My idea of perfect childhood memory is one in which the person remembers the clearly as if it happened yesterday and remembers it as being a happy time. Of all my memories I have one that I would consider a perfect childhood memory.
In my neighborhood there is a large lake with a small island in the center of it. For as long as I could remember it had been every child’s dream to get to it. It was to be our greatest adventure. We named it Alligator Island, because of the alligators (鳄鱼) that were rumored to live on the island and in the surrounding lake.
One day when I was about 10 years old, I was helping my friend Erika clean out her garage and we discovered a blow-up raft. Naturally we had to wonder if it would stay afloat in the water so we decided to blow it up and find out. After a few hours of taking turns expelling the wind from our lungs, the rubber vessel was finally ready to test. We took it to the pool and sure enough, it did float. Immediately we began plans to visit Alligator Island with our new mode of transportation.
We decided to ask Erika’s brother and another of our friends to come with us. Since the lake was across the street from Erika’s house we did not have to drag the raft far and soon we were on our way to the island.
About halfway to AI we began to get nervous about the possibility of alligators really being in the lake and we tried to turn around but none of us knew how to use the paddles very well. After a few attempts we realized how silly we were and continued onward. When we finally did reach the small land mass, it was not anything special, just a few trees, some dirt, and insects. But the thrill of actually accomplishing our goal was all we needed.
Needless to say, we were the envy of the neighborhood for quite some time. This is my perfect childhood memory and it is something I doubt I will ever forget. for as long as I live.
What does the underlined word "rumored" in the second paragraph mean