国家地理 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.

这片蔚蓝的海下掩藏着无尽的宝藏。波涛之下生长着珊瑚礁，为无数生命提供了栖息环境，让它们的生活五彩缤纷。无论是世界上的哪片海洋，只要海水清澈并循环良好，珊瑚就会落地生根、茁壮生长。虽然珊瑚外表看起来像植物又像石头，但其实它们是动物。珊瑚可以多种颜色呈现，质地也五花八门。珊瑚小时候是圆柱形的小珊瑚虫，直径只有几毫米。然后每年可以长半英寸，最后直径可长到几英尺。

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 spiny⁷ grottos⁸ offer refuge and feeding grounds for a variety of aquatic⁹ life.

珊瑚可以形成群礁，因为后代会在前辈的残骸上继续生长。珊瑚礁可达数百英尺宽，绵延数英里长。最大的珊瑚礁群位于澳大利亚海岸东北部——大堡礁。大堡礁面积达13.5万平方英里。珊瑚礁里可有无数岩礁鱼类、海星等生物生存。珊瑚礁自带细小的孔眼，可以提供为许多水族提供庇护和食物。

In spring, this Caribbean reef plays host to the fanatic¹⁰ mating of fish. A male yellow head garfish is left alone to tender fertilized¹¹ eggs he carries in his mouth. He spits them out from time to time in order to aerate¹² them over the 5-day gestation¹³ 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 parasites¹⁴. But just as the reef fosters life, it can harbor danger.

春天的时候，这个加勒比珊瑚礁是鱼类交配的绝好地点。一只黄头雀鳝只能靠自己来照料嘴里的蛋。他要时不时地将蛋吐出来，让他们置于空气中，才能熬过5天的妊娠期。在水族之中，也会发展出不正常的关系。这个珊瑚岬附近出现了清洁站，这里是老虎斑经常出没的地方。小小的鰕虎鱼毫不畏惧地游入老虎斑口中，用死去的组织和寄生虫裹腹。不过，珊瑚礁不只能滋养生命，也会暗藏危险。

Lurking¹⁵ on the fringes of this Caribbean reef, the barracuda is a fierce predator¹⁶ 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 mere¹⁷ 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.

潜伏在这个加勒比珊瑚礁边缘的梭鱼是凶猛的捕食者，自带锋利的牙齿。虽然梭鱼也会成群结队进行狩猎，但一些成年梭鱼会单干，自己寻找食物。这只小鱵只是这只饥饿梭鱼用来塞牙缝的。珊瑚礁已有近5亿年的进化史，但近来却遭受着威胁：全球变暖、污染以及渔捞过渡都使珊瑚礁数量日渐减少。人们也在努力保护世界各地的珊瑚礁，并试图恢复他们的生长。从沉船等人造物体生发出来的人工珊瑚礁在短期内很有前景。但人类对环境的影响依然让珊瑚礁未来一片渺茫。

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 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。

8 grottos   

n.（吸引人的）岩洞，洞穴，（人挖的）洞室( grotto的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• UNDERGROUND Under water grottos, caverns Filled with apes That eat figs. 在水帘洞里，挤满了猿争吃无花果。 来自互联网
• Today, some7, 000 caves with 492 grottos remain extant in Dunhuang. 如今，在砾岩峭壁上，有洞穴七千余处，492窟。 来自互联网

9 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。

10 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。

11 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。

12 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。

13 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。

14 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。

15 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》

16 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。

17 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。