Underwater living 水下生活

 　　Rob: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Rob and with me is Finn.

　　Finn: …

　　Rob: Finn? Are you ok?

　　Finn: (breathes out) Ahhh… 49 seconds… I was just… holding my breath!

　　Rob: A new hobby of yours, Finn?

　　Finn: Well today… we're talking about people living underwater - so I thought I could do with some practice.

　　Rob: Ok - well you get your breath back. Today, we'll be hearing about scientists who broke the world record for time spent underwater - they spent an incredible¹ 31 days under the waves! And we'll be learning some related vocabulary too. Ready now, Finn?

　　Finn: Yes - I think so. And are you ready for this week's question?

　　Rob: Hit me with it.

　　Finn: This week's question is… what is the longest time a human being has held their breath underwater for? Is it:

　　a) 12 minutes

　　b) 18 minutes

　　c) 22 minutes

　　Rob: I'm going to go for b) 18 minutes.

　　Finn: I'll tell you if you're right or wrong at the end of the programme, but… don't hold your breath!

　　Rob: Haha. Don't hold your breath - a phrase which means 'don't expect that a particular good thing will happen'. Anyway - what about these scientists - did they hold their breath for 31 days?

　　Finn: Haha - no - but they did live underwater in a laboratory. That's a room or building with scientific equipment for doing tests.

　　Rob: One of the men was Fabien Cousteau, who's an oceanographer - someone who studies the oceans. He's the grandson of Jacques Cousteau - a Frenchman who held the previous record of 30 days underwater.

　　Finn: Fabien said he wanted to break his grandfather's record to raise awareness² of ocean conservation - protecting and looking after the ocean.

　　Rob: Well he's raised our awareness at least. Now I'm interested in how they lived underwater. Listen to Fabien talking about the laboratory called Aquarius. Which word does he use to say that the lab is completely underwater?

　　Fabien Cousteau: Oceanographer

　　Aquarius is very unique in that it's the only undersea marine³ laboratory - it gives us a unique platform from which to live and explore this final frontier on our planet.

　　Finn: He called it an undersea laboratory. ‘Undersea’ is, as you might guess a word similar to underwater. It means under the sea.

　　Rob: And he called this undersea world 'the final frontier'. It's an interesting phrase - it comes from the Star Trek⁴ television series, which called space the final frontier - the last place that humans have not yet travelled to, the last place to explore.

　　Finn: And apparently⁵ this laboratory was 18 metres under the sea in Florida... and being there allowed them to spend less time diving and more time observing marine life.

　　Rob: Marine life - that means 'of the sea', so marine life means sea life, plants and animals that live in the sea. They were particularly interested in investigating the effects of pollution on coral.

　　Finn: Now, I know they did this to raise awareness of marine conservation. But what I'm really interested in is what life was like for them. What was it like to live underwater for so long?

　　Rob: Surprisingly, perhaps, life there wasn't too bad. They had air conditioning, hot water and internet access!

　　Finn: Though I do know that Fabien struggled with one aspect. Listen to him to find out what:

　　Fabien Cousteau: Oceanographer

　　Unfortunately for me, as a French person, the food will also be simulated⁶ - freeze-dried, astronaut type of food, canned foods - things like that, so it's a horror show for me.

　　Rob: Poor Fabien. He said the food was pretty awful. Maybe it was English food?!

　　Finn: Probably - as a Frenchman he wasn't impressed by the freeze-dried food - that means food that is quickly frozen⁷ and dried - to preserve it.

　　Rob: Yes, he thought it was astronaut style food - the sort of food you would eat as an astronaut - someone who travels into space!

　　Finn: And coming back to dry land they had to spend 16 hours decompressing.

　　Rob: That's very important. Divers⁸ have to decompress - to return to their original body pressure - when they come out of the water.

　　Finn: Sounds like a long time to wait for a good meal! So Rob - what do you think? Would you like to live underwater for a month?

　　Rob: Absolutely not. I'd get very claustrophobic in those small spaces.

　　Finn: Anyway - let's see if you got this week's question right. I asked you what you thought the world record for holding your breath for underwater was.

　　Rob: I went for 18 minutes.

　　Finn: Actually it was even longer than that: 22 minutes! There are reports that two different men have managed this feat⁹ - Stig Severinsen from Denmark and Tom Sietas from Germany - with Tom apparently holding his breath for 22 minutes 22 seconds. But they're professionals, please don't try this at home! Well, that brings us to the end of today's 6 Minute English. We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s underwater programme. Please join us again soon. Bye.

　　Rob: Bye.

1 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

2 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

3 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 simulated   

a.伪装的，模仿的

参考例句：

• The effects of weathering can be simulated in the laboratory. 在实验室里可以模拟各种天气产生的影响。
• She showed simulated enthusiasm towards us. 她向我们表示了虚假的热情。

7 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

8 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

9 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。