海洋探险家在法属波利尼西亚塔希提岛海岸附近 30 米深的地方发现了一处长达三公里的 “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.

带领这次海底探险的其中一名专业潜水员描述说，看到这处巨大的珊瑚礁，着实不可思议。它由呈玫瑰花瓣形的珊瑚组成，其中有一些珊瑚宽达两米，整个珊瑚礁沿海底绵延近两英里（约三公里）长。

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.

据信，这片珊瑚礁的深度和与海岸的距离是其未受污染或海洋温度升高损害的一大关键原因，而这些因素对较浅的珊瑚礁构成了重大威胁。

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.

该发现是一个正在进行的项目的一部分，项目由联合国教科文组织牵头，旨在绘制更多的海底地图，正如人们常说的，我们对海底的了解还不如月球表面多。到目前为止，只有大约五分之一的海底地图被绘制了出来。

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

研究人员指出，这一惊人的发现表明，可能还有更多处于原始状态的海洋栖息地，只是我们还不知道其存在而已。

词汇表

rose-shaped 呈玫瑰（花瓣）形的
stretches 绵延，延伸
poses 构成，带来（问题）
shallower 较浅的
mapped 被绘制成地图
pristine 处于原始状态的，未被污染的

阅读理解：请在读完上文后，回答下列问题。

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.