英语听力：自然百科 奇妙的变性鱼

 One of the Australian state of New South Wales favorite ocean-living icons¹ is Bluey, the blue groper. Their friendly nature makes them a favorite of divers².

 

It's magical, like any type of marine³ species. You know, if you can scuba⁴ dive or snorkel⁵ along the trail, and you see there is a magnificent fish in the water. You know, it's just breathtaking and it really is.

 

The groper can grow about three feet in length and live up to 50 years, and it has a clever trick to maintain its numbers: it can change its sex.

 

The really sexy thing about blue groper is that they start off as females. We've got lots of blue groper that are small green groper. And as an old male dies, then the largest, most dominant⁶ female turns blue, becomes a male. And so, one of the really cool things about these fish is that the sex ratio doesn't really vary, but it's a function of how well protected they are. If you take a lot of males out, then the females have to spend a lot of their time turning into males, which means they can't breed because they can't lay eggs.

 

The Eastern blue groper is inquisitive⁷ and possibly too trusting for its own good. Although the New South Wales has effectively banned commercial fishing of the blue groper since 1980 and reserves have been set aside to protect the official state fish, there are concerns that spoiled fishing outside of these zones is putting undue⁸ pressure on the groper. Soon, we may know much more about Bluey's secret underwater world. 

 

30 gropers inside and outside the zone are being tagged in a study to determine the reserve's effectiveness. 

 

How much time they are spending within these difference zones! Obviously we've come along and said, “These are boundaries and put it on as a human boundary.” But, animals don't listen to boundaries we put. So, we are looking at how much movement there is between the fished zones and the un-fished zones. And if they are spending a lot of time moving between the two, then obviously the reserve is gonna be less effective than if they are staying within those particular zones.

 

1 icons   

n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像

参考例句：

• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons. 用图标来区分重要的文本项。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Daemonic icons should only be employed persistently if they provide continuous, useful status information. 只有会连续地提供有用状态信息的情况下，后台应用程序才应该一直使用图标。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

2 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

3 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 scuba   

n.水中呼吸器

参考例句：

• I first got hooked on scuba diving when I was twelve.12岁时我开始迷上了带水中呼吸器潜水。
• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。

5 snorkel   

n.泳者所戴的通气管，潜水艇的吸、排气装置

参考例句：

• With a snorkel,however,a diver can stay under water for quite a long time.潜水员携带一根通气管就可以在水下呆很长时间。
• I did buy a mask and fins and a snorkel.我买了面镜、蛙鞋和一个呼吸管。

6 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

7 inquisitive   

adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的

参考例句：

• Children are usually inquisitive.小孩通常很好问。
• A pat answer is not going to satisfy an inquisitive audience.陈腔烂调的答案不能满足好奇的听众。

8 undue   

adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的

参考例句：

• Don't treat the matter with undue haste.不要过急地处理此事。
• It would be wise not to give undue importance to his criticisms.最好不要过分看重他的批评。