通过阅读学词汇CET-6（22）
Unit Twenty-two
A Pacific Paradise
“There are sharks sleeping at the bottom,” said the guide, flashing a naive grin. “Let’s wake them up.” In a riot of scuba bubbles, tourists and guide plunged 110 feet into an underwater cavern. And true to his word, the guide darted through the gloom, chasing five foot long shadows. Not to worry. In the spectacular undersea world of Palau, the sharks are as laid-back as the local residents. And who wouldn’t be? Slung across the Pacific 800 miles southwest of Guam, the string of islands – eight inhabited, 200 or more still unpopulated – make up one of those increasingly rare commodities, a Pacific paradise.For skin divers, Palau is heaven under water. At the reefs divers can find a breathtaking variety of ocean life. Scuba veterans can head for the Blue Corner, an undersea canyon replete with waving corals and multicolored anemones. Backlighted by the sun, sharks glide past in the channel. Insouciant Sea turtles swim alongside, eyeballing intruders. Above the surface other delights await: picnicking along the white sand beaches, or a trip to an uninhabited island to play Robinson Crusoe for a day.
There is also history in these islands, now administered by the United States under U.N. trusteeship. During World War II the Japanese had a major headquarters here, and imperial and the U.S. forces clashed in the battle of Peleliu in September 1944. Nearly 13,000 soldiers died. Today jungle vines creep over the rusting hulks of tanks and amphibious vehicles. Long-silent Japanese antiaircraft guns, nestl