LIVELY1)CORAL2)REEFS

⊙ By Chiara Bellati翻譯：T Boy

LIVELY1)CORAL2)REEFS

趣味盎然的珊瑚礁

⊙ By Chiara Bellati翻譯：T Boy

海底世界五光十色，色彩繽紛。不過這里并不是一個(gè)和諧世界：珊瑚被看似無辜的海星化成液體，腭針魚還沒來得及消化白天吃到肚里的小魚，晚上就被鯊魚追殺……這里有與陸地上一樣的食物鏈。一起來了解一下吧。

Of all the3)formationsin the Pacific, these reefs are by far the richest in life. There are hundreds of different kinds of coral. And all are made up of millions of tiny creatures called4)polyps, each covered in a hard5)skeleton. Reefs are home to thousands of specialists like these6)razorfishthat7)blend into the8)staghorncoralaround them. But not all animals here need to blend in. Grey reef sharks—the reef’s top9)predators. These sharks10)patrolthe waters on strong currents. But without all the life on the reef here, they could never exist in such numbers. They may be11)idleright now, but they won’t remain this way for long. As night falls, it’s feeding time.12)Needlefish13)stalkthe coral shallows in search of food. Predators by day, at night they become the14)prey. Speeding away at 20 mph, the needlefish give the chasing sharks a run for their money. But it’s hard to escape from so many.

Daylight reveals another reef predator.15)Crown-of-thorns starfish, coral killers. Climbing over their prey, they16)secrete17)digestivejuices that turn the inside of the coral to liquid. Then they suck out the18)nutrients, leaving nothing behind but a19)ghostlyskeleton. In only a few days, they

1) coral [?k?r(?)l] n. 珊瑚

2) reef [ri?f] n. 暗礁，珊瑚礁

3) formation [f???me??(?)n] n. 構(gòu)成，組成

4) polyp [?p?l?p] n. 珊瑚蟲，水生小動(dòng)物

5) skeleton [?skel?t(?)n] n. 骨骼，骨架

6) razorfish [?re?z?(r)f??] n. 淡綠連鰭唇魚

7) blend in 與……融為一體，與……協(xié)調(diào)

8) staghorn coral 鹿角珊瑚

9) predator [?pred?t?(r)] n. 捕食者，獵食者

10) patrol [p??tr??l] v. 巡視

11) idle [?a?d(?)l] adj. 不做事的，空閑的

12) needlefish [?ni?dlf??] n. 腭針魚

13) stalk [st??k] v. 悄悄接近，潛步追蹤

14) prey [pre?] n. 被捕食的動(dòng)物，獵物

15) crown-of-thorns starfish 長棘海星

16) secrete [s??kri?t] v. 分泌

17) digestive [da??d?est?v] adj. 消化的

18) nutrient [?nju?tr??nt] n. 營養(yǎng)物

19) ghostly [?ɡ??stl?] adj. 可怕的can kill huge20)swathesof the reef. Fortunately, coral has an unlikely21)ally, the22)Triton’s trumpet. Believe it or not, this is a predator23)on theprowl. An unlikely hero, perhaps, but the Triton’s trumpet is an invaluable control on these starfish. And the crown-of-thorns isn’t the only coral killer on the reef. The24)razorsharp25)beaksof26)bumphead parrotfishalso put a27)dentin this living landscape. A single fish can chew its way through a28)staggeringfive tonnes of coral a year. Smaller parrotfish, colorful cousins of the bumphead, are also at it. But they all give a little back as the29)ground-upcoral comes out as sand. This is island building of a different kind. So some of the Pacific’s most elegant beaches have sprung from a less than30)stylishbirth.

20) swathe [swe?e] n. 長而寬的地帶

21) ally [??la?] n. 盟友，盟國

22) Triton’s trumpet 大法螺

23) on the prowl 潛行，攝行

24) razor-sharp [?re?z?(r)??ɑ?p] adj. 銳利的，十分鋒利的

25) beak [bi?k] n. 鉤形嘴

26) bumphead parrotfish 隆頭鸚嘴魚

27) dent [dent] n. 削弱，損害

28) staggering [?st?ɡ?r??] adj. 難以置信的，驚愕的

29) ground-up [?ɡra?nd??p] adj. 磨成粉的

30) stylish [?sta?l??] adj. 漂亮的

Speeding away at 20 mph, the needlefsh give the chasing shark a run for their money.

與漢語一樣，英語的許多成語總是非常形象，就如句中的give sb. a run for their money。從字面上看，指讓某人為了錢使勁跑——如果有金錢作動(dòng)力，人肯定會(huì)跑得很快。這個(gè)成語正是用這個(gè)生活中大家都能理解的道理，比喻對(duì)手之間為某事你爭我奪，競爭非常激烈，如：The new Wal-Mart storegave the existing convenience stores a run for their money.（新開的沃爾瑪?shù)陮?dǎo)致原有的各家小便利店展開了激烈競爭。）

在太平洋里的所有存在當(dāng)中，就數(shù)這些珊瑚礁中的生命形式最為豐富。數(shù)百種的珊瑚全由一種叫珊瑚蟲的微小動(dòng)物組成，數(shù)量達(dá)數(shù)百萬之多。所有的珊瑚都有一副堅(jiān)硬的骨架。暗礁是數(shù)千種生存專家的生息地，比如這些淡綠連鰭唇魚就與周圍的鹿角珊瑚融成一體。但并不是這里所有的動(dòng)物都有與環(huán)境融合的必要。灰礁鯊是珊瑚礁一帶的頂尖捕食者。這些鯊魚在洶涌的水流中巡視海域。不過，要是沒有生活在這里的一切生命，也絕不可能有這么多鯊魚。此刻它們也許無所事事，但這種狀態(tài)不會(huì)維持太久。夜幕降臨，它們的進(jìn)食時(shí)間到了。腭針魚潛近珊瑚淺海尋找食物。它們?cè)诎滋焓遣妒痴撸搅送砩暇统闪缩忯~的獵物。腭針魚以20英里（約32公里）的時(shí)速逃離，讓追趕的鯊魚你爭我搶，但要從這么多鯊魚中逃脫并不容易。