The school holidays have started here in the UK and this weekend will see many families fly off to sunnier countries to catch some of those rays and to luxuriate in warm sea waters.
英國(guó)學(xué)校暑假已經(jīng)開(kāi)始了。本周末，許多家庭飛往陽(yáng)光更為充足的國(guó)家，在溫暖的海邊盡情享受陽(yáng)光。

Having just returned from an idyllic two weeks in Barbados with its white sandy beaches and turquoise blue waters, I can totally empathise with the excitement that will be felt across households as families pack their suitcases remembering to take with them their swimsuits – trunks for boys and men; bikinis, tankinis, one-piece swimsuits for girls and women; their beach towels; shorts; T-shirts; light summer dresses; sparkly sandals; flip flops; sunglasses (or shades) and many more items.
我剛剛在巴巴多斯度過(guò)了2周。那兒風(fēng)景優(yōu)美，白色沙灘，海水蔚藍(lán)。我非常理解那些家庭在打包行李的時(shí)候所感受到的激動(dòng)心情，帶上泳裝——男孩和男士的泳褲、比基尼、分體泳裝、女式連體泳裝、沙灘毛巾、短褲、T恤、輕薄的夏款裙裝、亮閃閃的涼鞋、人字拖、墨鏡，還有很多別的東西。

Of course, we mustn’t forget to take our suntan or sunscreen lotions with us. Years ago, people used to go on a beach holiday and not bother with sun protection. They would lie in the sun for hours on sun loungers and by the end of the day some of them would look like the colour of lobsters (bright red) or worse still, suffer from sunstroke. It’s good to know that with all the publicity about the real dangers of skin cancer, more people are using sun protection. Depending on the colour of your skin, you will decide on the level of protection (sun protection factor SPF) that you need. For example, SPF 50+ gives you maximum protection against the sun whilst SPF15+ the least protection. I remember years ago you could get SPF 4+ which in my opinion hardly gave you any protection.
當(dāng)然，我們一定要記得帶美黑霜或者是防曬霜。幾年前，人們沒(méi)做任何防護(hù)措施就去海灘度假。他們好幾小時(shí)都躺在躺椅上曬太陽(yáng)。一天下來(lái)，有些人看起來(lái)就像大龍蝦那么紅彤彤的。更糟的情況是，曬得中暑了。好在，有了關(guān)于皮膚癌的危害的宣傳，越來(lái)越多的人開(kāi)始使用防曬產(chǎn)品。根據(jù)你皮膚的顏色，你可以選擇不同等級(jí)的防曬產(chǎn)品（防曬系數(shù)SPF）。比如，SPF50+防曬系數(shù)最高，SPF15+最低。我記得幾年前還有SPF4+，我認(rèn)為這幾乎不起什么防曬作用。

So armed with sun protection, swimsuits, beach towels and all the right clothes for a beach holiday, what are you going to do?
有了防曬產(chǎn)品、泳衣、沙灘毛巾和沙灘度假合適的衣服，你要干什么呢？

Are you the sort of person who likes to lie by the beach on a sun lounger or towel soaking up the sunshine (sunbathing) whilst listening to music or reading the latest summer novel?
你喜歡躺在躺椅，或是坐在毛巾上，躺在沙灘上曬太陽(yáng)（太陽(yáng)浴），一邊還聽(tīng)著音樂(lè)，或者是看最新的夏季小說(shuō)嗎？

Or are you the sporty kind who enjoys swimming, doing water sports like kayaking, windsurfing, sailing, boogie boarding, surfing, jet skiing?
或者你喜歡運(yùn)動(dòng)，享受游泳、劃皮艇、風(fēng)帆沖浪、劃船、沖浪、水上摩托這類的水上運(yùn)動(dòng)。

I like a mixture of sunbathing and swimming. I will occasionally do some snorkelling. I normally borrow someone’s mask, snorkel and fins. I did some snorkelling in Barbados and got to see some of the most colourful fish I’d ever seen. We also bought some “noodles” which are a kind of floater that allowed us to float in the sea and enjoy being in the water whilst chatting. The floaters also made it a lot easier to stay in the water for longer as we didn’t have to keep swimming. It was heavenly.
我喜歡做太陽(yáng)浴，也喜歡游泳。有時(shí)候也會(huì)潛水。通常我會(huì)借用別人的潛水鏡、呼吸管和腳蹼。我在巴巴多斯?jié)撨^(guò)水，看到了一些五顏六色的魚(yú)。我們也買了些“面條”，那是能讓我們?cè)诤＠镆贿吰∫贿吜奶斓母“?。它能讓我們?cè)谒锎酶?，因?yàn)槲覀冇貌恢斡?。這簡(jiǎn)直就是人間天堂。

Some people enjoy walking along the beach. I especially like sandy beaches. I am not so fond of pebbly or rocky beaches as it is much harder to walk on them. If I do have to walk on those beaches I use special swim shoes. What can I tell you, I have sensitive feet!
有些人喜歡在海灘上散步。我特別喜歡沙灘。我不喜歡礫石灘和巖石灘，因?yàn)楹茈y走。如果我必須在這些海灘上散步，我會(huì)穿特殊的游泳的鞋子。我的腳特別敏感！

David, my husband, loves building sandcastles in the sand. He can spend hours creating such masterpieces as a giant hand, a dolphin, a racing car. He often gets an appreciative audience of young children looking on as he works. The children are often armed with their buckets and spades and always keen to give him a helping hand.
我的丈夫大衛(wèi)喜歡用沙子建沙堡。他可以花上好幾個(gè)小時(shí)，創(chuàng)造出偉大的作品，比如巨大的手、海豚、賽車。常常在他工作的時(shí)候，有小孩欣賞他的作品。他們總是帶著桶和鏟子，熱心地想要幫他點(diǎn)忙。

One of the highlights of any beach holiday, though, must be sipping a cocktail (my favourite is a mojito /mohito/) at a beach bar whilst watching the sunset. Bliss.
每個(gè)海灘假日精彩之處一定是坐在海灘酒吧里，看著落日，抿上一口雞尾酒。（我的最愛(ài)是莫吉托）太幸福了！

注：mojito莫吉托，百加得朗姆酒、薄荷葉汁、甘蔗糖漿和鮮青檸汁

That’s it; I’m booking my next beach holiday right now.
好了，我要去預(yù)定下一個(gè)海灘假日了。