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02 7




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████    重点词汇
████    难点词汇
████    生僻词
████    词组 & 惯用语

[学习本文需要基础词汇量：5,000 ]
[本次分析采用基础词汇量：5,000 ]

These ancient scavengers are nearly
always the first to discover a fallen body

and are attracted from miles around.

They lack jaws and rasp at the flesh

with two rows of horny teeth
on either side of

their sucker-like mouths.

Next to arrive, a sleeper shark

a real deep sea specialist.

They grow to over seven metres long

and have never been filmed
at such a depth before.

The gaping wounds in the
whale's flank are its work.

Unlike the hagfish, it has powerful jaws

so is able to rip off huge chunks of meat.

Sharks, hagfish and a whole succession of

different deep sea scavengers will feast

on the carcass for years before
all its nutriment is gone.

Eighteen months later

when we returned to this whale

all that was left was a perfect skeleton,
stripped bare.

lt was almost as if a museum specimen

had been carefully laid out
on the sea floor.

At first the skeleton seemed
totally abandoned

but even after so long there was
still some flesh left in the head.

Hagfish have a skeleton of cartilage

and are so flexible that they can tie

themselves into knots and so get a better
purchase on the flesh they feed on.

But smaller organisms had fed here.

A thick band of white bacteria had formed

on the mud outlining the original
shape of the whale.

And on the skeleton itself

colonies of specialised bacteria

were extracting energy
from the bones themselves.

Most remarkably and in huge abundance

polychaete worms were collecting
the last edible fragments.

These are a new species that so far have

only been found on the fallen bodies
of whales.

Scientists have discovered 1 78 different
animals on a single whale vertebra

most of which have been found nowhere else

This whale, lying over a mile down

was not filmed from a submersible
with an acrylic sphere.

Such craft can't go as deep as this.

To withstand the pressure here

you need a far stronger submersible.

This is Alvin, a two metre wide sphere

with just enough room in it for
a pilot and two observers.

lts walls are made of titanium,
the viewing ports have to be tiny.

Any larger,
and the submersible would implode...

under the enormous pressure down here.

Alvin can dive to 4500 metres,
three miles below the surface.

Around 3000 metres the Continental slope
finally flattens out...

and joins the abyssal plain.

This covers over half the earth's surface.

Mostly it's completely flat

but in places it's gashed
by massive trenches

hundreds of miles wide.

The deepest of these is the Mariana trench

which drops to over seven miles
below sea level.

There are just five manned submersibles

world-wide that can reach
the abyssal plain

and between them, so far,

they have explored less
than one per cent of it.

There are a thousand times
fewer large animals

down here than on the Continental slope.

But in places hundreds of brittle stars

march over the sea bed in search of food.

Fish have been found right down

to the bottom of the deepest trenches.

Most come from one family:
the aptly named rattails.

They forage near the sea floor

and use their battery of sensory pits

to follow odour trails
from rotting carcasses.

Rattails can travel long distances

across the abyssal plain in search of food

but others down here
prefer to sit and wait.

This is a tripod fish.


知识点

重点词汇
knots ['nɒts] n. 结；结头；要点（knot的复数） v. 打结；使纠结（knot的第三人称单数） { :5061}

specialised ['speʃəlaɪzd] adj. 专门的；特别的（等于specialized） v. 使专门化；专攻；详细说明（specialise的过去分词） { :5113}

dive [daɪv] n. 潜水；跳水；俯冲；扑 vi. 潜水；跳水；俯冲；急剧下降 n. (Dive)人名；(法)迪夫 {gk cet4 cet6 ky toefl :5121}

abundance [əˈbʌndəns] n. 充裕，丰富 {cet6 ky toefl ielts gre :5425}

feast [fi:st] n. 筵席，宴会；节日 vt. 享受；款待，宴请 vi. 享受；参加宴会 {gk cet4 cet6 ky ielts :5626}

trenches [trentʃiz] n. 战壕（trench复数）；战壕地带，壕沟地带 v. 挖战壕于…；切开（trench的单三形式） { :5674}

trench [trentʃ] n. 沟，沟渠；战壕；堑壕 vt. 掘沟 vi. 挖战壕；侵害 n. (Trench)人名；(英、西)特伦奇 {cet6 ky toefl ielts gre :5674}

skeleton [ˈskelɪtn] n. 骨架，骨骼；纲要；骨瘦如柴的人 adj. 骨骼的；骨瘦如柴的；概略的 {cet6 ky toefl ielts gre :5954}

odour [ˈəʊdə(r)] n. 气味；声誉 {cet4 cet6 ielts :6254}

withstand [wɪðˈstænd] vt. 抵挡；禁得起；反抗 vi. 反抗 {cet4 cet6 ky toefl ielts gre :6972}

flank [flæŋk] n. 侧面；侧翼；侧腹 vt. 守侧面；位于…的侧面；攻击侧面 vi. 侧面与…相接 adv. 在左右两边 n. (Flank)人名；(瑞典、匈)弗兰克；(法)弗朗克 {cet6 ielts :7126}

flattens [ˈflætnz] v. 变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的第三人称单数 ); 彻底打败某人，使丢脸; 停止增长（或上升）; （把身体或身体部位）紧贴… { :7436}

sensory [ˈsensəri] adj. 感觉的；知觉的；传递感觉的 {toefl :8022}

brittle [ˈbrɪtl] adj. 易碎的，脆弱的；易生气的 {cet4 cet6 ky toefl ielts gre :8736}

Lt [ ] abbr. 书信电报（letter message）；数据处理（Language Translation） { :9242}

carcasses ['kɑ:kəsɪz] n. 尸体；兽体（carcass的复数形式） { :9410}

carcass [ˈkɑ:kəs] n. （人或动物的）尸体；残骸；（除脏去头备食用的）畜体 {toefl :9410}

rotting [rɒtɪŋ] vt. 腐败，腐坏之（rot的现在分词形式）；深蚀刻 n. 沤麻 { :9578}

cent [sent] n. 分；一分的硬币；森特（等于半音程的百分之一） n. (Cent)人名；(法)桑 {zk gk cet4 cet6 ky :10111}

edible [ˈedəbl] n. 食品；食物 adj. 可食用的 {cet6 ky toefl ielts :10611}

sleeper [ˈsli:pə(r)] n. 卧车；卧铺；枕木；睡眠者 n. (Sleeper)人名；(英)斯利珀 { :10755}

forage [ˈfɒrɪdʒ] n. 饲料；草料；搜索 vi. 搜寻粮草；搜寻 {toefl gre :11147}

gaping ['gæpɪŋ] adj. 多洞穴的 { :11188}

titanium [tɪˈteɪniəm] n. [化学] 钛（金属元素） { :11235}

tripod [ˈtraɪpɒd] n. [摄] 三脚架；三脚桌 {gre :11681}

aptly ['æptlɪ] adv. 适宜地；适当地 {toefl :11756}

cartilage [ˈkɑ:tɪlɪdʒ] n. 软骨 { :12471}

acrylic [əˈkrɪlɪk] adj. 丙烯酸的 { :12775}


难点词汇
vertebra [ˈvɜ:tɪbrə] n. [解剖] 椎骨；[解剖] 脊椎 { :14291}

scavengers ['skævɪn(d)ʒə] n. 食腐动物；清道夫；[助剂] 清除剂；拾荒者 { :15319}

gashed [ɡæʃt] v. 划伤，割破( gash的过去式和过去分词 ) { :15716}

rasp [rɑ:sp] n. [机] 粗锉刀；锉磨声；刺耳声 n. (Rasp)人名；(德)拉斯普 vt. 用粗锉刀锉；粗声粗气地说 vi. 锉磨；用粗嘎的嗓门说 {gre :17032}

horny [ˈhɔ:ni] n. (Horny)人名；(德)霍尔尼；(法)奥尔尼 adj. 角的；角状的；淫荡的 { :17227}

implode [ɪmˈpləʊd] vt. 使内爆 vi. 向内破裂；内爆；崩溃 {gre :17574}

Mariana [ˈmɛəriˈænə] n. 马里亚纳群岛（位于西太平洋） { :18028}

submersible [səbˈmɜ:səbl] adj. 能潜水的；能沉入水中的 { :20782}

submersibles [ ] (submersible 的复数) a. 能沉入水中的, 能潜水的 { :20782}

alvin [ˈælvin] n. 阿尔文（男子名）；艾文（美国得克萨斯州一城市名） n. (Alvin)人名；(俄、葡、瑞典)阿尔温；(英)阿尔文 { :24898}

polychaete ['pɒlɪki:t] n. 多毛类环虫；多毛动物 adj. 多毛纲的 { :41073}

abyssal [əˈbɪsl] adj. 深渊的，深海的；深不可测的 { :47874}


生僻词
hagfish ['hægfɪʃ] n. 八目鳗类鱼

LTS [ ] abbr. lights （供食用的）家畜的肺脏; long-term store 长期存储

nutriment ['nju:trɪmənt] n. 营养物；促进生长的东西 {toefl :0}

rattails [ ] adj. 一端逐渐变细的 n. 【动】长尾鳕 [网络] 鼠尾鱼类；鼠尾鳕


词组
abyssal plain [ ] un. 深海平原 [网络] 海底平原；深海底大盆地深海平原

acrylic sphere [ ] 《英汉医学词典》acrylic sphere 亚克力球,聚丙烯球

aptly named [ ] [网络] 巧妙命名的

brittle star [ˈbritl stɑ:] [网络] 海蛇尾；阳燧足海星；状海蛇尾

brittle stars [ ] un. 海蛇尾 [网络] 海星；脆星；阳燧足

continental slope [ ] n. 大陆坡 [网络] 大陆斜坡；大陆坡大陆坡；坡度较陡的大陆坡

dive to [ ] [网络] 跳到

flatten out [ ] na. 变平；【航空】取水平姿式；辗平；同“flatten ” [网络] 拉平；弄平；变平转为水平飞行

horny tooth [ ] 角质牙, 角质齿

manned submersible [ ] [网络] 载人潜水器；载人潜水艇；有人潜水器

Mariana Trench [ ] [网络] 马里亚纳海沟；马利亚纳海沟；马里安纳海沟

per cent [pə: sent] adj. 每一百中 n. 百分之… [网络] 百分数；百分率；百分比

polychaete worm [ ] [网络] 浮蚕；多毛纲动物；多毛虫

polychaete worms [ ] 多毛虫

rip ... off [rɪp ɒf] v. 剥削；抢劫；强奸；〈俚〉剽窃 [网络] 宰客；宰人；撕掉

rip off [rip ɔf] v. 剥削；抢劫；强奸；〈俚〉剽窃 [网络] 宰客；宰人；撕掉

sensory pit [ ] 感觉窝

sensory pits [ ] 【无脊椎动物】感觉窝

sleeper shark [ˈsli:pə ʃɑ:k] 睡鲨

the continental [ ] [网络] 大陆；欧陆式早餐；大陆酒店

to rip [ ] None

tripod fish [ ] 深海狗田鱼



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