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Section44 At Sea Throughout history, people have left the land and taken to the sea.历史上人们曾离开过大陆到海上去。 This has been done to catch food by fishing or to visit other lands.这样做是为了捕鱼为食，或是到其他大陆去。 Boats and ships have been used for this purpose.舟、船的功用就在于此。 The first boats were made of wood, as many are still today.与今天仍在使用的船一样，第一艘船是用木头做的。 Paddles were first used to propel the boats and then sails were used.一开始，人们用浆来保持船的平衡，然后用帆。 Eventually, more sails were added to give speed to the ships and boats.渐渐地，人们用帆来加速。 Later, coal was used to create steam driven engines.再往后，人们烧煤产生蒸气来推动发动机。 Today, most ships and boats use oil based fuels.今天，大多数船使用石油燃料。 There are rules and laws at sea, called maritime law.有很多有关海上的法律条文，称做海事法。 Thieves at sea are called pirates, they break the maritime laws.海上的强盗叫做海盗，他们违反了海事法。 All sailors know to respect the sea as it can be a very dangerous place.海员们都懂得如何尊敬大海，因为这是一个危机潜藏之地。 | 
