在學習新概念的過程中，同學們是否會發現里面有好幾篇文章都跟船”有關，尤其是在新概念三中，而且我們發現文中對船的描述用得代詞都是“she"或"her"，比如Lesson 10 The loss of Titanic, “At that time, however, she was not only the largest ship that had ever been built, but was regarded as unsinkable, for she had sixteen watertight compartments.", Lesson 25 The CuttySark, "The Cutty Sark was one of the fastest sailing ship that has ever been built. The only other ship to match her was the Thermopylae". Lesson 28 Five pounds too dear, "Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbor."
      為什么英國人喜歡寫跟船有關的文章？為什么他們用she來稱呼船呢？是否有什么淵源？
      經過研究，我們會發現，其實并不只是英國人，西方國家對于大型建筑、船舶、汽車火車等比較大型或大型的行動機器都用she來稱謂，根據歷典有以下幾種解釋： 1、古羅馬時代常以建造船只的方式向某位女神致敬 2、航海民族將船只視為母親的化身 3、水手們認為船只和女人有許多相似之處，看下面這段話 ：
      "A boat is called a ”she“ because there's always a great deal of bustle around her...because there's usually a gang of men around...because she has waist and stays...because she takes a lot of paint to keep her looking good...because it's not the initial expense that breaks you, it's the upkeep...because she is all decked out...because it takes a good man to handle her right...because she shows her topside, hides her bottom and, when coming into port, always heads for the buoys（與boys同音）." （George Moses in Falmouth, Massachusetts）