高齊云選譯

Female whale sharks have been named the biggest fish in the sea.

雌性鯨鯊被命名為海洋中最大的魚類。

There has been an ongoing discussion by marine experts3 for years. Some say that male whale sharks are bigger， while others think the female is bigger.

多年來，海洋專家一直在爭論不休。有人說雄性鯨鯊更大，而另一些人則認為雌性鯨鯊更大。

However， a new study in Frontiers in Marine Science showed that females are bigger. They are 14 metres long in average4.

然而，《海洋科學前沿》雜志上發(fā)表的一項新研究表明，雌性比雄性個頭更大。它們的平均長度是14米。

A team of fish experts at the Australian Institute of Marine Science studied 54 whale sharks. They did more than 1，000 measurements5.

澳大利亞海洋科學研究所的一組魚類專家研究了54條鯨鯊，他們進行了1000多次測量。

The team also found out that the bigger size of female whale sharks could help when it comes to having babies. Only one female whale shark held up to 300 babies！Most sharks carry between two and 12.

該研究小組還發(fā)現，雌性鯨鯊的體型增大有助于繁殖后代。只有一條雌性鯨鯊生了300頭小鯨鯊！大多數鯊魚能生2到12頭。

*Whale Sharks Facts：

*鯨鯊的相關事實：

★They grow around 20 to 30 cm a year.

☆它們每年生長20到30厘米。

★Whale sharks are friendly to humans.

☆鯨鯊對人類是友好的。

★Their names refer to6 their size—whale sharks are as big as some kinds of whales！

☆它們的名字是指它們的大小——鯨鯊和某些種類的鯨一樣大！

★They live in tropical7? and warm-temperate8 seas all over the world.

☆它們生活在世界各地的熱帶和暖溫帶海域。

★Whale sharks are filter feeders9， which is a kind of feeding that only two other kinds of sharks use.

☆鯨鯊是濾食性動物，這是一種只有另外兩種鯊魚才會用的進食方式。

★Each shark has between 300-350 small teeth in their big mouths！

☆每只鯊魚的大嘴里有300至350顆小牙齒！

（英語原文選自：kiwikidsnews.co.nz）

1. female [? ? ? ? ?] adj. 女性的;雌性的 male [? ? ?] adj. 男性的;雄性的

2. whale shark [魚] 鯨鯊 3. marine expert海洋專家

4. in average平均地 5. measurement [? ? ? ? ? ? ?] n. 測量;[計量] 度量

6. refer to參考;涉及;指的是 7. tropical [? ? ? ? ?] adj. 熱帶的

8. warm-temperate暖溫帶 9. filter feeder濾食動物

▲Discussion 議一議：

1. Have you seen the whale sharks？ 你見過鯨鯊嗎？

2. Do you think we should protect them？ 你認為我們應該保護它們嗎？