雅思阅读：新概念文化爆炸-沉船宝藏的呼唤

　　新概念三Lesson 32讲述了原本准备打捞金币的埃尔科号搜寻船阴差阳错地找到了一艘沉没已久的巡洋舰。广阔的海底埋葬了许许多多的珍宝，数以万计的金币，银器在现实生活中有这么一种职业：打捞沉船宝藏。文化大爆炸为大家介绍三艘著名的宝船，以及它们装载的宝藏是如何被发现的。

　　Famous Sunken Ship Treasures

　　Treasure hunters have salvaged huge quantities of gold and silver coins from the ocean floor. For most people, sunken treasure ships exist only in adventure stories and tales of pirates, Spaniards and swashbuckling rogues. For the real life men and women who seek these treasures, however, the quest for the oceans lost riches is a very real and potentially lucrative occupation.

　　寻宝者们已经从海底打捞了大量的金币银币。对大多数人来说，那些沉入海底的宝船只存在于冒险故事或海盗、西班牙人和嚣张的盗贼的传说中。然而，在那些搜索沉没宝藏的人们的现实生活中，对于海底失踪财富的寻找是一个非常赚钱和实际的职业。

　　Nuestra Se ora de Atocha

　　On Sept. 4, 1622, the Nuestra Se ora de Atocha set sail from Havana bound for Spain. The ship was laden with riches plundered from the conquered empires of the Americas. According to the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, the Atochas cargo included 24 tons of silver bullion, 18,000 pesos of silver coins, 582 copper ingots, 125 gold bars and 1,200 lbs. of silverware. The ship sank, taking its treasure and all but five of its crew to the ocean floor. Mel Fisher and his crew began the search for the treasure in 1969. On July 20, 1985, Mel Fishers son Kane finally found the main pile of the ships cargo.

　　在1622年9月4日，Nuestra Se ora de Atocha号从哈瓦那的边界驶向西班牙。这艘船装载着从战败的美国掠夺回来财宝。根据梅尔费舍尔海洋博物馆的资料，Atocha号的货物有24吨的银条，1.8万的银比索，582块紫铜锭，125块金条和重达1200磅的银器。这艘船沉没了，带着所有的宝藏和5位船员沉入了海底。梅尔费舍尔和他的团队从1969年开始搜寻这些宝藏。1985年7月20日，梅尔费舍尔的儿子凯恩终于找到了Atocha号上的大部分货物。

　　Spanish Plate Fleet 西班牙珍宝船队

　　In 1715, a fleet was bound for Spain carrying riches plundered from the New World. When the fleet was caught in a hurricane off the Florida coast, 10 of the 11 ships were sunk. The loss of the 1715 plate fleet was probably the largest loss of treasure at sea in all of maritime history. Kip Wagner, a beachcomber living on the Florida coast, discovered the location of the sunken treasure after finding a number of coins dated 1714 washed up on the shore.

　　1715年，一个船队装载着从新大陆掠夺的财宝驶向西班牙。船队在佛罗里达海岸遭遇了飓风，船队共11艘船，其中10艘沉没。这次的意外损失的可能是航海史上最巨大的财宝。一位居住在弗罗里达海边的流浪者Kip Wagner发现沙滩上冲上来很多1714年的硬币，后来他找到了这些沉没的珍宝。

　　SS Central America SS中美洲号运金船

　　During the 1850s, this steamship ran passengers and cargo between the eastern coast of the United States and Central America. In 1857, the steamer sank in a hurricane, taking her passengers and cargo to the ocean floor. The cargo included gold bars and coins worth an estimated $400 million. The Columbus-America Discovery Group, a salvage operation assembled to locate the wreck, found the SS Central America in September 1987, recovering vast quantities of gold worth.

　　在1850年代，这艘蒸汽船主要是在美国东部海岸和美国中部之间行驶，运送货物和乘客。1857年，这艘蒸汽船遇到飓风而沉没，船上的乘客和货物都沉入了海底。船上装载的金条和金币总价值估计达到了4亿美金！美国哥伦比亚搜寻公司组织了一个打捞团队来寻找残骸地点，在1987年的9月找到了SS中美洲号，大量的金条和金币重现天日。