英语听力：自然百科 澳大利亚大堡礁 Great Barrier Reef—5

 "…shows it really quite well." 

 

In order to bring back a piece of this mystery, his team of divers¹ will be risking their lives. 

 

"Diving problems, you got currents, tides, waves. We haven’t been here before. We haven't been this deep, though."

 

"One of those cylinders² lasts a lot less than it does near the surface. One breath of air down there is equivalent to six breaths up here."

 

They've only got 25 minutes' dive time. And it's going to take them 10 minutes just to get down there.

 

"You are Ok. Chico?"

 

"Yeah. Roger that. Descending⁴ now. Just passing through 10 meters, over."

 

Marine⁵ life is concentrated at the very top of the ocean. The further down they descend³, the tougher conditions become. 

 

"Visibility's not that good, over."

 

At only 60 feet down, the amount of light is only a quarter of that at the surface. The warm colors of the sun's rays have all given up, leaving a world shot through with the coldest blue. For plants, it signals the start of the death zone.

 

"Chico, which way do you reckon it is?"

 

"This direction. 30 meters."

 

Coral needs a water temperature above 72 degrees Fahrenheit⁶ to live. The deeper they go, the cooler it gets.

 

"Hit the 40 meter mark."

 

"Halfway⁷ through a tank and we've still had a long way to go, over."

 

Finally, their target is within reach. 

 

"Just start to see the bottom now. It's the edge of the 50-meter feature. It’s a clear outcrop. It’s quite extensive."

 

"The wall's almost vertical⁸ at your left. "

 

"Chico is just going over the edge, now."

 

"Here we go, into the abyss."

 

At 150 feet down, they're entering a world where hard corals can't survive. Down here there are only specialized⁹ soft corals.

1 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

2 cylinders   

n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物

参考例句：

• They are working on all cylinders to get the job finished. 他们正在竭尽全力争取把这工作干完。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• That jeep has four cylinders. 那辆吉普车有4个汽缸。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

4 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

5 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

7 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

8 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

9 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。