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02 9




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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 ]

and oxygen down to the bacteria.

These bacterial colonies
are the primary source of energy...

for all the life that lives here.

The mussels were packed with them

just as green plants are the basis of life

for animals living in the sun

so these bacteria and other microbes

are at the foot of the food chain on
which over five hundred species depend.

Crabs and shrimps
feed off bacteria and even

try to steal pieces of tube worm plumes.

Since the vents were first visited by

biologists in 1 979 a new species
has been described every ten days.

At the top of the food chain fish

that never stray far from the vents.

But they, or their descendants,
will have to move eventually

for we now know that individual vents

are rarely active
for more than a few decades.

Such a density of life,
living in such harsh conditions

in the middle of a vast and otherwise

barren abyssal plain astounded the
biologists who first saw it.

lt seemed to them
that here was evidence of

how life on this planet, which certainly
started in the sea, might have begun.

Deep sea submersibles made an even more
extraordinary discovery in 1 990.

Over half a mile down at
the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico

they came across what appeared
to be an underwater lake

over twenty metres long,
with its own sandy shore.

Around its edge,
there even seemed to be a tide line.

But this couldn't be, of course,
this was underwater.

ln fact, the lapping edge was created
by a thick soup of salty brine

far heavier than the surrounding seawater

and the sand was made up of hundreds
of thousands of mussels.

Once again, in the midst of
a totally barren seabed

an extraordinarily rich oasis of life

totally independent of the sun's energy.

The source of energy
this time was not sulphides

but methane bubbling out of the sea bed.

And once again, the mussels carried

special bacteria capable of
fixing the methane's energy.

Just like the hot vents

a complete ecosystem had developed,
based on the bacteria.

There was an enormous variety of
completely new species,

shrimps, weird squat lobsters
and bright red polychaete worms.

These oases were called cold seeps

and were surprisingly similar
to the hot vents.

The geological processes in the sea floor

that produce methane also tend to result

in the release of hydrogen sulphides.

lt was hardly surprising then

when not far from the brine pool
they found tube worms ...

... extensive fields of tube worms

that stretch for hundreds of metres.

This new species also uses bacteria

to fix energy from sulphides

but it extracts them directly
from the ground.

Their beautiful gills are only used
to supply oxygen to the bacteria.

Amazingly, these tube worms are
over two hundred years old.

While hot vent tube worms
are thought to be

the fastest growing invertebrates
in the sea

these appear to be far slower.

All the more reason to protect your gills
from biting amphipods.

The energy sources exploited by the hot
vent animals may suddenly fail

but here life can enjoy a more
stable geological future.

To discover within ten years

two completely new ecosystems, both
totally independent of the sun's energy

has been quite extraordinary.

So far, we have explored just
one per cent of the deep ocean floor.

Who knows what is still
out there to be discovered?


知识点

重点词汇
biologists [baɪˈɔlədʒɪsts] n. 生物学家( biologist的名词复数 ) { :5075}

crabs [kræbz] n. 蟹类；吊钳；脾气坏的人（crab的复数） v. 捕蟹；抱怨；侧航（crab的三单形式） { :5100}

hydrogen [ˈhaɪdrədʒən] n. [化学] 氢 {gk cet4 cet6 ky toefl ielts :5103}

geological [ˌdʒi:ə'lɒdʒɪkl] adj. 地质的，地质学的 { :5877}

descendants [dɪ'sendənts] n. 后代，晚辈（descendant的复数）；子节点；衍生物 { :6138}

lobsters [ˈlɔbstəz] n. 龙虾( lobster的名词复数 ); 龙虾肉 { :6212}

sandy [ˈsændi] adj. 沙地的；多沙的；含沙的 n. (Sandy)人名；(法、喀、罗、西、英)桑迪(教名Alasdair、Alastair、Alexander、Alister、Elshender的昵称) {cet4 cet6 toefl :6261}

gills [gɪls] n. （鱼等的）鳃( gill的名词复数 ); 深谷; （人的）腮下肉; 菌褶 { :7313}

extraordinarily [ɪk'strɔ:dnrəlɪ] adv. 非常；格外地；非凡地 {cet6 :7314}

vents [vents] n. [矿业] 通风孔（vent的复数）；排空（气）阀；通风管；管乐类 { :7608}

vent [vent] n. （感情的）发泄；出口；通风孔 vt. 发泄感情；放出…；给…开孔 vi. 放出；（通过排泄等）减轻压力 n. (Vent)人名；(德)芬特；(英、捷、芬)文特 {cet6 toefl ielts gre :7608}

squat [skwɒt] vt. 使蹲坐，使蹲下 vi. 蹲，蹲下；蹲坐；蹲伏 n. 蹲坐，蜷伏 adj. 蹲着的；矮胖的 {cet6 toefl gre :7870}

bacterial [bæk'tɪərɪəl] adj. [微] 细菌的 { :8310}

seeps [si:ps] n. （液体）渗( seep的名词复数 ); 渗透; 渗出; 漏出 v. （液体）渗( seep的第三人称单数 ); 渗透; 渗出; 漏出 { :8656}

amazingly [ə'meɪzɪŋlɪ] adv. 令人惊讶地；惊奇地 { :8727}

barren [ˈbærən] n. 荒地 adj. 贫瘠的；不生育的；无益的；沉闷无趣的；空洞的 n. (Barren)人名；(西、英)巴伦 {cet6 ky toefl ielts gre :8809}

underwater [ˌʌndəˈwɔ:tə(r)] n. 水下 adj. 在水中的；水面下的 adv. 在水下 {toefl :9111}

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

stray [streɪ] n. 走失的家畜；流浪者 adj. 迷路的；离群的；偶遇的 vi. 流浪；迷路；偏离 n. (Stray)人名；(挪)斯特雷 {cet6 toefl gre :9258}

salty [ˈsɔ:lti] adj. 咸的；含盐的 {gk :9377}

plumes [plu:mz] 羽状物 { :9461}

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}

microbes ['maɪkrəʊbz] n. 细菌，[微] 微生物；微生物类（microbe的复数形式） { :10126}

oasis [əʊˈeɪsɪs] n. 绿洲；舒适的地方；令人宽慰的事物 n. (Oasis)人名；(英)奥西斯 {ielts gre :10318}

oases [əʊ'eɪsi:z] n. 绿洲（oasis的复数形式） { :10318}

mussels ['mʌslz] n. [无脊椎] 贻贝（mussel的复数）；[水产] 淡菜；双壳类 { :10822}

methane [ˈmi:θeɪn] n. [有化] 甲烷；[能源] 沼气 {toefl :11180}

astounded [əˈstaʊndɪd] v. 使惊愕（astound的过去式和过去分词） adj. 受惊骇的；被震惊的 { :12802}


难点词汇
seawater ['si:wɒtə] n. 海水 { :14585}

brine [braɪn] n. 卤水；盐水；海水 n. (Brine)人名；(阿拉伯)布里内；(英)布赖恩 vt. 用浓盐水处理（或浸泡） { :16183}

invertebrates [ɪn'vɜ:təbreɪts] n. 无脊椎动物( invertebrate的名词复数 ) { :17362}

sulphides [ ] (sulphide 的复数) n. 硫化物 [化] 硫化物 { :17527}

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

seabed [ˈsi:bed] n. 海底；海床 {toefl :23196}

ln [ ] abbr. 自然对数（Napierian Logarithm）；液态氮（Liquid Nitrogen） { :28828}

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}


复习词汇
tube [tju:b] n. 管；电子管；隧道；电视机 vt. 使成管状；把…装管；用管输送 vi. 乘地铁；不及格 {gk cet4 cet6 ky toefl ielts :2520}

bacteria [bækˈtɪəriə] n. [微] 细菌 {cet4 cet6 toefl ielts gre :3611}

worms [wә:mz. vɔ:rms] n. [基医] 蠕虫（worm的复数） n. (Worms)人名；(德、法、葡)沃姆斯 { :4993}


生僻词
amphipods [ ] (amphipod 的第三人称 -s形式) n.片脚类动物


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

bacterial colonies [ ] [网络] 菌落；细菌群；细菌群体

bacterial colony [bækˈtiəriəl ˈkɔləni] un. 细菌菌落 [网络] 细菌聚落

bubble out [ ] na. 勃突勃突地涌出

cold seep [ ] 冷泉{海洋}

deep sea submersible [ ] [网络] 深海潜水艇

geological process [dʒɪəˈlɔdʒɪkəl ˈprəuses] 地质作用

geological processes [ ] [网络] 地质酌；地质作用；自然地质现象

Gulf of Mexico [ ] n. 几内亚湾 [网络] 墨西哥湾；距离墨西哥湾；墨湾

hydrogen sulphide [ˈhaidrədʒən ˈsʌlfaɪd] na. 硫化氢 [网络] 二氧化硫；氢硫化物；硫化氢气体

hydrogen sulphides [ ] [化学 冶金] 硫化氢

in the midst [ ] [网络] 在情况中；於其中

in the midst of [in ðə midst ɔv] [网络] 在…当中，在…中间；意思是在某一进程之中；正当…的时候

individual vent [ ] 独立通气管

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

sandy shore [ ] un. 砂质海岸；砂质滨 [网络] 沙岸；沙滩；沙质海岸

stray far from [ ] 远离

tube worm [ ] 管虫

tube worms [ ] [网络] 管虫；蠕虫；管蠕虫

vent tube [ ] 通风管



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