VOA慢速英語聽力訓練素材：鯨鯊的生物學特征

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VOA慢速英語，作為國際英語學習者的重要資源，通過清晰緩慢的發(fā)音與簡潔的詞匯，為初學者及中等水平學習者搭建了通往流利英語的橋梁。它不僅幫助提升聽力理解能力，還豐富了詞匯量，增強了語感，是學習地道英語表達不可或缺的工具，對全球英語學習者的語言提升至關(guān)重要。讓我們一起進入今天的VOA慢速英語聽力訓練：鯨鯊的生物學特征。

英文原文

New research has provided surprising details about the biology of Earth's largest fish, the whale shark. Scientists say that female whale sharks grow more slowly but reach a much larger size than males. Researchers recently said they had followed the growth of 54 whale sharks over 10 years. The creatures swam in the Ningaloo Reef off of Australia's west coast, where hundreds of the rare fish travel every year.

新研究揭示了地球上最大的魚類——鯨鯊的生物學特征的驚人細節(jié)?？茖W家表示，雌性鯨鯊生長得更慢，但體型遠大于雄性。研究人員最近表示，他們曾追蹤了54只鯨鯊在10年間的生長情況。這些生物在澳大利亞西海岸外的寧加洛珊瑚礁中游弋，每年都有數(shù)百只這種珍稀魚類遷徙至此。

Whale sharks of both sexes were found to have their fastest growth while young, about 20 to 30 cm per year. Males were found to grow faster than females and reached about 8 meters in length at about 30 years old. At that age, they reach sexual maturity, meaning the fish were able to produce young. Females grew larger than males, reaching about 14 meters at about age 50 when they reached sexual maturity.

研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，鯨鯊無論雌雄，在幼年時期生長速度最快，每年可長20至30厘米。雄性鯨鯊的生長速度被發(fā)現(xiàn)快于雌性，在大約30歲時達到約8米長。在這一年齡，它們達到性成熟，意味著能夠繁殖后代。雌性鯨鯊的體型比雄性更大，在大約50歲時達到性成熟，此時體長約為14米。

Mark Meeken is a marine biologist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. He led the research that was published in Frontiers in Marine Science. Meeken described whale sharks as remarkable. He noted that females give birth to many young, up to 300 at one time. For this reason, Meeken said, female sharks probably need to be very large.

馬克·米肯是澳大利亞海洋科學研究所的海洋生物學家。他領(lǐng)導了這項發(fā)表在《海洋科學前沿》上的研究。米肯稱鯨鯊為非凡的生物。他指出，雌性鯨鯊一次能產(chǎn)下許多幼崽，多達300只。因此，米肯表示，雌性鯨鯊可能需要長得非常大。

Our study provides the first evidence that male and female whale sharks grow at different rates. Meeken said whale sharks are filter feeders, meaning they take food and nutrients from the water. They swim great distances to find enough to eat. The longest known whale shark ever recorded reached a length of about 18 meters. Whale sharks can live for 100 to 150 years.

我們的研究首次證明，雄性鯨鯊和雌性鯨鯊的生長速度不同。米肯表示，鯨鯊是濾食性動物，這意味著它們從水中獲取食物和營養(yǎng)。它們會游很長的距離來尋找足夠的食物。已知最長的鯨鯊記錄達到了約18米長。鯨鯊的壽命可達100至150年。

Meeken suggested the study's findings were important for saving whale sharks. He noted that if it takes 30 or more years for the creatures to reach sexual maturity, there are lots of threats, such as hunting and ship strikes, before they get a chance to breed. For that reason, Meeken described efforts to save the creatures as urgent.

米肯表示，這項研究的發(fā)現(xiàn)對于保護鯨鯊具有重要意義。他指出，如果這些生物需要30年或更長時間才能達到性成熟，那么在它們有機會繁殖之前，會面臨許多威脅，如捕獵和船只撞擊。因此，米肯稱保護這些生物的工作迫在眉睫。

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