英语听力：自然百科 大堡礁：自然奇迹—7

 Some are little more than rocks, others substantial mountains, covered in woodland. The first British person to see that was captain Cook, who stood here in 1770, and for the first time, realized the scale of the Great Barrier Reef. He also realized that the scale of the problem that faced him. For Cook and his men without benefits of modern charts and sonar, it represented nothing more than a deadly labyrinth¹. 

 

But it's exactly this complexity² and the sheer size of the reef that has created so many opportunities for life. There are fish of almost every imaginable kind. Coral eaters, plant eaters, plankton³ eaters, the hunters and the hunted. Bluefin trevally, powerful predators⁴ that hunt in packs. One minute that apparently⁵ minding their own business, the next, charging their prey⁶ with a sudden rush. Working together, they create confusion. The trevally depart as quickly as they arrived, and the colorful reef fish regroup again to feed.

1 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

2 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

3 plankton   

n.浮游生物

参考例句：

• Plankton is at the bottom of the marine food chain.浮游生物处于海洋食物链的最底层。
• The plankton in the sea feeds many kinds of animals. 海的浮游生物成为很多种动物的食物。

4 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。