英语听力精选进阶版 7803

John: John and Jean back again and we're On The Town.

Jean: Hi John. 在我们BBC《都市掠影》节目当中，我们会带大家领略伦敦不同的风景与情趣。

John: Yes, a London landmark¹. And that landmark today is The London Aquarium².

Jean: 伦敦水族馆。

John: The London Aquarium is the first attraction of its kind in the capital, and is one of Europe's largest exhibitions of global aquatic³ life, displayed in over two million litres of water.

Jean: Two million litres of water, that sounds impressive! 原来这座水族馆, the Aquarium, is the first attraction of its kind. It's an attraction景点, attraction is just a short way of saying tourist attraction, 吸引游客的景点.

John: The London Aquarium describes itself as being multi-sensory.

Jean: 多感官的。In what way is it multi-sensory John?

John: It combines education, relaxation⁴ and entertainment.

Jean: 教育、休闲还有娱乐。But come on John what fish can we see at the Aquarium – that's the most important thing?

John: Well you can come face-to-face with sharks.

Jean: 啊呀我可不想和鲨鱼作面对面的近距离接触！No sharks, please!

John: You can watch our piranhas at feeding time and stroke friendly rays.

Jean: Ah now that's interesting there are piranhas there 比拉鱼，也就是人称的“水虎鱼”或者“食人鱼”。一到了喂食的时间 feeding time，他们凶猛的本性就暴露的淋漓尽致，全都处于一种疯狂状态, a real frenzy⁵.

John: There's also a very special fish swimming in the waters of the Aquarium at the moment.

Jean: What is it?

John: It's a 'fish-bot'.

Jean: A what?

John: A 'fish bot'. A robot fish. The name is made up of two words, fish and robot, using just the last part of the word robot – bot!

Jean: Fish-bot – 机器鱼! Fish-bot 其实是一个他们创造的新词，是用 fish 鱼和机器人 robot 拼凑出来的。

John: Professor Huosheng Hu of the University of Essex has developed the fish-bot to be able to find leaks in oil pipelines⁶ and to detect mines.

Jean: 看来机器鱼可不光是为了好玩的，它可以探测到石油管道的泄漏 leaks in oil pipelines, 还可以探测到海底的矿藏, it can detect mines!

John: But it looks like a fish and moves gracefully⁷ like a fish.

Jean: 我们BBC的记者现场采访了在水族馆参观的一些学生，问他们对水族馆这最新的展品 the fish-bot 到底是个什么感觉! These kids are certainly enthusiastic!

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Just beautiful. They're brilliant. They're cool. They're neat. They're wicked. They're massive. They're powerful.

John: They are enthusiastic, aren't they?

Jean: 是的，他们特别喜欢这些机器鱼，觉得机器鱼实在是太好看了。

John: Just beautiful.

Jean: 简直太棒了。

John: They're brilliant.

Jean: 实在很酷。

John: They're cool.

Jean: 非常得不错。

John: They're neat.

Jean: 太有意思了。

John: They're wicked.

Jean: 在英式英语里当我们用 wicked 来表达一个正面的意思的时候，这个词就是很棒很精彩的意思!

John: They are also massive and powerful.

Jean: 超级棒又够劲儿。

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Just beautiful. They're brilliant. They're cool. They're neat. They're wicked. They're massive. They're powerful.

Jean: 看来我们的机器鱼爱好者越来越多了！我们BBC的记者 Matthew Morris 也跑到了伦敦水族馆去看这个机器鱼 The fish-bots. 从他的报导中我们将会听到一些鱼类种类的名称，比如金枪鱼 tuna, 梭鱼 pike, 鳝鱼 eel⁸, 还有一个词就是“海床”sea bed. 让我们来听听看。

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The fish aim to swim at the same speed as tuna, have the acceleration⁹ of a pike, and the navigation skills of an eel, and it seems sunglasses for eyes. They've been developed at the University of Essex. The technology could one day be put to use on the sea bed, for example finding leaks in oil pipelines and detecting mines. But for now these little swimmers can be found at the London Aquarium.

Jean: They sound cute! Matthew 把这些机器鱼形容为“小小游泳健将” little swimmers.

John: And I've seen a picture of them Jean.

Jean: Oh great. What are they like?

John: Well, they're white and blue, they shimmer¹⁰, and they really look like fish!

Jean: They look really quite realistic. 是白色和蓝色相间 white and blue, 它们闪闪发光 they shimmer, 而且它们看上去就像真的鱼一样！

John: And they are really the star of the show at the London Aquarium.

Jean: 希望如果大家有机会也能到伦敦水族馆来看看这里的神奇机器鱼。

John: See you soon.

Jean: Bye for now.

John: Bye.

1 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

2 aquarium   

n.水族馆，养鱼池，玻璃缸

参考例句：

• The first time I saw seals was in an aquarium.我第一次看见海豹是在水族馆里。
• I'm going to the aquarium with my parents this Sunday.这个星期天，我要和父母一起到水族馆去。

3 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

4 relaxation   

n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐

参考例句：

• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law.部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。
• She listens to classical music for relaxation.她听古典音乐放松。

5 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

6 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

7 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

8 eel   

n.鳗鲡

参考例句：

• He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鳗叉捕鳗鱼。
• In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.苏州有一家饭馆，他们那里的招牌菜是鳗鱼面。

9 acceleration   

n.加速，加速度

参考例句：

• All spacemen must be able to bear acceleration.所有太空人都应能承受加速度。
• He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.他同时呼吁加快政治改革的步伐。

10 shimmer   

v./n.发微光，发闪光；微光

参考例句：

• The room was dark,but there was a shimmer of moonlight at the window.屋子里很黑，但靠近窗户的地方有点微光。
• Nor is there anything more virginal than the shimmer of young foliage.没有什么比新叶的微光更纯洁无瑕了。