Deadly Dolphins

致命的海豚

1. People like dolphins. They are regarded as smart (at least compared with the average fish), and cute. They also have a large vocabulary with which they 1)communicate with one another in a very human way. Now, however, researchers in America 2)claim that some of the sounds that dolphins make are not just harmless 3)gossip.

大家都喜爱海豚。牠们被认为聪明（至少跟普通鱼类相较之下）而且可爱。牠们也有大量的语汇，可以用相当近似于人类的方式彼此沟通。不过，现在美国的研究人员表示，海豚所发出的一些声音并不只是无伤大雅的闲聊而已。

1.1) communicate (v.) 沟通 2) claim (v.) 宣称 3) gossip (n.) 闲言闲语


2. Scientists from universities in Hawaii and Florida say that they have taken videos of dolphins chasing 1)schools of fish while 2)emitting very low-3)frequency sounds. The fish being chased apparently¹ became confused by the sounds and began to either swim around in circles or stop swimming altogether. The researchers say that the sounds appeared to damage the fish's hearing and so confuse them.

夏威夷与佛罗里达大学的科学家表示，他们已拍摄到海豚追捕鱼群的录像带，同时海豚发出非常低频率的声音。被追的鱼显然被声音弄胡涂了，开始绕着圈子回游，或者索性停止游动。研究人员表示，这些声音似乎会损害鱼的听觉，使牠们受到混淆。

2.1) school (n.) 鱼群 2) emit (v.) 发出 3) frequency (n.) 频率


3. On another 1)occasion the dolphins were seen to use a slightly different 2)strategy. While hunting on the 3)seabed they emitted a 4)weird² 5)medium frequency noise. Buried 6)eels jumped out of the sand and either swam around as if they were drunk or just 7)floated there waiting for the dolphins to start their lunch.

另外一次，看到海豚使用有点不一样的策略。在海底猎食时，牠们发出一种奇怪的中频率杂音。埋藏的鳗鱼自沙中跳出，或者像是酒醉一般游来游去，或者只是漂浮在水中，等待海豚开始享用午餐。

3.1) occasion (n.) 场合 2) strategy (n.) 策略 3) seabed (n.) 海底 4) weird (a.) 怪异的 5) medium (a.) 中等的 6) eel³ (n.) 鳗鱼 7) float (v.) 漂浮
4. Similar 1)theories about dolphins using their voices as weapons have been around for nearly twenty years. This, however, is the first time that researchers have got hard evidence that dolphin voices can be deadly to their 2)prey⁴.

关于海豚利用声音作为武器的类似理论，已流传将近二十年。但是，这是研究人员首度有确凿的证据，显示海豚所发出的声音会让牠们的猎物致命。

4.1) theory (n.) 理论 2) prey (n.) 猎物


5. Just shout and your dinner stops running away? Maybe dolphins are even smarter than we thought.

只要大叫，你的晚餐就不会逃跑？或许海豚比我们想象的还要聪明。