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████    重点词汇
████    难点词汇
████    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 ]

The incoming tide sweeps
on towards America,

flooding across vast flat
plains of seagrass

They are so shallow that,
at low tide,

all large fish are forced
to retreat into deep water channels

Like these nurse sharks...
and these stingrays

Both predators hunt crustaceans
on the seagrass beds,

but until the flooding tide brings
enough water for them to swim in,

they will have to wait

So for now this tulip
snail it appears safe

to patrol the shallows
in search of a meal

But is it?

This l s a rather
bigger kind of snail

At five kilogrammes in weight,
the giant horse conch

has little to fear from any shark...
and it has a taste for tulip snail

Sensing the approaching danger
- the snail flees

But in a world of snail paces
- the conch is something of a Ferrari

lt calls for desperate measures

Exhausted by the effort
of its last ditch attempt,

the tulip snail is slowly gunned down

The tide still has to rise for another
hour before the big predators can feed

But out on the flats the scent of
dying snail wafts away on the tide

lt's a scent that these hermit crabs
are particularly partial to

lt's vital that the crabs have
the best possible protection

from the heavy teeth of
the waiting sharks and rays

For that they need the shell
with a perfect fit

Today there is new real
estate on offer

- and competition in this
housing market is fierce

The action becomes even
more desperate

when the shell of the devoured
snail is ready for release

This crab simply can't
wait any longer

But it's a decidedly
risky acquisition

The risk paid off handsomely
- the new shell is both lighter

and stronger than the old home
and it's not a moment too soon

because the tide is flowing in strongly,
flooding the plains

At last, the predators are free
to start their foraging

Both the stingrays and sharks have
a highly developed electrical sense

which they use to search
for buried invertebrates

- they can sense minute
movements beneath the sand

Finding a promising signal,
this ray digs out its meal,

an unprotected hermit crab
would have no chance

Within a few hours the tide
ebbs out once more,

and all the predators
are forced to leave

They will have to wait
until the next high tide

before making another feeding foray

At certain times of the
year called the equinox,

spring tides are exceptionally large
and rise even higher than normal

Now predators can reach the very
shallowest fringes of the seagrass flats

These two metre long tarpon
are heading further inshore still

They are heading for the mangroves

These flooded forests cover huge
areas of the coastal shallows


知识点

重点词汇
crab [kræb] n. 螃蟹；蟹肉；脾气乖戾的人；起重机 vt. 抱怨；破坏；使偏航 vi. 捕蟹；发牢骚；抱怨 {cet6 ky toefl gre :5100}

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}

exceptionally [ɪkˈsepʃənəli] adv. 异常地；特殊地；例外地 {toefl :5956}

ditch [dɪtʃ] n. 沟渠；壕沟 vt. 在…上掘沟；把…开入沟里；丢弃 vi. 开沟；掘沟 {cet4 cet6 ky toefl ielts gre :6459}

incoming [ˈɪnkʌmɪŋ] n. 进入；到来；常作 incomings 收入，收益 adj. 进来的，到来的； 即将就任的 {ielts :6757}

decidedly [dɪˈsaɪdɪdli] adv. 果断地；断然地；明显；毫无疑问 {cet6 :8222}

devoured [diˈvauəd] v. 吞食；毁灭（devour的过去分词） { :8478}

snail [sneɪl] n. 蜗牛；迟钝的人 vt. 缓慢移动 vi. 缓慢移动 {cet6 :8765}

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

Ferrari [ ] n. 法拉利（世界上最闻名的赛车和运动跑车的生产厂家， 总部在意大利的摩德纳） { :9324}

foray [ˈfɒreɪ] n. 涉足，初次尝试；突袭；侵略；攻击 vi. 袭击 vt. 劫掠 n. (Foray)人名；(法)福雷 {toefl gre :10224}

foraging ['fɒrɪdʒɪŋ] n. 觅食（forage的ing形式）；觅食力 { :11147}

wafts [wɑ:fts] n. 空中飘来的气味，一阵气味( waft的名词复数 ); 摇转风扇 v. 吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的第三人称单数 ) { :11800}

unprotected [ˌʌnprəˈtektɪd] v. 无保护（unprotect的过去分词） adj. 无保护的；未设防的；不受关税保护的 { :11836}

tulip [ˈtju:lɪp] n. 郁金香 {cet6 :12259}

ebbs [ebz] n. 退潮( ebb的名词复数 ); 落潮; 衰退 v. （指潮水）退( ebb的第三人称单数 ); 落; 减少; 衰落 { :13680}

handsomely ['hænsəmlɪ] adv. 漂亮地；慷慨地；相当大地 { :14203}


难点词汇
mangroves [ ] n. [林] 红树林（mangrove的复数）；红树属植物 { :15533}

hermit [ˈhɜ:mɪt] n. （尤指宗教原因的）隐士；隐居者 {toefl gre :16933}

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

tarpon ['tɑ:pɒn] n. 大海鲢 { :19657}

inshore [ˈɪnʃɔ:(r)] adj. 近海岸的；向陆的 adv. 近海岸；向陆 { :19979}

crustaceans [krʌs'teɪʃnz] n. 甲壳纲动物（如蟹、龙虾）( crustacean的名词复数 ) { :20077}

conch [kɒntʃ] n. 贝壳；海螺壳 { :20394}

stingrays [ˈstiŋreiz] n. 黄貂鱼( stingray的名词复数 ) { :21585}

equinox [ˈi:kwɪnɒks] n. 春分；秋分；昼夜平分点 { :22684}

seagrass [ ] 海草 { :33383}

kilogrammes [ ] (kilogramme 的复数) n. 公斤, 千克 { :36745}


复习词汇
tide [taɪd] n. 趋势，潮流；潮汐 vt. 随潮漂流 {cet4 cet6 ky toefl ielts :3284}

flooding [flʌdɪŋ] n. 泛滥；产后出血 { :3582}

predators [p'redətəz] [动] 捕食者 [动] 食肉动物（predator的复数） { :4699}


词组
at low tide [ ] na. 处于低潮 [网络] 处于低潮中

ebb out [ ] [网络] 退出

flood tide [flʌd taid] n. 涨潮 [网络] 高峰；落潮；潮汐过程中海面上升的过程

flood tides [ ] na. 涨潮；高峰

hermit (crab) [ ] 寄居蟹

hermit crab [ˈhə:mit kræb] n. 寄居蟹 [网络] 寄生蟹；借居蟹；寄居蟹在干吗

hermit crabs [ ] na. 【动】寄居蟹 [网络] 寄生蟹

high tide [hai taid] n. 满潮 [网络] 高潮；涨潮；高潮时间

horse conch [ ] 马螺

last ditch [lɑ:st ditʃ] na. 最后一道防线；最后的依靠[手段] [网络] 最后防线；最后一次谈判努力；最后一招

low tide [ləu taid] n. 低潮 [网络] 退潮；乾潮；低潮期

nurse shark [nə:s ʃɑ:k] 沙锥齿鲨

on the tide [ ] prep.涨潮时

retreat into [ ] v. 退入 [网络] 退却到；陷入

scent of [ ] 发出...的气味, 有...的迹象

snail pace [ ] [网络] 行动缓慢

spring tide [spriŋ taid] n. 大潮 [网络] 春潮；潮汛；潮差相对最大时称为大潮

the Crab [ ] [网络] 巨蟹座；螃蟹；螃蟹的钳瓜

the Flood [ ] na. (旧约创世纪中所载)挪亚 遭逢的大洪水 [网络] 水灾；惊涛骇浪；洪魔

the snail [ ] [网络] 蜗牛；井底的蜗牛；丝瓜花上蜗牛

the tide [ðə taid] [网络] 潮水；潮汐；潮来潮往

very shallow [ ] 极浅(6吋以下)



单词释义末尾数字为词频顺序
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