高齐云选译

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

雌性鲸鲨被命名为海洋中最大的鱼类。

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.

多年来，海洋专家一直在争论不休。有人说雄性鲸鲨更大，而另一些人则认为雌性鲸鲨更大。

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

然而，《海洋科学前沿》杂志上发表的一项新研究表明，雌性比雄性个头更大。它们的平均长度是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.

澳大利亚海洋科学研究所的一组鱼类专家研究了54条鲸鲨，他们进行了1000多次测量。

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.

该研究小组还发现，雌性鲸鲨的体型增大有助于繁殖后代。只有一条雌性鲸鲨生了300头小鲸鲨！大多数鲨鱼能生2到12头。

*Whale Sharks Facts：

*鲸鲨的相关事实：

★They grow around 20 to 30 cm a year.

☆它们每年生长20到30厘米。

★Whale sharks are friendly to humans.

☆鲸鲨对人类是友好的。

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

☆它们的名字是指它们的大小——鲸鲨和某些种类的鲸一样大！

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

☆它们生活在世界各地的热带和暖温带海域。

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

☆鲸鲨是滤食性动物，这是一种只有另外两种鲨鱼才会用的进食方式。

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

☆每只鲨鱼的大嘴里有300至350颗小牙齿！

（英语原文选自：kiwikidsnews.co.nz）

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

2. whale shark [鱼] 鲸鲨 3. marine expert海洋专家

4. in average平均地 5. measurement [             ] n. 测量;[计量] 度量

6. refer to参考;涉及;指的是 7. tropical [         ] adj. 熱带的

8. warm-temperate暖温带 9. filter feeder滤食动物

▲Discussion 议一议：

1. Have you seen the whale sharks？ 你见过鲸鲨吗？

2. Do you think we should protect them？ 你认为我们应该保护它们吗？