你见过鲸鱼吗？ ⏲️ 6分钟英语：英语精读讲义

6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.

来自 bbclearningenglish.com 的《6分钟英语》。

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

大家好，这是来自 BBC Learning English 的《6分钟英语》。

I'm Phil.

我是 Phil。

And I'm Georgie.

我是 Georgie。

Encountering an animal in its natural habitat is a magical experience. 講解

在动物的自然栖息地与它们相遇是一次神奇的体验。

Have you ever seen an animal in the wild, Georgie? 講解

Georgie，你在野外见过动物吗？

Yes, I have actually.

见过，我确实见过。

I was on a walk and we saw a baby badger. 短語搭配

有次我在散步，我们看到了一只小獾。

It was on its own and it was really cute. 短語搭配

它孤零零的，非常可爱。

What about you, Phil?

你呢，Phil？

Ooh, the most impressive one I've ever seen is actually a whale. 語法

哦，我见过最令人印象深刻的其实是一头鲸鱼。

I was driving by the coast in Patagonia and you could see them in the sea. 用詞

当时我正沿着巴塔哥尼亚海岸开车，你可以看到它们在海里。

Well, that sounds amazing and funny you say that 語氣意圖

哇，听起来太棒了，你这么说也挺巧的，

because whale watching has become popular in many coastal parts of the world. 講解

因为出海观鲸在世界上许多沿海地区已经变得很流行。

But watching whales is very different from what humans used to do, 語法

但是观鲸与人类过去对它们所做的事情截然不同，

hunt and kill them for their oil and meat,

过去人们为了获取鲸油和鲸肉而猎杀它们，

an activity known as whaling. 短語搭配

这项活动被称为捕鲸。

Last year marked the 40th anniversary of the International Whaling Commission's global moratorium. 講解

去年是国际捕鲸委员会发布全球禁令的40周年。

That's a temporary ban on the commercial killing of whales. 短語搭配

那是对商业捕杀鲸鱼的临时禁令。

Although Japan, Iceland, and Norway continue to hunt whales, 表達脈絡

尽管日本、冰岛和挪威继续捕鲸，

there's no doubt the ban has saved many whale species from extinction. 短語搭配

但毫无疑问，这项禁令拯救了许多免于灭绝的鲸鱼物种。

In this program,

在本期节目中，

we'll discuss our past and present relationship with these giants of the ocean. 表達脈絡

我们将讨论我们与这些海洋巨兽过去和现在的关系。

And as usual,

和往常一样，

we'll learn some useful new words and phrases too.

我们也会学习一些有用的新单词和短语。

Plus, you'll find all the vocabulary for this episode,

此外，你可以在我们的网站 bbclearningenglish.com 上找到本期的所有词汇，

along with a quiz and worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com. 短語搭配

还有小测验和练习表。

But first, 表達脈絡

但首先，

I have a question for you, Georgie.

我有一个问题想问你，Georgie。

You probably know that the world's largest whale is the blue whale,

你可能知道世界上最大的鲸鱼是蓝鲸，

growing up to 30 m long. 短語搭配

它能长到30米长。

But which whale species is the smallest?

但是哪种鲸鱼是最小的呢？

Is it A, the beluga whale,

是A，白鲸，

B, the vaquita whale,

B，小头鼠海豚，

or C, the pygmy right whale?

还是C，小露脊鲸？

Well, pygmy makes me think small, 語法

嗯，“小（pygmy）”让我联想到体型小，

so I'm going to go with C, the pygmy right whale. 短語搭配

所以我选C，小露脊鲸。

Okay, we'll find out later in the program. 短語動詞

好的，我们稍后在节目中揭晓答案。

Humans have hunted whales for at least a thousand years, 短語搭配

人类猎杀鲸鱼至少有一千年了，

starting with small groups of hunters in slow moving wooden boats. 表達脈絡

最开始是一小群猎人乘坐缓慢的木船出海。

Catching whales like this was often unsuccessful,

像这样捕鲸经常是不成功的，

especially big whales like blue and humpback whales,

尤其是遇到像蓝鲸和座头鲸这样的大型鲸鱼，

which can swim up to 30 km/h.

它们的游速可以达到30公里每小时。

But all that changed in the late 1800s 表達脈絡

但在19世纪末，这一切都改变了，

as Jayne Pierce of the South Georgia Heritage Trust

正如南乔治亚遗产信托基金会的 Jayne Pierce

explained to BBC Radio 4 program Rare Earth.

在 BBC Radio 4 的《Rare Earth》节目中所解释的那样。

Something happened in Norway in the late 1800s,

19世纪末，挪威发生了一件事，

a chap called Svend Foyn, who was a whaler, 用詞

一个叫 Svend Foyn 的家伙，他是个捕鲸人，

he invented what we now know as the exploding harpoon. 講解

他发明了我们现在所说的爆炸鱼叉。

And that was a turning point for the for the whale. 習語

这对鲸鱼来说是一个转折点（turning point）。

The whale couldn't stand a chance. 習語

鲸鱼根本毫无胜算（couldn't stand a chance）。

In 1870, a chap, that's an informal word for a man,

在1870年，一个 chap（chap是man的非正式用语）

called Svend Foyn, invented the exploding harpoon,

名叫 Svend Foyn，发明了爆炸鱼叉，

a weapon for killing whales.

这是一种用来猎杀鲸鱼的武器。

This was a turning point.

这是一个转折点（turning point）。

The phrase turning point means a time when a situation starts to change,

turning point 这个词组的意思是情况开始发生改变的时间点，

especially in a positive way,

特别是朝着积极的方向发展，

although sadly not in this case. 表達脈絡

尽管很遗憾，在这个例子中并非如此。

After this, the whales didn't stand a chance,

在此之后，鲸鱼完全没有胜算（didn't stand a chance），

meaning they had no chance of successfully avoiding the hunters.

意思就是它们没有成功躲避猎人的机会。

Foyn's exploding harpoon,

Foyn发明的爆炸鱼叉，

added to the invention of faster steam-powered boats, 表達脈絡

加上速度更快的蒸汽动力船的发明，

increased whaling massively throughout the 20th century,

在整个20世纪让捕鲸活动大规模增加，

to the point where over 3 million whales had been killed 表達脈絡

甚至导致超过300万头鲸鱼被杀，

and many species faced extinction. 短語搭配

许多物种面临灭绝。

By the 1970s, 表達脈絡

到了20世纪70年代，

there were only a few great whales left, 用詞

仅剩下少数几头大型鲸鱼，

and environmental groups like Greenpeace started the Save the Whales campaign 文化背景

于是像绿色和平这样环保组织发起了“拯救鲸鱼”运动，

to make people aware of devastation in whale populations 短語搭配

让人们意识到鲸鱼种群遭受的毁灭性打击

and the cruelty of whaling.

以及捕鲸的残忍。

It became popular to listen to the song of the whale, 習語

听“鲸歌”变得流行起来，

recordings of whales communicating at sea,

也就是鲸鱼在海里交流的录音，

which sounds something like this.

听起来有点像这样。

Here's marine biologist Joe Roman discussing the Save the Whales campaign with BBC Radio 4's Rare Earth.

下面是海洋生物学家 Joe Roman 在 BBC Radio 4 的《Rare Earth》节目中讨论“拯救鲸鱼”运动。

People started thinking about whales in different ways. 短語搭配

人们开始用不同的方式思考鲸鱼。

And then we have to give a shout out to activist groups like Greenpeace, 習語

我们必须向绿色和平等激进组织致敬（give a shout out），

who put their RIB boats, 文化背景

他们把充气艇，

they put their Zodiacs in between Soviet hunting vessels and sperm whales,

把他们的十二生肖橡皮艇开到苏联捕猎船和抹香鲸之间，

and they were very good at media. 用詞

而且他们非常擅长利用媒体（good at media）。

Joe gives a shout-out to Greenpeace activists for protecting whales.

Joe 向保护鲸鱼的绿色和平组织成员致敬（gives a shout-out）。

To give a shout-out to someone means to praise them in public.

To give a shout-out to someone 的意思是公开赞扬他们。

Videos and photos taken by Greenpeace changed public opinion about whaling. 短語搭配

绿色和平组织拍摄的视频和照片改变了公众对捕鲸的看法。

Joe says Greenpeace were good at media,

Joe 说绿色和平组织 good at media，

meaning they skillfully used media outlets like TV and newspapers 用詞

意思是他们巧妙地利用了电视和报纸等媒体渠道

to convey their message to the public. 短語搭配

向公众传达他们的信息。

Many whale species are still endangered, 用詞

许多鲸鱼物种仍然濒临灭绝，

and all whales still face danger from ocean acidification and plastic pollution. 短語搭配

所有的鲸鱼仍然面临着海洋酸化和塑料污染的危险。

But the moratorium, that means the temporary suspension on hunting them,

但是暂停捕鲸（moratorium，意思就是暂时停止捕猎它们）

has lasted 40 years 語法

已经持续了40年，

and hopefully will help protect whales for decades more. 短語搭配

而且希望在未来的几十年里能继续帮助保护鲸鱼。

Okay, Phil, isn't it time you revealed the answer to your question? 語氣意圖

好了，Phil，是不是该揭晓你问题的答案了？

Okay, I asked you which was the smallest species of whale. 語法

好的，我问过你最小的鲸鱼是哪种。

And I said the pygmy right whale, didn't I? 語氣意圖

我说是小露脊鲸，对吧？

You did.

是的。

Unfortunately, the answer is actually the vaquita whale, 語氣意圖

不幸的是，答案其实是小头鼠海豚（vaquita whale），

which is about 1.5 m long. 短語搭配

它大概有1.5米长。

Oh, so cute.

哦，太可爱了。

Okay, let's recap the rest of the vocabulary we've learned. 短語搭配

好了，让我们复习一下我们学过的其他词汇。

A chap is an informal word for a man.

chap 是 man（男人）的非正式用语。

A turning point is when a situation starts to change,

turning point（转折点）是指情况开始发生改变的时候，

especially for the better.

尤其是往好的方向发展。

If someone doesn't stand a chance,

如果有人 doesn't stand a chance（毫无胜算），

they have no chance of success.

意思就是他们没有成功的机会。

To give a shout-out to someone means to publicly praise them.

To give a shout-out to someone（向某人致敬）的意思是公开赞扬他们。

And finally, if you're good at media,

最后，如果你 good at media（擅长媒体），

you are skillful at using media outlets to convey a message to the public.

意思就是你很擅长利用媒体渠道向公众传达信息。

Once again, our 6 minutes are up, 短語搭配

我们的6分钟又到了，

but remember, you can find worksheets, quizzes, and loads more resources to improve your English 用詞

但请记住，你可以找到练习表、小测验以及更多提高英语水平的资源，

on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

就在我们的网站 bbclearningenglish.com。

See you there soon, but for now, it's goodbye. 表達脈絡

稍后见，现在该说再见了。

Bye.

再见。

6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.

来自 bbclearningenglish.com 的《6分钟英语》。