英语听力—环球英语 916 Fish in Danger

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹. I’m Christy VanArragon.
Voice 2
And I’m Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand - no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
A beautiful orange and white clownfish swims through warm ocean water. Plants and colourful fish of all sizes fill the area. The water moves slowly, and causes the plants to slowly move with it.
Suddenly, the clownfish swims away. He hides in a safe place. No one can see him. All the other fish disappear too. The area looks empty. A predator³ is coming. This large fish is looking for smaller fish to eat. The small fish know this. They hide to protect themselves.
Voice 2
In another area, a different clownfish is swimming through a different area. He swims between the plants. Suddenly, all the other fish quickly swim away. The small fish hide behind rocks and in dark places. A predator is coming here too. But this clownfish does not hide. He keeps swimming around the reef⁴. He does not know that the predator is there.
Voice 1
What is the difference between these two clownfish? Why did one clownfish swim to safety? Why did the other fish not protect itself?
Voice 2
Today’s Spotlight is on clownfish. Ocean waters are changing all around the world. These changes are causing problems for clownfish. Today we will discuss those changes and how they affect these beautiful fish.
Voice 1
Clownfish live in warm ocean water. They live in reefs⁵. Reefs look like hard, thin rocks. But they are actually made by small animals called coral. Reefs are full of animals and fish. Clownfish live with anemones⁷ in these reefs. Anemones are unusual animals. They look like plants. And they are usually very dangerous to other fish. They sting² and kill small fish for food.
Voice 2
However, clownfish have a relationship with anemones. Anemones need clownfish to clean them. Clownfish eat small insects that live on anemones. And the clownfish need the anemone⁶ for protection. A clownfish can hide inside the anemone if a predator is coming.
Voice 1
However, recently scientists have noticed something strange. Some clownfish are not hiding from predators⁸ in the anemones. Instead, like the clownfish we described above, these clownfish do not seem to notice the predators. Scientists who study clownfish do not understand this new behaviour. But they believe the problem may be the rising levels of carbon dioxide in the oceans.
Voice 2
The climate on the earth is changing. One big change is more carbon dioxide gas in the air. This carbon dioxide comes from many things. Factories, cars, farms, and fires pollute the air with carbon dioxide. There are some ways that people are working to solve this problem. But even with this work, carbon dioxide levels continue to rise.
Voice 1
Most importantly, the world’s climate is getting warmer. This causes more extreme weather around the world. But it also affects the world’s oceans. It makes the water warmer, but it also makes the water more acid¹⁰. This change has terrible effects on the animals and plants. It kills the small coral animals that build the reef. And it causes behaviour changes in many animals. For clownfish it may mean a more dangerous life.
Voice 2
Dr. Steve Simpson is a scientist at Bristol University. He was worried about these clownfish. So he did an experiment to study clownfish. He and other scientists set up different tanks of water. There was only one difference between the tanks. Each tank had a different level of carbon dioxide. One tank had normal water from the ocean. The other tanks had water with higher levels of carbon dioxide.
Voice 1
The scientists put clownfish in the different tanks. Then they played the sounds of predators. Most of the clownfish in the tank with normal water swam into hiding. Only a small number did not swim away from the predators.
Voice 2
But most of the clownfish in the tanks with high carbon dioxide did not hide. These carbon dioxide levels are the levels that scientists expect in the world’s oceans in the future. Scientists believe that these clownfish cannot sense predators. They believe these clownfish are not able to hear or smell a predator coming. The clownfish are losing their senses. Dr Simpson described the possible effects of this loss with the BBC. He said,
Voice 3
“Sounds are also important for finding¹¹ a mate⁹, hunting in groups and finding food. So if any of those abilities are gone, it would be a very lost fish.”
Voice 2
He added that it would also make things easier for predators,
Voice 3
“The reef can like a ‘wall of mouths’ waiting to receive the clownfish.”
Voice 1
Clownfish are already experiencing the effects of carbon dioxide in the ocean. At this time, only some clownfish show signs of the problem. But in the future, carbon dioxide levels may rise more. And this could affect many more clownfish.
Scientists do not know exactly how the carbon dioxide is affecting the fish. Scientists could find no physical damage to the fishes’ ears. They believe the gas could be affecting the fishes’ nerves¹² or stress levels instead. They will perform more experiments in the future to answer these questions.
Voice 2
However, scientists think the carbon dioxide causes a neurological change in the fish. This change to the brain could completely destroy the clownfish. But some scientists still believe that clownfish will change to accept the new environment. This can only happen if the change to the ocean water is very slow - over many decades. The clownfish may learn new ways to notice predators. Or, their senses may not be as greatly affected¹³.
Voice 1
It is clear that unless carbon dioxide levels around the world drop, many changes will happen to the ocean. The change to the clownfish is just one small sign of larger changes to the ocean environment. The clownfish live in beautiful coral reefs. But growing ocean acidity¹⁴ is killing¹⁵ the small coral animals. Without coral, the reefs begin to break. Already, reefs in many places are dead - no animals or plants live in them.
 

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 sting   

vt.激怒，刺痛，刺伤，蛰伤；n.刺痛，刺伤

参考例句：

• Most flies do not sting.大多数苍蝇不叮人。
• The scorpion has a sting that can be deadly.蝎子有可以致命的螫针。

3 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

4 reef   

n.礁，礁石，暗礁

参考例句：

• The ship and its crew were lost on the reef.那条船及船员都触礁遇难了。
• The ship was wrecked on a coral reef.这条船在珊瑚暗礁上撞毁了。

5 reefs   

礁体

参考例句：

• The motorboat cut across swift currents and skirted dangerous reefs. 汽艇穿过激流，绕过险滩。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Fish are abundant about the reefs. 暗礁附近鱼很多。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 anemone   

n.海葵

参考例句：

• Do you want this anemone to sting you?你想让这个海葵刺疼你吗？
• The bodies of the hydra and sea anemone can produce buds.水螅和海葵的身体能产生芽。

7 anemones   

n.银莲花( anemone的名词复数 )；海葵

参考例句：

• With its powerful tentacles, it tries to prise the anemones off. 它想用强壮的触角截获海葵。 来自互联网
• Density, scale, thickness are still influencing the anemones shape. 密度、大小、厚度是受最原始的那股海葵的影响。 来自互联网

8 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 mate   

n.伙伴，同事；配偶；大副；v.(使)交配

参考例句：

• Where is the mate to this glove?这副手套的另一只在哪儿？
• She has been a faithful mate to him.她一直是他忠实的配偶。

10 acid   

n.酸；酸性物质；adj.酸的，酸性的

参考例句：

• Handle with care,or the acid may get out.小心轻放，否则酸会溢出来。
• The acid has been eating away the sides of the container.酸腐蚀着容器的四壁。

11 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

12 nerves   

n.神经紧张 vt.鼓起勇气

参考例句：

• What he said at the meeting strung her nerves up. 他在会议上的发言使她的神经很紧张。
• At the end of a day's teaching, her nerves were absolutely shattered. 教了一天课，她精疲力竭。

13 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

14 acidity   

n.酸度，酸性

参考例句：

• This plant prefers alkaline soil,though it will readily tolerate some acidity.这种植物在酸性土壤中也能生存，但硷性土壤更加适宜。
• Gastric acidity would not prevent the organism from passing into the gut.胃的酸度不能防止细菌进入肠道。

15 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。