Saving Whales

For hundreds of years, people had hunted whales for their oil to fuel lamps and other products . Today, modern technology has replaced the need for such kind of products, so there is no need to kill whales for their oil. Sadly, some people in some countries still kill whales to sell whale meat for profit. Luckily , there are things you can do to help to save whales. You can join the“Whale Savers”Society and become a“Whale Saver”. You can write letters to those governments supporting whale killing. You can stop using plastic bags. You can also stop releasing balloons . Such things very often end up in the sea and can be eaten by whales or dolphins.

New Words and Expressions（生词和短语）

-lamp ［læmp ］ n. 灯

-product ［'prɒdʌkt ］ n. 产品

-technology ［tek'nɒləʤi ］ n. 技术

-sadly ［'sædli ］ adv. 悲哀地

-profit ［'prɒfɪt ］ n. 利润；利益

-luckily ［'lʌkɪli ］ adv. 幸运地

-support ［sə'pɔ:t ］ vt. 支持

-release ［rɪ'li:s ］ vt. 释放；发射

releasing balloons 放飞气球

end up in the sea 最终到达海里

Sentence Patterns（句型练习）

1. There is no need to kill whales for their oil. 现在不必再猎杀鲸鱼获取鲸油了。

There is no need to wait for him any longer. 没必要再等他了。

There is no need to go at once. 没必要马上就去。

2. Some people in some countries still kill whales to sell whale meat for profit.

有些国家的一些人仍然捕杀鲸鱼，以销售鲸肉，牟取利润。

Some people still kill rare animals and birds to sell their meat for profit.

有些人依然猎杀珍禽异兽，以卖掉其肉，牟取利润。

Some people still raise pigeons to sell their meat for profit.

有些人仍然养鸽子，以卖掉鸽肉，获得利润。

参考翻译

拯救鲸鱼

在以前的数百年里，人们猎捕鲸鱼，以获取鲸油点燃油灯，或获取其他产品。如今，现代科技已使得人们不再需要此类产品了，所以现在不必再猎杀鲸鱼以获取鲸油了。可悲的是，有些国家的一些人仍在捕杀鲸鱼，以出售鲸肉，牟取利润。幸运的是，你能采取行动，帮助拯救鲸鱼。你可以加入“鲸鱼拯救者”协会，成为一名“鲸鱼拯救者”；你可以写信给那些支持鲸鱼捕杀的国家的政府；你可以停止使用塑料袋；你还可停止放飞气球。诸如塑料袋和气球这样的东西最终往往会进入大海，被鲸鱼或海豚误食。

鲸鱼从未长得比现在更大

Both toothed and baleen (filter-feeding) whales are among the largest animals ever to exist. Blue whales, which measure up to 100 feet (30 meters) long and can weigh over 150 tons, are the largest animals in the history of life on Earth.

齿鲸和须鲸都是现存最大的动物之一。蓝鲸身长可达100英尺(30米)，体重可达150多吨，是地球生命史上最大的动物。

Although whales have existed on this planet for some 50 million years, they only evolved to be truly gigantic in the past five million years or so. Researchers have little idea what limits their enormous size. What is the pace of life at this scale, and what are the consequences of being so big?

虽然鲸鱼在这个星球上已经存在了大约5000万年，但它们只是在过去的500万年左右才进化成真正的庞然大物。研究人员不知道是什么限制了它们巨大的体型。在这个尺度上，生活的节奏是怎样的?

As scientists who study ecology, physiology and evolution, we are interested in this question because we want to know the limits to life on Earth, and what allows these animals to live at such extremes.

作为研究生态学、生理学和进化的科学家，我们对这个问题很感兴趣，因为我们想知道地球上生命的极限，以及是什么让这些动物生活在如此极端的环境中。

In a newly published study, we show that whale size is limited by the largest whales' very efficient feeding strategies, which enable them to take in a lot of calories compared to the energy they burn while foraging.

在一项新发表的研究中，我们发现鲸鱼的体型受到了最大的鲸鱼非常有效的进食策略的限制，这种策略使它们能够摄入大量的卡路里，而不是在觅食时消耗的能量。