its chick! Why would it mistake plastic for food?" The vet sighed. "Puffins hunt using their sense of smell," she explained. "Plastic that's been floating in seawater can smell like fish, so puffins think they're bringing fish back to their babies." "That's so sad," said Sofia. "I wish we could do something about it." "You've certainly done your part today," the vet reassured her. But as the kids said goodbye to the vet and hung up the phone, Gefn cocked her head. "This plastic problem— maybe we should have a Puffin Patrol meeting about it at the ice cream parlor." Max's stomach grumbled. "Did someone say ice cream?" he said, wringing out a towel. "Sign me up!" "Good!" said Lana. "It'll be our treat, and we can fit seven people in the boat. C'mon!" As they all climbed into the motorboat, Sofia let the Puffin Patrol members take the chairs, and she and Max shared the padded seat at the back. Benny started the engine and steered them out of the fjord. As the boat hummed along through the waves, Sofia craned her neck, searching the cliffs for signs of puffins. But a mist rolled in, and she lost sight of the cliffs

看到一只海雀正试图把一块塑料喂给它的孩子！为什么它会把塑料误认为是食物呢？”兽医叹了口气。 “海雀用它们的嗅觉捕猎，”她解释说。 “漂浮在海水中的塑料闻起来有鱼的味道，所以海雀认为它们把鱼带回了自己的宝宝身边。” “太悲哀了。”索非亚说。 “我希望我们能做点什么。” “你今天确实完成了你的任务，”兽医安慰她说。 但是当孩子们和兽医道别并挂掉电话时，Gefn歪着头。 “这个塑料问题——也许我们应该在冰淇淋店召开海雀巡逻队会议来讨论这个问题。” 麦克斯的肚子咕咕叫着。“有人说冰淇淋吗？”他边说边拧干一条毛巾。 “帮我报名吧！”“很好！”拉娜说。 “我们请客，这条船上可以坐下七个人。 来吧!”当他们都爬上摩托艇时，索菲亚让海雀巡逻队的成员坐上了椅子，她和马克斯坐在后面的软垫座位上。 本尼发动引擎，把他们驶出了峡湾。 当船在海浪中嗡嗡作响时，索菲亚伸长脖子，在悬崖上寻找海雀的踪迹。 但是一阵薄雾滚滚而来，她看不见悬崖了

altogether. "Almost there," said Benny. They hugged the coast, the black sand giving way to a green valley dotted with colorful houses. He set a course for a pier and then drifted up alongside it and cut the motor. "This way!" said Gefn. "Ice cream, here we come!" Sofia followed her up the pier and toward the cluster of houses. Each one seemed to be a different shade of bright: royal blue, sunny yellow, leafy green, and candy red. "Even the roof is red!" said Sofia. As the sun disappeared behind a cloud, Max shivered. "Are you sure the ice cream shop will be open?" he said. "Or will it have turned into a hot chocolate shop?" Gunnar laughed. "Don't worry," he said. "We eat ice cream all year round." When they reached the shop, he led them through the door. Tubs of ice cream beckoned from behind a glass counter. Max read the labels one by one: "Chocolate, strawberry, banana, licorice... wait, licorice?" "My favorite!" said Gunnar. Sofia bounced on her toes. "My favorite is chocolate." When it was her turn to order, she asked for a large scoop of chocolate dipped in a chocolate shell and topped with chocolate sprinkles. As she slid into a booth with her cone, Gunnar called

完全。“快到了，”本尼说。 他们紧靠着海岸，黑色的沙滩被点缀着五颜六色房屋的绿色山谷所取代。 他设定了一个码头的航线，然后漂到码头旁边，切断了马达。 “这边走！”“冰淇淋，我们来了！”索非亚跟着她走上码头，向那一群房子走去。 每一种颜色似乎都有不同的深浅：宝蓝色、阳光黄色、绿叶绿色和糖果红色。 “连屋顶都是红的！”索菲亚说。 太阳消失在云后，马克斯打了个寒颤。 “你确定冰淇淋店还会开门吗？”他说。 “还是会变成一家热巧克力店？”贡纳笑了。 “别担心，”他说。“我们一年四季都吃冰淇淋。” 当他们到达商店时，他领着他们进了门。 玻璃柜台后面，一桶桶冰淇淋在招手。 马克斯一个一个地读着标签：“巧克力、草莓、香蕉、甘草…… 等待,甘草?”“我的最爱！”加纳说。 索菲亚踮着脚尖蹦蹦跳跳。 “我最喜欢巧克力。” 轮到她点餐时，她要了一大勺蘸着巧克力壳的巧克力，上面撒上巧克力屑。 当她拿着蛋筒溜进一个隔间时，加纳叫了她

the Puffin Patrol meeting to order. "All right, gang," he said, "we've got work to do!" "And puffins to save," said Max. But as he bit into his cone, the caramel shell cracked and toppings spilled across the table. "Oops," he said, scooping them up. "First, I've got to save my ice cream." Sofia giggled and handed him a napkin. "So what can we do about the plastic pollution?" asked Agnes. She opened her notebook. Sofia sighed. "Well, you said Iceland cut down on its plastic. But it still floats here from other countries and ends up in the water and on beaches." Max wiped his chin. "Maybe we could clean up the beach," he said. Sofia's eyes widened. "Yes," she said. "Good idea!" "And all we'll need is some recycling bags," said Gefn.

海雀巡逻队会议开始。 “好了，伙计们，”他说，“我们有活干了！”“还有海雀要救。”马克斯说。 但当他咬他的蛋筒时，焦糖外壳破裂了，配料洒了一桌子。 “哎呀，”他说着，把它们捞了起来。 “首先，我得保住我的冰淇淋。” 索菲亚咯咯地笑着，递给他一张餐巾。 艾格尼丝问道：“那么我们能对塑料污染做些什么呢？” 她打开笔记本。索非亚叹了口气。 “嗯，你说冰岛减少了塑料的使用。 但它仍然从其他国家漂浮到这里，最终进入水和海滩。” 麦克斯擦了擦下巴。“也许我们可以清理一下海滩，”他说。 索菲亚睁大了眼睛。“是的，”她说。 “好主意!”“我们只需要一些回收袋，”Gefn说。

Max patted his backpack. "We've got some in our trusty backpacks," he said. "They're biodegradable," Sofia added, remembering the word she'd seen printed on the lime-green bags. "Hey, maybe we can clean up the area around the puffin burrows, too!" "Yes!" said Agnes. "We should do that first, to protect the pufflings." Sofia could hardly wait to get started. But as she finished her ice cream and slid out of the booth, Agnes reached for her hand. "Wait," said Agnes. "There's one more order of business. I think we should make Sofia and Max honorary members of the Puffin Patrol. All in favor?" Six hands shot up. Then Sofia realized she was raising her own. "Oops!" she said, lowering it. When Agnes pinned a blue puffin badge to her parka, Sofia felt as if her whole body were floating sky-high. She could tell Max was excited, too, because for once, he had actually beaten her out the door.

马克斯拍了拍他的背包。“我们的可靠背包里有一些，”他说。 “它们是可生物降解的，”索菲亚补充道，想起了她在酸橙绿色袋子上看到的字样。 “嘿，也许我们也可以清理海雀洞穴周围的区域！”“是的！”阿格尼斯说。 “我们应该首先这么做，以保护海鹦。” 索菲亚迫不及待地要开始了。 但当她吃完冰淇淋滑出摊位时，阿格尼斯伸手去拉她的手。 “等等，”阿格尼斯说。“还有一件事。 我觉得我们应该让索菲亚和麦克斯成为海雀巡逻队的荣誉成员。 大家都赞成吗？”六只手一下子举了起来。 然后索菲亚意识到她在抚养自己的孩子。 “哎哟！”她说着，把手放低了。 当阿格尼斯把蓝色海雀徽章别在她的派克大衣上时，索非亚觉得自己的整个身体都飘到了天上。 她看得出马克斯也很兴奋，因为这一次，他真的把她赶出了门。