英语听力：自然百科 澳大利亚大堡礁 Great Barrier Reef—7

 The reef was left high and dry, exposed to air and harsh sun. A trillion tiny creatures died in their own homes. For the coral, it was an apocalypse. When the ice age ended, the sea came back and submerged the dead reef. 

 

But what brought it back to life? The answer lies on the outer edge of the reef.

 

Will Gadd is heading for an encounter with an invisible force of nature that waits in the same place all day, all night, and all year. It's both a killer¹ and a giver of life.

 

“This is one of the most famous dive sites we have here. So we're at the top of Ribbon Reef Number 10. You see on the other side--You can see the wave breaking. That's the open ocean.”

 

Down here flows a monstrous² current. It rips along the reef far faster than a human can swim. The only choice is to go with it. But what can kill a diver is also the lifeblood of this reef. It's called the East Australia Current, and it is the secret of how the Great Barrier Reef came back from the dead.

 

Over 100 miles wide, 1,500 feet deep, and it ferries southward about 30 million tons of water per second-- 2000 times the flow of the Mississippi River. It carries a constant resupply of coral larvae³ from other reefs in other oceans, ready to repair any damage that the reef has suffered, however big.

1 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

2 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

3 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。