英语听力：自然百科 冰冻星球 前往地球尽头(5)

It's time for the couples to go their separate ways.

这对情侣是时候分开了。

She will give birth to his cubs¹ alone in 9 months time.

她将要用9个月的时间独自生下他的幼崽。

And he may never see her again. He returns to the frozen ocean, no doubt releaved to resume his solid few ways.

也许他再也见不到她了。他回到冰冻的海洋,毫无疑问继续自己的坚忍生活。

And just in time. The ice beneath the feet will soon begone.

而且就在这个时候，脚下的冰很快就会消失殆尽。

Each spring, the Antarctic ocean undergoes an extraordinary transformation². An area of sea ice the size as Europe melts exposing the rich water beneath.

每年春天,北冰洋都会经历一次非凡的转变。一个欧洲区域大小的海冰即将融化后，下面大量的海水会崭露头角。

Short tail shear³ waters have traveled ten thousands miles from Australia to be here.

短尾海鸥旅行千万里才从澳大利亚到这里来。

Eighty millions visitors darken the sky, the largest gathering⁴ of seabirds on the planet.

八千万的旅行者们将天空变暗,最大的海鸟在这个星球上聚会。

Hold by whales come all the way from the equator to feed the rich polar waters.

鲸鱼专程为了这丰富的极地水域从赤道而来。

Their giant tails are 5 meters across.

它们巨大的尾巴有5米宽。

Simply rising them above up in the surface give the whales enough downward momentum⁵ to reach the great swarm⁶ of krill and herring below.

简简单单在海面上提高自己一点，就给了鲸鱼足够时间大口呼吸。

The shear waters find the giant lead.

海鸥发现这一庞然大物正处于领先。

1 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

3 shear   

n.修剪，剪下的东西，羊的一岁；vt.剪掉，割，剥夺；vi.修剪，切割，剥夺，穿越

参考例句：

• Every spring they shear off the sheep's wool and sell it.每年春天他们都要剪下羊毛去卖。
• In the Hebrides they shear their sheep later than anywhere else.在赫伯里兹，剪羊毛的时间比其他任何地方都要晚。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

6 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。