媒體英語
Whale song mystery solved by scientists 科學(xué)家揭開鯨魚 “歌聲之謎”
科學(xué)家們已經(jīng)研究出海洋中一些體型最大的鯨魚發(fā)出令人難忘的復(fù)雜叫聲的方式，它們的叫聲被人們稱為 “鯨歌”。座頭鯨和其它須鯨體內(nèi)有一種進(jìn)化而來的特殊的 “音箱”，使它們能夠在水下 “唱歌”。
The humpback's song sounded so strange and haunting to sailors, they used to think it belonged to ghosts or mythical sea creatures. Now, a study has revealed how the animals produce their complex songs.
座頭鯨的鯨歌聽起來很奇怪，讓水手們難以忘記，他們?cè)J(rèn)為這種 “歌聲” 來自鬼魂或神話中的海洋生物。現(xiàn)在，一項(xiàng)研究揭示了這些動(dòng)物唱出復(fù)雜 “歌聲” 的原理。
Researchers examined the voice boxes of three dead whales: larynxes that were taken from a stranded minke, humpback and a sei whale. Pumping air into the giant U-shaped structures from the whales' throats showed how they vibrate to make a sound when air moves across them.
研究人員檢查了三頭死鯨體內(nèi)的 “音箱”，也就是它們的 “喉部”，三頭死鯨分別是一頭因被擱淺而死亡的小鳁鯨、一頭座頭鯨和一頭塞鯨。研究人員向巨大 U 型結(jié)構(gòu)的鯨魚喉嚨中注入空氣，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)當(dāng)空氣流過時(shí)，這個(gè)U型結(jié)構(gòu)通過振動(dòng)發(fā)聲。
That's similar to how our vocal folds work, but baleen whales can recycle the air around this specialised vocal anatomy, meaning they can sing while holding their breath without inhaling water.
這些鯨魚的發(fā)聲方式與我們聲帶的發(fā)聲方式相似，但須鯨可以回收循環(huán)利用其體內(nèi)這種特殊的發(fā)聲結(jié)構(gòu)周圍的空氣，這意味著它們可以不吸水而屏住呼吸 “唱歌”。
More analysis showed that the frequency of the whale song overlaps with the noise ships produce, so the sound of human activity in the ocean can interrupt communication that's essential to these animals' lives.
進(jìn)一步的分析表明，鯨歌的頻率與船只行駛時(shí)產(chǎn)生的噪音重疊，因此海洋中人類活動(dòng)的聲音會(huì)干擾這些鯨魚生活中至關(guān)重要的溝通和交流過程。
詞匯表
haunting 令人難忘的
voice boxes 音箱
larynxes 喉頭，喉嚨
stranded 擱淺的
vibrate 振動(dòng)
vocal folds 聲帶
baleen 鯨須，有鯨須的
anatomy （動(dòng)植物的）結(jié)構(gòu)
inhaling 吸氣
閱讀理解：請(qǐng)?jiān)谧x完上文后，回答下列問題。
1. What did sailors use to think whale song was?
2. Which whale body part did the researchers use for this study?
3. What is different about how whales sing compared to humans?
4. Why can human activity interrupt whale communication?
答案
1. What did sailors use to think whale song was?
Sailors used to think that whale song was the sound made by ghosts or mythical sea creatures.
2. Which whale body part did the researchers use for this study?
Researchers used the larynxes from three dead whales.
3. What is different about how whales sing compared to humans?
Differently to humans, whales can sing while holding their breath.
4. Why can human activity interrupt whale communication?
The frequency of whale song overlaps with the noise that ships produce.
