The Mediterranean¹, the blue sea par² excellence³, "the great sea" of the Hebrews, "the sea" of the Greeks, the "mare⁴ nostrum⁵" of the Romans, bordered by orange-trees, aloes, cacti⁶, and sea-pines; embalmed⁷ with the perfume of the myrtle, surrounded by rude mountains, saturated⁸ with pure and transparent⁹ air, but incessantly¹⁰ worked by underground fires; a perfect battlefield in which Neptune¹¹ and Pluto¹² still dispute the empire of the world! It is upon these banks, and on these waters, says Michelet, that man is renewed in one of the most powerful climates of the globe. But, beautiful as it was, I could only take a rapid glance at the basin whose superficial area is two million of square yards. Even Captain Nemo's knowledge was lost to me, for this puzzling person did not appear once during our passage at full speed. I estimated the course which the Nautilus took under the waves of the sea at about six hundred leagues, and it was accomplished¹³ in forty-eight hours. Starting on the morning of the 16th of February from the shores of Greece, we had crossed the Straits of Gibraltar by sunrise on the 18th.

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1 Mediterranean
adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的
参考例句：
The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。 Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

2 par
n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的
参考例句：
Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。 I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

3 excellence
n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德
参考例句：
His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。 My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

4 mare
n.母马，母驴
参考例句：
The mare has just thrown a foal in the stable.那匹母马刚刚在马厩里产下了一只小马驹。 The mare foundered under the heavy load and collapsed in the road.那母马因负载过重而倒在路上。

5 nostrum
n.秘方；妙策
参考例句：
He told the patient that he had a nostrum.他告诉病人他有秘方。 Photography studio provide you with a few small nostrum you must use.为您提供一些小妙策你一定用的着。

6 cacti
n.（复）仙人掌
参考例句：
There we could see nothing but cacti.那里除了仙人掌我们什么也看不到。 Cacti can survive the lack of rainfall in the desert.仙人掌在降水稀少的沙漠中也能生存下去。

7 embalmed
adj.用防腐药物保存（尸体）的v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的过去式和过去分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气
参考例句：
Many fine sentiments are embalmed in poetry. 许多微妙的情感保存于诗歌中。 来自辞典例句 In books, are embalmed the greatest thoughts of all ages. 伟大思想古今有，载入书中成不朽。 来自互联网

8 saturated
a.饱和的，充满的
参考例句：
The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。 a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

9 transparent
adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的
参考例句：
The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。 The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

10 incessantly
ad.不停地
参考例句：
The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight. 机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。 It rained incessantly for the whole two weeks. 雨不间断地下了整整两个星期。

11 Neptune
n.海王星
参考例句：
Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun.海王星是离太阳最远的行星。 Neptune turned out to be a dynamic,stormy world.海王星原来是个有生气、多风暴的世界。

12 Pluto
n.冥王星
参考例句：
Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。 Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

13 accomplished
adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的
参考例句：
Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。 Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

14 cramped
a.狭窄的
参考例句：
The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。 working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

15 renounce
v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系
参考例句：
She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。 It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

16 vessel
n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管
参考例句：
The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。 You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

17 steered
v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导
参考例句：
He steered the boat into the harbour. 他把船开进港。 The freighter steered out of Santiago Bay that evening. 那天晚上货轮驶出了圣地亚哥湾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 entirely
ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地
参考例句：
The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。 His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

19 cape
n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风
参考例句：
I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。 She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

20 fathoms
英寻( fathom的名词复数 )
参考例句：
The harbour is four fathoms deep. 港深为四英寻。 One bait was down forty fathoms. 有个鱼饵下沉到四十英寻的深处。

21 manoeuvre
n.策略，调动；v.用策略，调动
参考例句：
Her withdrawal from the contest was a tactical manoeuvre.她退出比赛是一个战术策略。 The clutter of ships had little room to manoeuvre.船只橫七竖八地挤在一起，几乎没有多少移动的空间。

22 isthmus
n.地峡
参考例句：
North America is connected with South America by the Isthmus of Panama.巴拿马海峡把北美同南美连接起来。 The north and south of the island are linked by a narrow isthmus.岛的北部和南部由一条狭窄的地峡相连。

23 volcanic
adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的
参考例句：
There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。 Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

24 subterranean
adj.地下的，地表下的
参考例句：
London has 9 miles of such subterranean passages.伦敦像这样的地下通道有9英里长。 We wandered through subterranean passages.我们漫游地下通道。

25 plentiful
adj.富裕的，丰富的
参考例句：
Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。 Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

26 strata
n.地层（复数）；社会阶层
参考例句：
The older strata gradually disintegrate.较老的岩层渐渐风化。 They represent all social strata.他们代表各个社会阶层。

27 detriment
n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源
参考例句：
Smoking is a detriment to one's health.吸烟危害健康。 His lack of education is a serious detriment to his career.他的未受教育对他的事业是一种严重的妨碍。

28 corpse
n.尸体，死尸
参考例句：
What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。 The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

29 interfere
v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰
参考例句：
If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。 When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

30 reassured
adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)
参考例句：
The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

31 evaporation
n.蒸发，消失
参考例句：
Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。 Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗，由此可以蒸发散热。

32 equilibrium
n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静
参考例句：
Change in the world around us disturbs our inner equilibrium.我们周围世界的变化扰乱了我们内心的平静。 This is best expressed in the form of an equilibrium constant.这最好用平衡常数的形式来表示。