2006 考研英语阅读真题Text 3(英语二) .pdfVIP

2006 Text 3 （英语⼆）过度捕捞 When prehistoric man arrived in new parts of the world, something strange happened to the large animals: they suddenly became extinct. 当史前的⼈到达世界的⼀个新的地⽅时，那⾥的⼤只动物就会发⽣奇怪的事情，它们突然灭绝了。 Smaller species survived. ⼩只动物种族存活了下来。 The large, slow-growing animals were easy game, and were quickly hunted to extinction. 但是⼤只，成⻓缓慢的动物则成了狩猎的⽬标，并且很快被狩猎到灭绝。 Now something similar could be happening in the oceans. 现在相类似的事情发⽣在⼤海中。 That the seas are being overfished has been known for years. 这些年在海中的捕捞活动太过频繁。 What researchers such as Ransom Myers and Boris Worm have shown is just how fast things are changing. 就像 Ransom Myers 和 Boris Worm 这些年所研究的，事物在迅速地变化着。 They have looked at half a century of data from fisheries around the world. 他们研究了半个世纪以来世界上所有的⻥场。 Their methods do not attempt to estimate the actual biomass (the amount of living biological matter) of fish species in particular parts of the ocean, but rather changes in that biomass over time. 他们的⽅法不是为了试图估算特定区域的海洋中实际动物总数（活着⽣物的总数），⽽是单位⾯积中海 洋⽣物数量随着时间的变化。 According to their latest paper published in Nature, the biomass of large predators ( animals that kill and eat other animals) in a new fishery is reduced on average by 80% within 15 years of the start of exploitation. 根据他们最近在《⾃然》杂志上发表的⽂章 ，⼀个新渔场在开发之初的15年的时间⾥⼤型⻝⾁的海洋⽣ 物（⼀种捕杀猎⻝其它动物的⽣物）的总量已经减少了平均 80%。 In some long-fished areas, it has halved again since then. 在⼀些⼤型的捕⻥场，这个数量已经减半。 Dr. Worm acknowledges that these figures are conservative. Worm 博⼠承认这些数字还只是保守数字。 One reason for this is that fishing technology has improved. ⼀个原因是今天的捕⻥技术已经⼤⼤改善。 Todays vessels can find their prey using satellites and sonar, which were not available 50 years ago. 可以通过卫星和声波来发现猎物。这些在 50 年前是不可能的。 That means a higher proportion of what is in the sea is being caught, so the real difference between present and past is likely to be worse than the one recorded by changes in catch sizes. 这就意味着更⾼⽐例的海洋⽣物正在被捕获，因此现在和过去之间的差异很可能⽐捕捞量变化所显示出 的差异更⼤。 In the early days, too, longlines