英语听力—环球英语 479：Walking Dolphins

　　Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Ruby² Jones.
Voice 2
And I'm Marina Santee. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Port River, South Australia. A beautiful dolphin swims through the cool waters. Suddenly, the sea creature turns itself on its back, and pushes its body up head first! The dolphin is now balancing on its tail! It holds this position and moves like this across the water for a few seconds. Its white-grey body shines in the sun. Then the dolphin dives back into the water.
Voice 2
This dolphin is 'tail walking'. Dolphin trainers love to teach their dolphins tricks like this. Crowds love to watch them. But this dolphin does not belong to anyone. It lives freely³ in the wild! So, who taught this dolphin to tail walk? And why do scientists find this so interesting?
Voice 1
The dolphin creating the interest is named 'Billie.' Billie lives off the South Australian coast, near Adelaide. It was here that scientists first saw Billie tail walking. The scientists were from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, or WDCS. This group works⁴ to protect dolphins around the world. The WDCS scientists saw a number of dolphins in the area perform the trick. And they were amazed⁵. Tail walking is very rare among wild dolphins! They wanted to know how Billie and the others learned⁶ the trick.
Voice 2
In the early 1980s Billie had a bad experience. He got trapped behind a barrier, in a lake next to the sea. Billie became sick and was unable to return to the sea. So local people put him in a large dolphin tank. The tank was for dolphins that performed for the public. Billie lived in the tank with these other dolphins for several weeks. During this time he saw the life of the other dolphins. He saw them receive food for performing tricks - such as tail walking.
Voice 1
After Billie returned to the sea, scientists saw him tail-walking. But even more amazing - some other dolphins in the area also began tail walking! Scientists believe that Billie must have learned the behaviour from watching in the tank. Then Billie may have ‘taught’ the tail walking trick to the other dolphins. If this is the case, it would mean that Billie has demonstrated⁷ 'cultural behaviour.' Doctor Mike Bossley from WDCS said,
Voice 3
'It would seem that tail walking in the Adelaide waters is another example of cultural behaviour in large brained animals. By cultural behaviour we mean behaviour that passes from one individual to another and becomes common in that particular social group.'
Voice 2
Cultural behaviour is learned behavior in groups. It is common among humans. But, it is much rarer among animals! In fact, until recent years many people did not believe cultural behaviour existed among animals. However, today scientific reports show that particular animals do perform cultural behaviour. One such animal is the chimpanzee. And now Billie is making scientists investigate cultural behavior among dolphins. Cathy Williamson also works for the WDCS. She says:
Voice 4
‘This behaviour by the Adelaide dolphins demonstrates⁸ their intelligence. And it proves even more that these animals are not supposed to be kept captive⁹. Captive dolphins are not able to express natural behaviour. They are not able to form normal social groups with other animals.’
Voice 1
Captive dolphins do not live in their natural environment. They are limited to a particular area of water - such as a tank or water pool. Often, trainers teach these dolphins to perform tricks. And people pay money to watch. But an increasing number of people are against keeping dolphins captive purely¹⁰ for human enjoyment¹¹. And even keeping dolphins for ‘educational purposes’ causes some debate. The World Society for the Protection of Animals said in a statement:
Voice 5
‘Most people now think there is only one acceptable¹² argument to keep sea animals captive. And this is, when there are educational or scientific reasons. Dolphin fun centres make it look like they are there for educational purposes. But the truth is, looking at captive animals gives a false picture of the animals’ life. It provides no educational value. And what is worse, it stops people seeing the bad side of keeping animals captive.’
Voice 2
Sea life centres say that there is value in their work. They say it is important to show children different sea creatures. If they do not, these children may never see these wild creatures for themselves.
Voice 1
Children crowd around the deep blue water. There is an air of excitement. They wait for the dolphin keeper to come. He walks out. He is carrying a container of fresh fish. He holds a fish out. The captive dolphins know what they must do. They push their beautiful bodies up out of the water. And they stand up on their tails, tail-walking across the water. Then, they receive their prize - a few fish. The children shout and clap their hands with excitement. Many of them have never seen a real dolphin before!
Voice 2
A long way away, in the waters of South Australia, wild dolphins swim freely. Every now and then one of them pushes its body up. It tail-walks across the water. Then, it dives back into the deep waters. There is no one clapping. There is no one throwing a prize of fish! But a scientist stands at a distance. Quietly, he records the dolphins’ movements. He is working to understand the behaviour of these amazing sea creatures. And he believes that the wild is the only place he can really learn natural behaviour. For him, it is in the wild that dolphins live as they were born to be: free.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

3 freely   

adv.自由地，随便地，无拘无束地

参考例句：

• She was unable to keep back her tears,and wept freely.她抑制不住泪水，痛痛快快地哭了起来。
• A liquid flows freely and has no fixed shape.液体能自由流动，无固定形态。

4 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

5 amazed   

adj.吃惊的，惊奇的v.使大为吃惊，使惊奇( amaze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Just the size of the place amazed her. 仅仅地方之大就使她十分惊奇。
• I was amazed at her knowledge of French literature. 她的法国文学知识之丰富使我大为惊奇。

6 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

7 demonstrated   

举行示威游行（或集会）( demonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )； 示范。展示； 显示； 论证

参考例句：

• All of those demonstrated the correctness of his analysis. 这一切都证明了他分析的正确性。
• The fireman demonstrated great courage in saving the child. 那位消防队员在抢救孩子的过程中，表现了极大的勇气。

8 demonstrates   

举行示威游行（或集会）( demonstrate的第三人称单数 )； 示范。展示； 显示； 论证

参考例句：

• I hope this message demonstrates my feelings to the students. 我希望这个祝词能表达出我对学生们的感情。
• I hope this demonstrates to you how I feel. 我希望这能向你表明我的感受。

9 captive   

adj.被俘虏的，不得自由行动的，被监禁的

参考例句：

• They led him captive.他们将他活捉。
• The rock star had a captive audience.那位摇滚歌星倾倒了许多观众。

10 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

11 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

12 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。