【英译汉】

　　Along a rugged, wideNorth Sea beach here on a recent day, children formed teams of eight to 10,taking their places beside mounds of sand carefully cordoned by tape. They hadone hour for their sand castle competition. Some built fishlike structures,complete with scales. Others spent their time on elaborate ditch and dikelabyrinths. Each castle was adorned on top with a white flag.

　　Then they watched thesea invade and devour their work, seeing whose castle could with stand the tidelongest. The last standing flag won.

　　It was no ordinary dayat the beach, but a newly minted, state-sanctioned competition forschoolchildren to raise awareness of the dangers of rising sea levels in a countryof precarious geography that has provided lessons for the world about watermanagement, but that fears that its next generation will grow complacent.

　　Fifty-five percent ofthe Netherlands is either below sea level or heavily flood-prone. Yet thanks toits renowned expertise and large water management budget (about1.25 percent ofgross domestic product), the Netherlands has averted catastrophe since aflooding disaster in 1953.

　　Experts here say thatthey now worry that the famed Dutch water management system actually works toowell and that citizens will begin to take for granted the nation’s success instaying dry. As global climate change threatens to raise sea levels by as muchas four feet by the end of the century, the authorities here are working tomake real to children the forecasts that may seem far-off, but that will shapetheir lives in adulthood and old age.

　　“Everything works sosmoothly that people don’t realize anymore that they are taking a risk indeveloping urban areas in low-lying areas,” said Raimond Hafkenscheid, the leadorganizer of the competition and a water expert with the Foreign Ministry.

　　Before the competition,the children, ages 6 to 11, were coached by experts in dike building and watermanagement. Volunteers stood by, many of them freshly graduated civilengineers, giving last-minute advice on how best to battle the rising water.

　　A recently releasedreport by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on watermanagement in the Netherlands pointed to an “awareness gap” among Dutchcitizens. The finding did much to get the sand castle contest off the ground.

　　【参考译文】

　　近日，北海沿岸崎岖而宽广的海滩上，孩子们八人一组，十人一队，在用隔离带精心围起来的沙堆旁各就各位。他们要在一个小时内完成堆沙堡的比赛。有些人打造鱼形的主体建筑，再配上鳞片。其余的人修建复杂的沟渠和迷宫式的堤坝。每个沙堡的顶部都插有一面白旗。

　　然后，孩子们等待着大海涨潮，吞没沙堡，看谁的沙堡在潮水中持续的时间最久。白旗最后倒下的沙堡获胜。

　　孩子们在海滩上度过的这一天意义非凡。荷兰地理环境不稳定，海平面不断上升，因此，当地政府决定，为小学生们举办一次别开生面的比赛，以此来提高孩子们的危险意识。尽管荷兰一直是世界各国仿效的水利大国，仍然担心下一代会因此变得骄傲自大。

　　荷兰境内55%的土地，要么低于海平面，要么存在严重的水患。然而，由于水利专业技术久负盛名，水利专项拨款又十分庞大(约占国内生产总值的1.25%)，所以1953年洪灾过后，荷兰再也没有遭受过严重的水灾。

　　专家称，他们担心，由于荷兰现有的水利系统太完善了，国民开始想当然地以为，荷兰在水利方面已经取得了成功。全球气候变暖，预示着到本世纪末，荷兰的海平面会上升四英尺。当地政府试图通过本次比赛，让孩子们明白，这些看似遥不可及的预示，将会决定孩子们的中老年生活。

　　本次竞赛的主要组织者雷蒙德·哈肯什德是外交部的水利专家，他说：“荷兰的水利工程太安全了，人们意识不到，在低洼地区拓展城市面积是在冒天下之大不韪。”

　　专家在赛前对6到11岁的儿童进行了培训，传授筑坝和治水知识。志愿者在现场观战，他们大都是刚刚毕业的土木工程师。比赛的最后一刻，他们会把抵抗水势上涨的绝招告诉给孩子们。

　　最近，经济合作与发展组织发布了一份报告。报告指出，荷兰民众在水利方面存在着“意识缺陷”。这份报告对成功举办本次沙堡竞赛起到了很大的作用。