有声英文阅读-海中“刺”客(水母)

Cloze: Stingers of the Sea

Given impressive-sounding names like "Portuguese¹ man-of-war," jellyfish are certainly respected and feared by humans. Not exactly a fish, and lacking a spine², this creature has a single body cavity or mouth. Any food consumed passes through this opening, and so do undigested remains³ being expelled.

A jellyfish's tentacles⁴, which can exceed 30 meters in length, drag through the sea and capture any prey⁵ that may be in their path. Special cells that line the tentacles then fire small "arrows" into the victim, paralyzing it with a poison toxic⁶ enough to freeze even a human. The unfortunate prey is then drawn⁷ into the jellyfish's mouth.

Possessing neither blood nor brain, jellyfish are primarily filled with a jelly-like substance loaded with nerve cells that help them navigate⁸ the seas. These cells detect light and touch, and then pass this information on to muscle cells.

In all its simplicity⁹, the jellyfish has existed for more than 600 million years with little change. Perhaps the jellyfish is indeed nature's perfect beast.   

海中“刺”客──水母

拥有“葡萄牙军舰”这个听起来就让人印象深刻的名字，水母的确让人类又敬又怕。这种生物既非鱼类，又缺少脊椎，它只有一个体腔，或者也可称之为嘴巴。任何被摄取的食物都要经过这个开口，没有被消化的残骸也是由此排出。

水母在海中拖曳着长度可以超过30米的触须，捕捉任何可能在它前进路线上的猎物。水母的触须上遍布着一种特殊的细胞，它可以向受害者射出“小箭”，足以让一个人动弹不得的毒液去麻痹它。接着这不幸的猎物就被吸入水母的嘴里。

水母既没有血液也没有大脑，主要由满是胶状物质的神经细胞来协助它在海中的航行。这些细胞能侦测光线和触觉，然后把信息传达到肌肉细胞。

虽然水母的结构很简单，它已经在地球上存在超过六亿年了，而且没有什么改变。也许水母真的是自然界中真正的霸主。

1 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

2 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 tentacles   

n.触手( tentacle的名词复数 )；触角；触须；触毛

参考例句：

• Tentacles of fear closed around her body. 恐惧的阴影笼罩着她。
• Many molluscs have tentacles. 很多软体动物有触角。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

6 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

9 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。