【一起听英语】消失的岛屿

 一件奇葩的事情，在地图上被标注了好几年的岛屿，实际上是一个不存在的岛屿，这是怎么一回事呢？

 
Alice: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English: we’ll be
 
talking about a story in the news and learning some vocabulary along the way.
 
I’m Alice and joining me today is Neil. Welcome, Neil.
 
Neil: Hi there Alice.
 
Alice: Now, Neil are you good with maps?
 
Neil: Good with maps? You mean – am I good at reading maps?
 
Alice: Yes. Can you find your way to a place you want to go to just by looking at
 
a map.
 
Neil: Well, actually I need a map. Because I used to think I had a great sense of
 
direction but now I have to admit I have a terrible sense of direction. I almost
 
always walk in the wrong direction automatically 1, so I need a map.
 
Alice: You need a map. Well I like to think I’m a fairly good navigator – that’s
 
someone who finds or plots the way. But what if the map is wrong? I once
 
walked around a town for a whole hour using a map I’d downloaded from the
 
internet, and then I realised the map I was using was completely wrong.
 
Neil: Oh dear, it does happen.
 
Alice: Yes it does. And in 6 Minute English today, we’ll be hearing about an island that
 
has appeared on maps for several years, but which people now realise has never
 
existed at all!
 
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2012
 
Page 2 of 5
 
Neil: Aha, this is the famous Sandy Island near Australia.
 
Alice: Yes, it’s all very suspicious 2! And, Neil, as we’re talking about islands, my
 
question for you today is about a legendary 3 island which is supposed to have
 
sunk into the ocean thousands of years ago. Was it called:
 
a) Pacifica
 
b) Atlantis, or
 
c) Oceana
 
Neil: Well, I will have a think about that and tell you at the end of the programme.
 
Alice: OK, as usual we’ll find out what the answer is at the end. Now let’s hear more
 
about Sandy Island – the island that never was! Maria Seton from the University
 
of Sydney in Australia was on an expedition in the sea between Australia and
 
New Caledonia.
 
Scientist Maria Seton:
 
We were actually out in the Eastern Coral Sea conducting a scientific research expedition and
 
when we were approaching the area of this supposed island, we saw that our scientific maps
 
showed there was an island there, and yet the navigation charts on board the vessel 4 showed
 
that we had a water depth of 1,400 metres. So that’s where we started getting suspicious.
 
Alice: Maria Seton and her research team were looking at their scientific maps which
 
showed an island. But they became suspicious – they questioned what they
 
saw. Why?
 
Neil: Because when they got to the area where the island was supposed to be, the
 
navigation charts on board the vessel – the ship – showed that all that was there
 
was 1,400 metres of water.
 
Alice: So, the island wasn’t there. Could it have sunk? Here’s BBC Correspondent 5
 
Duncan Kennedy in Australia:
 
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2012
 
Page 3 of 5
 
BBC Correspondent, Duncan Kennedy
 
It hasn’t sunk – no it was never there. The Australian Naval 6 Maps department – the
 
department that makes naval maps – said it could simply be human error repeated down
 
through the years.
 
Neil: Did you hear what did the department that makes naval maps in Australia said
 
about Sandy Island appearing on its maps?
 
Alice: They said it could be human error repeated through the years. That means one
 
person made a mistake and put the island on the map and then other people
 
just copied their map over and over again.
 
Neil: Interesting. But how could all maps make the same mistake? The island
 
appeared on standard maps, nautical 7 maps – that’s maps of the ocean - and
 
even Google Earth, which is largely made up of photos from space?
 
Alice: Well, people who make maps use a variety of sources they say – lots of different
 
reference 8 materials – so maybe it wasn’t worth taking thousands of photos of
 
the sea, but easier to copy someone else’s map. Here’s what the BBC’s Duncan
 
Kennedy says about the mistake:
 
BBC Correspondent Duncan Kennedy:
 
Sandy Island appears on standard maps, nautical maps and it even appears on Google
 
Earth and a spokesman 9 for Google Earth Maps Australia said they use a variety of sources to
 
compile 10 their maps but that things change. They’re advising people to tell them if they spot
 
similar mistakes could they let them know.
 
Alice: The BBC’s Duncan Kennedy, who says map makers 11 like Google Earth have
 
advised people to tell them if they spot similar mistakes on any of their maps.
 
Neil: Yes, things change! Even islands disappear sometimes – which brings me to the
 
answer to your question at the beginning of 6 Minute English Alice. I think I
 
know the name of that legendary island you were talking about.
 
Alice: Ah yes, I asked you if it was called: a. Pacifica, b. Atlantis or c. Oceana. 
 
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2012
 
Page 4 of 5
 
Neil: And I thought it was a trick question but I’m going to go with what I first
 
thought, which is Atlantis.
 
Alice: And you’re right. Atlantis was the name given to a legendary island which was
 
supposed to have been somewhere between Africa and Europe before it sunk. It
 
was talked about by Plato in the fourth century BC.
 
And, Neil, I hope you’ll share some of the words we’ve heard in today’s
 
programme:
 
Neil: Yes, of course. Here they are:
 
Reading maps, navigator, expedition, suspicious, human error, nautical, variety
 
of sources
 
Alice: Thanks so much, Neil. And please join us again soon for more 6 Minute English
 
from bbclearningenglish.com.
 
Neil: And don’t forget to find us on Facebook and Twitter. We really do exist
 
there. Honestly.
 
Alice: Bye for now.
 
Neil: Bye.