Searching for the Loch Ness Monster

Searching for the Loch Ness Monster. Written by Sherry Stirling.

寻找尼斯湖水怪。 谢里·斯特林 著

The Lock Sky and Ross thought they were too old to look for fabled monsters in the British Isles. They just wanted to stay in their hotel room and play with their PSPs. But like much of their trip to Scotland, they had to go along for the ride. As they drove through green glens dotted with sheep, Ross asked from the back seat, So what's a lock anyway?

斯凯和罗斯觉得，他们已经过了对寻找不列颠群岛传说怪物感兴趣的年纪。 他们只想待在酒店房间里玩PSP。 可就像这次苏格兰之旅的很多安排一样，他们不得不跟着出发。 车子驶过点缀着绵羊的绿色峡谷时，后座的罗斯问道：那loch到底是什么呀？

Their mom said, It sounds like a door lock that keeps people out of a house, but this lock is a lake that invites people in. People don't want to swim in it because it's so cold, but it invites people's imaginations to play. Their dad added, Lock is the word used in Scotland for lake, and Ness is the name of this lake. Scotland has many other locks, but Loch Ness has the most water. In fact, Loch Ness is the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles. How big is it? asked Skye as they drove along the shore. It sure isn't very wide, like the lakes at home in Wisconsin. It looks more like a river than a lake, Ross chimed in as he stared at the through the car window. Let's stop at this information center, their mom suggested. We'll learn more about it.

妈妈说：它发音和把人挡在家门外的门锁的“锁”很像，但这里的loch却是邀请人们进来的湖哦。 湖水太冷没人想去游泳，可它却能敞开怀抱，让人们的想象力尽情驰骋。 爸爸补充道：loch在苏格兰就是湖泊的意思，尼斯就是这个湖的名字。 苏格兰还有许多其他湖泊，但尼斯湖的储水量最多。 事实上，尼斯湖是不列颠群岛最大的淡水湖。 它到底有多大呀？ 车子沿着湖岸行驶时，斯凯问道。 它可不宽呀，不像我们老家威斯康星州的湖泊。 罗斯盯着车窗外插嘴道：它看起来更像河，不像湖呀。 我们停到这个游客信息中心看看吧，妈妈提议道。 我们能多了解一些它的知识。

Inside the center were displays, signs, and brochures to look at and read. They learned that Loch Ness was formed during the last ice age. In the same period, North America was created, Britain pulled away from Europe's mainland, and Scotland split in two. Earthquakes made a trench that glaciers covered until about 12 ,000 years ago. When the ice melted, it filled the trench with water to form the loch.

信息中心里有展陈、指示牌和宣传册，可供参观阅读。 他们了解到，尼斯湖形成于上一个冰河时代。 同一时期，北美洲形成，不列颠岛脱离欧洲大陆，苏格兰也分裂为两部分。 地震造就了一条深沟，这条深沟被冰川覆盖，一直持续到大约一万两千年前。 冰川融化后，水填满了深沟，就形成了尼斯湖。

A map showed that Loch Ness is 24 miles, 39 kilometers long, 1 mile, 1 .6 kilometers wide, and over 800 feet, 244 meters deep in some places, much deeper than the seas around the British Isles. Check this out, Skye said, reading from an information panel near the map. Pete, a layer of dead plant material, is so thick in the water that light only travels as deep as a few yards. As a result, sunlight can't warm the lock, so it's too cold for people to swim in.

地图显示，尼斯湖全长24英里（39公里），宽1英里（1.6公里），部分区域深度超过800英尺（244米），比不列颠群岛周边的海域还要深得多。 快来看这个！斯凯读着地图旁边的信息牌说道。 泥炭是枯死植物形成的沉积物，湖水中的泥炭层非常厚，光线只能穿透几码深。 因此，阳光没法把湖水晒暖，所以湖水太冷，不适合人们游泳。

Ross picked up where sky left off. The top 100 feet or 30 .5 meters warm up to 54 degrees Fahrenheit in summer. That's 12 degrees Celsius. The rest stays at 42 degrees Fahrenheit or 6 degrees Celsius year round. Because of this, most life in the loch, such as fish and seals, stays close to the surface. Look here, their dad said. Guided boat rides are available on Loch Ness for fun. Or you can search for the Loch Ness monster with sonar. Maybe we could windsurf or water ski on the loch, Ross said, thinking that sounded like more fun than a boat ride. But we would need special cold water equipment. and it says here that people usually do those activities only on the weekends." They don't want to disturb Nessie the Monster, joked Skye as she pointed to the last information panel. Yeah right, Ross snorted, as if anyone would take a legend seriously. Let's take a boat ride and hear what the local expert has to say about it, said their dad.

罗斯接着斯凯的话往下说。 夏天的时候，湖面下100英尺（约30.5米）的水温能升到华氏54度。 也就是12摄氏度。 更深的区域全年水温都保持在华氏42度，也就是6摄氏度。 正因如此，湖里大多数生物，比如鱼和海豹，都生活在靠近湖面的区域。 看这里！爸爸说道。 尼斯湖有带导览的游船项目可以游玩。 你还可以用声呐寻找尼斯湖水怪。 说不定我们可以去湖上玩帆板或者滑水，罗斯觉得这听起来比坐游船好玩多了。 不过我们需要特殊的冷水运动装备。 而且这里写着，人们通常只在周末进行这些运动。 他们可不想打扰水怪尼西呀，斯凯指着最后一块信息牌开玩笑道。 才怪呢，罗斯嗤之以鼻，哪有人会把这种传说当真呀。 我们去坐游船吧，听听当地专家对此怎么说，爸爸说道。