VOA慢速英语2020 美国11岁男孩发现巨型圆蛤（在线收听）

An 11-year-old boy in the American state of Rhode Island recently discovered an unusual example of sea life. He found what is thought to be one of the largest quahogs ever found in the state. Quahogs are a kind of large clam that is eaten as food.

美国罗德岛州的一名11岁男孩最近发现了一种不同寻常的海洋生物。他发现了被认为是该州迄今为止发现的最大的圆蛤之一。圆蛤是一种大型的可食用的双壳软体动物。

Cooper Monaco was looking for clams with his grandfather when he found the large creature. Monaco gave it to the University of Rhode Island's Marine Science Research Facility in Narragansett, the university said in a recent statement.

库珀·莫纳科（Cooper Monaco）和他的祖父在寻找蛤蜊时发现了这种大型生物。罗德岛大学在最近的一份声明中称，莫纳科将这只生物捐给了位于纳拉甘塞特的罗德岛大学海洋科学研究机构。

The clam is 14.5 centimeters across and weighs nearly 1.3 kilograms. The Department of Environmental Management for the state does not keep quahog records. But a usual quahog grows to about 10 centimeters across, the university said.

这只圆蛤的直径为14.5厘米，重量接近1.3公斤。该大学指出，该州环境管理部门并没有保存圆蛤的记录。但是正常的圆蛤可以长到10厘米宽。

Monaco described how he found the creature in a statement.

莫纳科在一份声明中讲述了发现这种生物的过程。

"I was down on my hands and knees in the water looking for clams, and I touched this huge rock thing," he said. Monaco added, "I always pull out rocks and throw them to the side and look under them. And then I felt the edge of it and I thought, ‘holy moly, this is a clam.'"

他说:“我趴在水里寻找蛤蜊，然后摸到了这块巨大而坚硬的东西。”莫纳科补充说：“以往我总是抛在一边，在下面摸索。然后我摸到了它的边缘，我想，‘天哪，原来这是一只蛤蜊。’”

Holy moly is an expression that shows surprise.

Holy moly是一个表示惊讶的表情。

Monaco knew the quahog was unusually large, so he told his mother not to cook it.

莫纳科知道这只圆蛤异常大，所以他告诉妈妈千万别煮了它。

Ed Baker, the manager of the URI Marine Science Research Facility, plans to put the quahog on display.

罗德岛大学海洋科学研究机构的经理艾德·贝克（Ed Baker）计划展示这只圆蛤。

I'm John Russell.

约翰·罗塞尔为您播报。

Words in This Story

clam – n. a type of shellfish that lives in sand or mud, has a light-colored shell with two parts, and is eaten both cooked and raw

knee – n. the joint that bends at the middle of your leg

display – n. an arrangement of objects intended to decorate, advertise, entertain, or inform people about something