Sharks in Australia剑桥雅思4-听力原文翻译及答案解析

一、Sharks in Australia听力原文：

Today we're going to look at one of my favourite fish-the shark.

As you know,sharks have a reputation for being very dangerous creatures capable of injuring or killing humans,and I'd like to talk about sharks in Australia.

Sharks are rather large fish,often growing to over ten metres and the longest sharks caught in Australia have reached sixteen metres.

Sharks vary in weight with size and breed,of course,but the heaviest shark caught in Australia was a White Pointer-that weighed seven hundred and ninety-five kilograms-quite a size!

Sharks have a different structure to most fish:instead of a skeleton made of bone,they have a tough elastic skeleton of cartilage.

Unlike bone,this firm,pliable material is rather like your nose,and allows the shark to bend easily as it swims.

The shark's skin isn't covered with scales,like other fish:instead the skin's covered with barbs,giving it a rough texture like sandpaper.

As you know,sharks are very quick swimmers.

This is made possible by their fins,one set at the side and another set underneath the body,and the tail also helps the shark move forward quickly.

Unlike other fish,sharks have to keep swimming if they want to stay at a particular depth,and they rarely swim at the surface。

Mostly,they swim at the bottom of the ocean,scavenging and picking up food that's lying on the ocean floor.

While most other animals,including fish,hunt their prey by means of their eyesight,sharks hunt essentially by smell.

They have a very acute sense of smell-and can sense the presence of food long before they can see it.

In Australia,where people spend a lot of time at the beach,the government has realised that it must prevent sharks from swimming near its beaches.

As a result,they've introduced a beach-netting program.

Beach-netting,or meshing,involves setting large nets parallel to the shore:this means that the nets on New South Wales beaches are set on one day.

And then lifted and taken out to sea on the next day.

When shark-netting first began in 1939,only the Sydney metropolitan beaches were meshed-these beaches were chosen because beaches near the city are usually the most crowded with swimmers.

Ten years later,in 1949,systematic meshing was extended to include the beaches to the south of Sydney.

As a result of the general success of the program in Sydney,shark-meshing was introduced to the state of Queensland around 1970.

The New Zealand authorities also looked at it,but considered meshing uneconomical-as did Tahiti in the Pacific.

At around the same time,South Africa introduced meshing to some of its most popular swimming beaches.

When meshing began,approximately fifteen hundred sharks were caught in the first year.

However,this declined in the years that followed,and since that time,the average annual catch has been only about a hundred and fifty a year.

The majority of sharks are caught during the warmest months,from November to February,when sharks are most active and when both the air and the ocean are at their maximum temperature.

Despite quite large catches,some people believe that shark meshing is not the best way to catch sharks.

It's not that they think sharks are afraid of nets,or because they eat holes in them,because neither of these is true.

But meshing does appear to be less effective than some other methods,especially when there are big seas with high roiling waves and strong currents and anything that lets the sand move-the sand that's holding the nets down.

When this moves the nets will also become less effective.

二、Sharks in Australia听力中文翻译：

今天我们来看看我最喜欢的鱼之一——鲨鱼。

正如你所知，鲨鱼是一种非常危险的生物，能够伤害或杀死人类，我想谈谈澳大利亚的鲨鱼。

鲨鱼是相当大的鱼，通常长到10米以上，在澳大利亚捕获的最长鲨鱼达到16米。

当然，鲨鱼的体重因体型和品种而异，但在澳大利亚捕获的最重的鲨鱼是一只白色指针，重795公斤，相当大！

鲨鱼的结构与大多数鱼类不同：它们的骨架不是由骨头构成的，而是由软骨构成的坚韧的弹性骨架。

与骨骼不同，这种坚硬、柔韧的材料很像你的鼻子，让鲨鱼在游泳时很容易弯曲。

鲨鱼的皮肤不像其他鱼类那样覆盖着鳞片：相反，皮肤上覆盖着倒刺，使其具有砂纸般粗糙的纹理。

正如你所知，鲨鱼游泳速度很快。

这是由它们的鳍实现的，一个位于侧面，另一个位于身体下方，尾巴也帮助鲨鱼快速向前移动。

与其他鱼类不同，鲨鱼如果想呆在特定的深度，就必须不断游泳，而且它们很少在水面上游泳

大多数情况下，它们在海底游泳，清理和拾起躺在海底的食物。

虽然包括鱼类在内的大多数其他动物都是靠视力捕食，但鲨鱼基本上是靠嗅觉捕食。

它们有非常敏锐的嗅觉，而且在看到食物之前很久就能感觉到食物的存在。

在澳大利亚，人们在海滩上呆了很长时间，政府意识到必须防止鲨鱼在海滩附近游泳。

因此，他们推出了海滩网计划。

海滩网，或网格，涉及设置与海岸平行的大型网：这意味着新南威尔士州海滩上的网是在一天内设置的。

然后在第二天被抬到海上。

1939年，当鲨鱼网首次出现时，只有悉尼大都会海滩被网住了——之所以选择这些海滩，是因为该市附近的海滩通常是游泳人数最多的。

十年后，也就是1949年，系统网格被扩展到悉尼南部的海滩。

由于该项目在悉尼取得了普遍成功，1970年左右，鲨鱼网被引入昆士兰州。

新西兰当局也对其进行了研究，但认为这是不经济的——太平洋的塔希提岛也是如此。

大约在同一时间，南非将meshing引入了一些最受欢迎的游泳海滩。

当啮合开始时，第一年大约捕获了1500条鲨鱼。

然而，在随后的几年中，这一数字有所下降，自那时以来，平均每年的捕获量只有150只左右。

大多数鲨鱼都是在最热的月份捕获的，从11月到2月，那时鲨鱼最活跃，空气和海洋都处于最高温度。

尽管捕获量相当大，但一些人认为鲨鱼网并不是捕获鲨鱼的最佳方式。

这并不是因为他们认为鲨鱼害怕网，也不是因为他们吃网上的洞，因为这两者都不是真的。

但是，与其他一些方法相比，网格化的效果似乎要差一些，尤其是当有波涛汹涌、水流湍急的大海以及任何让沙子移动的东西时，沙子会把网压下来。

当这种情况发生时，渔网的效率也会降低。

三、Sharks in Australia听力问题：

Question 31-34

Complete the notes below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

Sharks in Australia

Length largest caught:16 meters

Weight heaviest:kg

Skeleton cartilage

Skin texture rough barbs

Swimming aide fins and

Food gathered from the ocean

Sharks locate food by using their

Question 35-38

Choose the correct letter,A,B or C.

35.Shark meshing uses nets laid

A.along the coastline

B.at an angle to the beach

C.from the beach to the sea

36.Other places that have taken up shark meshing include

A.South Africa

B.New Zealand

C.Tahiti

37.The average number of sharks caught in nets cash year is

A.15

B.150

C.1,500

38.Most sharks are caught in

A.spring

B.summer

C.winter

Question 39-40

Choose TWO letters A—G.

Which TWO factors reduce the benefits of shark nets?

A.nets wrongly positioned

B.strong waves and currents

C.too many fish

D.sharks eat holes in nets

E.moving sands

F.nets too short

G.holes in nets scare sharks

四、Sharks in Australia听力答案：

31.795

32.tail

33.floor/bed/bottom

34.sense of smell

35.A

36.A

37.B

38.B

39.B

40.E

五、Sharks in Australia听力答案解析

Question 31 795.考生通过听前预测可知答案为数字，当录音提到the heaviest shark这一卷面信息时，这意味着答案即将出现。随后录音提到caught in Australia was a White Pointer—that weighed seven hundred and ninety-five kilograms，可确定答案为795。

Question 32 tail.考生通过预读题目可以获取本题中的定位信号词为swimming，所以当听到sharks are very quick swimmers时，应该知道答案就要出现。由This is made possible by their fins，one set at the side and another set underneath the body，and the tail also helps the shark move forward quickly可知，本题对应的答案是tail，注意录音中的also对即将出现的并列信息具有提醒作用。

Question 33 floor/bed/bottom.本题中，考生可以通过卷面信息中已给出的ocean和food来定位答案所在的位置，录音提到Mostly，they swim at the bottom of the ocean，scavenging and picking up food that’s lying on the ocean floor，由此可确定答案为floor。

Question 34 sense of smell.录音中提到They have a very acute sense of smell—and can sense the presence of food long before they can see it，故此题的答案为sense of smell。

Question 35 A.题干当中的shark meshing（防鲨网）是定位信号词。录音中提到Beach-netting，or meshing，involves setting large nets parallel to the shore;this means that the nets on New South Wales beaches are set on one day，and then lifted and taken out to sea on the next day，A项中的along与录音中的paralle（l平行）形成对应关系，故可确定答案为A，此题难度略高，考生应很敏感地听出方位词，并对相对应的同义转换做出判断。

Question 36 A.录音中提到At around the same time，South Africa introduced meshing to some of its most popular swimming beaches，故答案为A。虽然之前提到New Zealand，但是是以否定形式给出的。Question 37 B.录音中，考生可听到When meshing began，approximately fifteen hundred sharks were caught in the first year.However，this declined in the years that followed，and since that time，the average annual catch has been only about a hundred and fifty a year，其中有两个数字题干中要求的是如今每年被防鲨网困住的鲨鱼数量，故可确定答案为150，而且此题根据文中的“however”，以及答案的偏后规律，都可判断出答案应为150。

Question 38 B.本题存在陷阱，考生的生活习惯会干扰判断，我们居住在北半球，所以11月～次年2月为冬季，但是11月～次年2月在南半球的Australia是夏季，此外录音中还提到during the warmest months，from November to February，when sharks are most active and when both the air and the ocean are at their maximum temperature，其中warmest可以帮助我们定位答案。

Question 39-40 B-E.录音中提到But meshing does appear to be less effective than some other methods，especially when there are big seas with high rolling waves and strong currents and anything that lets the sand move—the sand that’s holding the nets down.When this moves the nets will also become less effective，其中的“but/especially”为重要的答案提醒词，high rolling waves and strong currents和the sand move与选项当中的对应项几乎完全一致。所以答案为B和E。