国家地理-2008-05-08 Coral Reefs 岌岌可危的珊瑚礁

The waves of these azure¹ seas hide an abundant treasure. Below the waves, coral reefs provide a habitat for teeming² life, a life with a kaleidoscope of color.
 
In oceans around the world, clear and well-circulating waters encourage corals to anchor and grow. Despite their plant or stone like appearance, corals are actually animals. They come in many colorful forms and textures³.

Starting as tiny cylindrical⁴ polyps just a couple of millimeters in diameter, they grow about half an inch a year and can become several feet in diameter. Corals form reefs as successive generations build on the skeletal remains⁵ of older generations. Reefs can be hundreds of feet wide and stretch for miles.
 
The greatest collection of reefs is located off the northeast coast of Australia, the Great Barrier Reef. This collection of reefs encompasses⁶ 135,000 square miles.
 
Thousands of species of reef fish，mollusks， sea stars and other creatures inhabit coral reefs. The reef system's spinygrottos offer refuge and feeding grounds for a variety of aquatic¹⁰ life.
 
In spring, this Caribbean reef plays host to the fanatic¹¹ mating of fish. A male yellow head garfish is left alone to tender fertilized¹² eggs he carries in his mouth. He spits them out from time to time in order to aerate¹³ them over the 5-day gestation¹⁴ period.
 
In this aquatic community, unusual relationships develop. A cleaning station thrives around this coral head, often patronized by the tiger grouper. Tiny gobies fearlessly enter the tiger's mouth to feed on dead tissue and parasites¹⁵. But just as the reef fosters life, it can harbor danger. Lurking¹⁶ on the fringes of this Caribbean reef, the barracuda is a fierce predator¹⁷ equipped with razor-sharp teeth. Although they do hunt in groups, sometimes adults branch off and prowl for food on their own. This small ballyhoo fish is a mere¹⁸ snack for this hungry barracuda.
 
Coral reefs have been evolving for about 500 million years, but these days they are under threat. Global warming, pollution and overfishing have contributed to their decline. Earnest efforts are under way to protect the world's reefs and restore them. Artificial reefs created from sunken ships and other man-made objects have shown some short-term promise. But man's impact on the environment continues to make the future of coral reefs uncertain.
 
1. azure: adj.
having a bright blue colour like the sky
 
2. teeming: adj.
full of people, animals etc that are all moving around
 
3. polyp: n. 珊瑚虫
a very simple sea animal that has a body like a tube
 
4. skeletal: adj.
connected with the skeleton of a person or an animal
 
5. Great Barrier Reef: n. 大堡礁
The largest coral reef in the world, about 2,011 km (1,250 mi) long, off the northeast coast of Australia. Its vividly¹⁹ colored banks are known for their exotic fish and crustaceans²⁰.
 
6. mollusk⁷: n. 软体动物
a type of sea or land animal that has a soft body covered by a hard shell

7. spiny⁸: adj.
(of animals or plants) having sharp points like needles
 
8. grotto⁹: n.
A grotto is a small cave with interesting or attractively shaped rocks.
 
9. garfish: n. 长嘴硬鳞鱼
 
10. gestation: n.
the process by which a child or young animal develops inside its mother's body before birth, or the period of time when this happens

11. tiger grouper: n. 老虎斑
 
12. goby: n. 虾虎鱼
 
13. barracuda: n. 梭鱼
 
14. branch off: v.
to diverge²¹ from the main way, road, topic, etc
 
15. prowl: v.
if an animal prowls, it moves around an area quietly, especially because it is hunting another animal
 
16. ballyhoo: n. 巴西鱵

1 azure   

adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的

参考例句：

• His eyes are azure.他的眼睛是天蓝色的。
• The sun shone out of a clear azure sky.清朗蔚蓝的天空中阳光明媚。

2 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

3 textures   

n.手感( texture的名词复数 )；质感；口感；（音乐或文学的）谐和统一感

参考例句：

• I'm crazy about fabrics textures and colors and designs. 我喜欢各式各样的纺织物--对它的质地，色彩到花纹图案--简直是入了迷。 来自辞典例句
• Let me clear up the point about the textures. 让我明确了一点有关的纹理。 来自互联网

4 cylindrical   

adj.圆筒形的

参考例句：

• huge cylindrical gas tanks 巨大的圆柱形贮气罐
• Beer cans are cylindrical. 啤酒罐子是圆筒形的。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 encompasses   

v.围绕( encompass的第三人称单数 )；包围；包含；包括

参考例句：

• The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. 这项工作涉及的职责范围很广。
• Its conservation law encompasses both its magnitude and its direction. 它的守恒定律包括大小和方向两方面。 来自辞典例句

7 mollusk   

n.软体动物

参考例句：

• I swear I have never seen such a mollusk with thorns all over its body.我敢发誓我从来没有见过这种全身长满棘刺的软体动物。
• The colour varies with the mollusk and its environment.颜色因母体及其环境的不同而异。

8 spiny   

adj.多刺的，刺状的；n.多刺的东西

参考例句：

• This is the Asiatic ornamental shrub with spiny branches and pink blossoms.这就是亚洲的一种观赏灌木，具有多刺的枝和粉红色的花。
• Stay away from a spiny cactus.远离多刺仙人掌。

9 grotto   

n.洞穴

参考例句：

• We reached a beautiful grotto,whose entrance was almost hiden by the vine.我们到达了一个美丽的洞穴，洞的进口几乎被藤蔓遮掩著。
• Water trickles through an underground grotto.水沿着地下岩洞流淌。

10 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

11 fanatic   

n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a football fanatic.亚历山大是个足球迷。
• I am not a religious fanatic but I am a Christian.我不是宗教狂热分子，但我是基督徒。

12 Fertilized   

v.施肥( fertilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The study of psychology has recently been widely cross-fertilized by new discoveries in genetics. 心理学研究最近从遗传学的新发现中受益匪浅。
• Flowers are often fertilized by bees as they gather nectar. 花常在蜜蜂采蜜时受粉。

13 aerate   

v.充气，让空气进入

参考例句：

• It were an aquarium,complete with an air pump to aerate the running water.但最让我难忘的礼物否则玩具，而是唯一带空气泵、能通气的鱼缸。
• Each insect contributes something just as ants aerate the soil.每一种昆虫都贡献了一些事情，就象蚂蚁松土给土壤增加空气一样。

14 gestation   

n.怀孕；酝酿

参考例句：

• The gestation period can be anything between 95 and 150 days.妊娠期从95天至150天不等。
• This film was two years in gestation.这部电影酝酿了两年。

15 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。

16 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 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。

18 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

19 vividly   

adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地

参考例句：

• The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
• The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。

20 crustaceans   

n.甲壳纲动物（如蟹、龙虾）( crustacean的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These crustaceans provide a valuable food source for some fish. 这些甲壳纲动物是某些鱼类重要的食物来源。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• When the tide ebbs it's a rock pool inhabited by crustaceans. 退潮时，它便成为甲壳动物居住的岩石区潮水潭。 来自辞典例句

21 diverge   

v.分叉，分歧，离题，使...岔开，使转向

参考例句：

• This is where our opinions diverge from each other.这就是我们意见产生分歧之处。
• Don't diverge in your speech.发言不要离题。