时间:2018-12-19 作者:英语课 分类:2007年NPR美国国家公共电台


英语课

If you've ever been to Istanbul, you know that it's a bustling 1 city that straddles Europe and Asia. The divider of the Bosporus Strait and the international shipping 2 lane is only about a mile wide. The Bosporus is so congested it might surprise you to learn it's also home to a community of sea mammals. From Istanbul, NPR's Ivan Watson reports.

Once a week, a group of marine 3 biologists sets out in a small boat into the busy Bosporus Strait to count the dolphins in Istanbul. Dr. Ayaka Ozturk is a marine biologist with the Turkish Marine Research Foundation. She and her Turkish colleague, Dr. Ayhan Dede, studied the three species of dolphins commonly found in the Bosporus, a narrow channel which runs some 20 miles through Istanbul from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It's midday when the scientists finally get their first sighting.

"Just in front of the mosque 4, but probably one animal."

Dr. Ozturk says it's in harbor porpoise 5, that's barely visible as it comes up for air near a waterside mosque. These are the smallest and most elusive 6 of the Bosporus dolphins.

"They are really scared of humans, boats."

The dolphins have to dodge 7 the constant stream of ferry boats, freighters, and oil tankers 8 which sail through the Strait. The ship traffic and the garbage from the millions of people who live on the banks of Bosporus have left the water horribly polluted. The scientists have given the dolphins a very urban nickname, calling them the Strait Kids of the Bosporus.

"Strait Kids. Why?"

"They just go around, and do whatever they want to. But they don't get protected. They get kind of neglected by the other people."

The marine biologists say a group of some 60 bottlenose dolphins have made the Bosporus their permanent home.

"Look, oh my god, what kind of these..."

In the afternoon, the scientists find these resident dolphins feeding in the open area where the Strait widens to meet the Marmara Sea.

"There are probably maybe 15 to 20 over there, maybe another 15, 20 over here."

The bottlenose dolphins are clustered in groups some 50 yards away from the boat. Their gray dorsal 9 fins 10, tails, and barrel-shaped bodies shine in the sun when they come up for air. One dolphin leaps out of the water to the delight of Dr. Ozturk.

"Sit down. It's going up."

It's a remarkable 11 sight seeing these creatures so close to the shipyards and Ottoman palaces of Istanbul. Dr. Ozturk says this is one of the only places in the world where you can see dolphins living so close to so many humans.

"Right now, we can say that in spite of all these traffic and population, there are still dolphins now trying to stay in this area. And I think they need to be protected."

The scientists would like to give the scrappy Strait Kids of the Bosporus a helping 12 hand. They hope to convince the Turkish government to protect their marine habitat so that Istanbul's dolphins can continue to live alongside their many human neighbors.

"They are leaving now."

Ivan Watson, NPR News, Istanbul



1 bustling
adj.喧闹的
  • The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
  • This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。
2 shipping
n.船运(发货,运输,乘船)
  • We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
  • There's a shipping charge of £5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。
3 marine
adj.海的;海生的;航海的;海事的;n.水兵
  • Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
  • When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时,他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
4 mosque
n.清真寺
  • The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
  • Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前,清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。
5 porpoise
n.鼠海豚
  • What is the difference between a dolphin and porpoise?海豚和和鼠海豚有什么区别?
  • Mexico strives to save endangered porpoise.墨西哥努力拯救濒危的鼠海豚。
6 elusive
adj.难以表达(捉摸)的;令人困惑的;逃避的
  • Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
  • Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。
7 dodge
v.闪开,躲开,避开;n.妙计,诡计
  • A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪,才没被车从身上辗过。
  • The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。
8 tankers
运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 ); 油轮; 罐车; 油槽车
  • They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
  • The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。
9 dorsal
adj.背部的,背脊的
  • His dorsal fin was down and his huge pectorals were spread wide.它的脊鳍朝下耷拉着,巨大的胸鳍大张着。
  • The shark's dorsal fin was cut off by the fisherman.鲨鱼的背鳍被渔夫割了下来。
10 fins
[医]散热片;鱼鳍;飞边;鸭掌
  • The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关,与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
  • Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句
11 remarkable
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的
  • She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
  • These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。
12 helping
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
学英语单词
adrenal transplantation
adultoid
aged care
air coverage
air leakage coefficient
air-depolarized electrode
Ammon's horn
aplasia axialis extracorticalis congenita
area to power ratio of solar array
Ban Na Mo
bellicist
beni mazar (bani mazar)
bifocality
bitten-off
blog network
bouce Jane
brush-holder rod
carlavirus lycoris virus t
cased-wall
cesium atomic-beam tube
come out of one's ears
Conrad interface
crazy eights
cross line screen
deviation reducing feedback
digital imageprocessing
Durcina
e-consulting
earphone adapter
Empty Trash Folder
entreprenant
Eyring molecular system
Foreign Service
frowney
fuzz testing
gas pressure head
glomeruli of sympathetic ganglia
hair ping divide
healthconscious
heart-lung unit
hollow ground on side triangular scraper
Homerical
horizon crossing indicator
huperzia cunninghamioides
indicating devices
infusorigen
instrumental variables
interpole winding
isothermal grain growth
Japanese Oceanographic Data Center
kalmanir
labyrinthiform
lateral
lattic drainage pattern
liquid pressure recovery factor
local bucking
machine readable dictionaries
main code
make out a cheque
manufacturing expense budget report
maxwell law of viscosity
median index
mishev
mixed goods
model airport
moderator level control system
mombyll
mono-skier
monotocardian
non-charitable
Ode to a Nightingale
one operator ship
open wire parameter
opera-cloak
ophioplinthacinae
os costale
polyvbelt
poopetrator
Ramularieae
rate down
realism rendering
regular gout
roller-type overrunning clutch
rotary knife cutting machine
rough-water
Salix dissa
scope of business
shadowcasts
shrimp paste
spermathecal tube
stepper piston
stone grist mill
storm survey
Tenagocharis latifolia
tripley
trun-off time
twin fallss
unsubsidised
water-cures
whorelike
woodpaneled
Zenker's paralysis