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经济学人双语精读TE-2023-06-01期考研英语杂志英文外刊|海洋学：海底下有什么？

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6.01每日一篇 | 英语外刊社

Oceanography：What lies beneath

Much of Earth is unexplored. An ocean census hopes to change that

【1】“Earth” has always been an odd choice of name for the third planet from the Sun. After all, an alien examining it through a telescope would note that two-thirds of its surface is covered not by earth at all, but by oceans of water.

【2】Because humans are land-lubbing animals, most of the Earth remains under-explored. marine biologists think the oceans might host more than 2m species of marine animals, of which they have so far catalogued perhaps a tenth. Oceanographers are fond of pointing out that scientists have mapped nearly all of the Martian surface, but less than a quarter of the seabed.

【3】A new initiative hopes to change this. Launched in London on April 27th, Ocean Census aims to discover 100,000 new species of marine animal over the coming decade. It is backed by Nekton, a British marine-research institute, and the Nippon foundation, Japan’s biggest charitablefoundation. Its first ship, the Norwegian icebreaker Kronprins Haakon, set sail on April 29th, bound for the Barents Sea.

【4】The initiative is happening now for two reasons. One is that, the longer scientists wait, the less there will be to catalogue. Climate change is heating the oceans, as well as making them more acidic as carbon dioxide dissolves into the water. Already around half the world’s coral reefs—thought to be home to around 25% of all ocean species—have been lost. Oliver Steeds, Nekton’s founder and chief executive, says that one of Ocean Census’s priorities will be cataloguing species thought to be in the greatest danger from climate change. Otherwise, he says, the risk is of “the forest burningdown and not knowing what was there before [it] was lost”.

【5】The second reason is technological. marine biologists find about 2,000 new species a year, a rate hardly changed since Darwin’s day. Ocean Census is betting it can go faster. “Cyber taxonomy”, for instance, involves feeding DNA sequences from animals into computers, which can quickly decide whether it is a new species. The ability to describe new creatures, as well as simply cataloguing them, has also improved. Fancy cameras on remote-operated vehicles, for instance, allow scientists to make laser scans of deep-sea creatures such as jellyfish without removing them from their habitat. Just as the immense pressures of the deep sea are fatal for humans, taking such a jellyfish to the surface for examination reduces it to gooeyslime.

【6】Ocean Census is not the first attempt to conduct a systematic survey of life in the oceans. The Census of marine Life was a ten-year effort, begun in 2000, to seek out new species. The Global Ocean sampling Expedition, which ran from 2004 to 2006, aimed to catalogue microbial life in the sea by sampling waters from across the world. (It was funded by Craig Venter, a biologist-cum-entrepreneur, and carried out on his personal yacht.)

【7】Exactly what the new effort might turn up, of course, is impossible to predict. But history suggests it will be fruitful. Half a century ago scientists discovered hot vents on the sea bed that were home to organisms living happily in conditions that, until then, had been thought inimical to life. These days, such vents are one plausible candidate for the origin of all life on Earth.

【8】There are more practical benefits, too. Many drugs, for example, come originally from biological compounds. An ocean full of uncatalogued life will almost certainly prove a rich seam from which to mine more. One type of marine snail, Conus magus, was recently discovered to produce a painkilling compound 1,000 times more potent than morphine.

【9】To help make use of its data, Ocean Census plans to make it freely available to scientists and the public, who will be able to scour it for anything useful or surprising. The point of exploration, after all, is that you never know what you might find.

①短语：

1. 原文：Oceanographers are fond of pointing out that scientists have mapped nearly all of the Martian surface

词典：be fond of 爱好；喜欢

例句：He is fond of pouncing upon the other's slips of tongue.

他就喜欢抓住别人的口误大做文章。

2. 原文：Its first ship, the Norwegian icebreaker Kronprins Haakon, set sail on April 29th

词典： set sail启航

例句：They set sail with the first fair wind.

顺风一起他们就扬帆出航了。

3. 原文：the Norwegian icebreaker Kronprins Haakon, set sail on April 29th, bound for the Barents Sea.

词典：bound for 开往

例句：The ship was bound for Italy.

这艘船是开往意大利的。

4.原文：thought to be home to around 25% of all ocean species

词典：be home to 拥有

例句：Pakistan is home to 200 million people.

巴基斯坦有2亿人口。

5.原文：the forest burning down and not knowing what was there before [it] was lost”.

词典：burn down 烧毁；减弱

例句：Light up the stove and you could burn down the house.

点燃炉子，你可能会把房子烧掉。

6.原文：Census of Marine Life was a ten-year effort, begun in 2000, to seek out new species.

词典：seek out 寻找；找出

例句：Seek out new evidence, develop new methods, and consider many points of view.

寻找新的证据，研究新的方法，并考虑许多观点。

7. 原文：It was funded by Craig Venter, a biologist-cum-entrepreneur, and carried out on his personal yacht.

词典：carry out 开展

例句：Make sure the firm is competent to carry out the work.

要确保这家公司有能力完成这项工作。

8. 原文：Exactly what the new effort might turn up, of course, is impossible to predict.

词典：turn up 出现；找到

例句：It wouldn't be quite the thing to turn up in running gear.

穿着跑步的运动服出现在这场合可不大成体统。

9. 原文： until then, had been thought inimical to life.

词典：be inimical to 对...有害

例句：These policies are inimical to the interests of society.

这些政策有损于社会的利益。

②长难句

1.原文：“Cyber taxonomy”, for instance, involves feeding DNA sequences from animals into computers, which can quickly decide whether it is a new species.

2. 分析：本句的结构为主谓结构，主语“Cyber taxonomy，谓语involves，feeding为现在分词作宾语；后面是which引导的定语从句，修饰computers，也是从句的主语，从句谓语为can decide，从句的宾语是宾语从句whether it is a new species.。

3.译文：例如，“网络分类法”将动物的DNA序列输入计算机，计算机可以快速确定它是否是新物种。

1.原文： Half a century ago scientists discovered hot vents on the sea bed that were home to organisms living happily in conditions that, until then, had been thought inimical to life.

2. 分析：本句是主谓宾结构，句子主语是scientists ，谓语discovered ，宾语为hot vents ；on the sea bed 为地点状语；第一个that引导的定语从句，修饰hot vents；living happily为修饰organisms的现在分词作定语，in condition表是地点状语；第二个that修饰conditions，引导定语从句，后面从句的主语是that，指conditions，谓语为had been thought。

3.译文：半个世纪前，科学家们在海床上发现了热喷口，这些喷口是生物的幸福家园。在此之前，人们一直认为这种环境对生命有害。

③写作技巧:

It is backed by Nekton, a British marine-research institute。

它得到了英国海洋研究机构Nekton的支持。

表达： be backed by，“由…支持”，写作时表示“支持，促进”时，可以使用该表达来替换support。

例句：All of those small mercenary countries that we see in this region are backed by America.

我们在该地区看到的这些趋炎附势的小国家都有美国做后盾。

④背景知识：

海洋生物普查计划（Census of Marine Life，COML）：20世纪90年代，由美国率先开展，并逐渐发展为45个国家和地区参加的，调查世界大洋海洋生物多样性、分布和丰度等的国际海洋研究十年计划。海洋蕴藏着丰富的资源，它不但提供人类重要的动物蛋白质来源，同时也因调节气候、产生氧气而成为地球上最大的维生系统(life supporting sys-tem)，是人类可否永续存活的关键。海洋是地球上所有生命的起源之地，是培育生命的摇篮。海洋生物不但是基础科学研究的重要材料，在遗传资源利用、医药、民生、保健、能源、旅游及仿生材料等方面的应用则更是潜力无穷, 是未来的明星产业对象。