诺亚方舟的故事大概很多人都听过，如今，现实版的诺亚方舟正在修建中，并有望在2012年驶往伦敦。

vessel¹ is 450ft long and 75ft wide and will be stuffed with pairs of model animals, while an aviary² with free-flying live birds will take up most of the enormous deck house." src="http://www.enread.com/upimg/allimg/110604/1_110604012405_1.jpg" width="460" height="287" />
The vessel is 450ft long and 75ft wide and will be stuffed with pairs of model animals, while an aviary with free-flying live birds will take up most of the enormous deck house.
A giant recreation of Noah's Ark could be moored⁴（停泊） in the River Thames during the London 2012 Olympics.

Johan Huibers, an eccentric Dutch Christian⁵, has spent around £1 million building the "Ark" after dreaming about a great flood sweeping⁶ Holland. He saw the dream as a signal to spread God's message.

The vessel is 450ft long and 75ft wide and will be stuffed with pairs of model animals, while an aviary（鸟舍） with free-flying live birds will take up most of the enormous deck house.

Mr Huibers, 60, who is married, found the inspiration for the project 20 years ago but only started construction on the river at Dordrecht, near Rotterdam, three years ago, against the advice of his wife.

Twenty-five barges⁷（驳船） held together by a steel frame form the base of the ship, which also holds two conference rooms capable of hosting 1,500 people.

The timbers（木材） are Swedish pine, a choice Mr Huibers made because Noah, the Biblical Ark's captain, was told by God to use "resin⁸（树脂，松香） wood".

Mr Huibers recently wrote to Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, to ask for permission to bring his Ark to London for the Olympic Games next summer and moor³ it in the capital.

The Dutchman said he hoped to use it to inspire children with the Biblical story of Noah and how he, his crew and the animals survived the flood which inundated⁹（淹没） everything else in the world and washed it clean of sin.