VOA慢速英语，作为国际英语学习者的重要资源，通过清晰缓慢的发音与简洁的词汇，为初学者及中等水平学习者搭建了通往流利英语的桥梁。它不仅帮助提升听力理解能力，还丰富了词汇量，增强了语感，是学习地道英语表达不可或缺的工具，对全球英语学习者的语言提升至关重要。让我们一起进入今天的VOA慢速英语听力训练：鲸鲨的生物学特征。
英文原文
New research has provided surprising details about the biology of Earth's largest fish, the whale shark. Scientists say that female whale sharks grow more slowly but reach a much larger size than males. Researchers recently said they had followed the growth of 54 whale sharks over 10 years. The creatures swam in the Ningaloo Reef off of Australia's west coast, where hundreds of the rare fish travel every year.
新研究揭示了地球上最大的鱼类——鲸鲨的生物学特征的惊人细节。科学家表示，雌性鲸鲨生长得更慢，但体型远大于雄性。研究人员最近表示，他们曾追踪了54只鲸鲨在10年间的生长情况。这些生物在澳大利亚西海岸外的宁加洛珊瑚礁中游弋，每年都有数百只这种珍稀鱼类迁徙至此。
Whale sharks of both sexes were found to have their fastest growth while young, about 20 to 30 cm per year. Males were found to grow faster than females and reached about 8 meters in length at about 30 years old. At that age, they reach sexual maturity, meaning the fish were able to produce young. Females grew larger than males, reaching about 14 meters at about age 50 when they reached sexual maturity.
研究发现，鲸鲨无论雌雄，在幼年时期生长速度最快，每年可长20至30厘米。雄性鲸鲨的生长速度被发现快于雌性，在大约30岁时达到约8米长。在这一年龄，它们达到性成熟，意味着能够繁殖后代。雌性鲸鲨的体型比雄性更大，在大约50岁时达到性成熟，此时体长约为14米。
Mark Meeken is a marine biologist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. He led the research that was published in Frontiers in Marine Science. Meeken described whale sharks as remarkable. He noted that females give birth to many young, up to 300 at one time. For this reason, Meeken said, female sharks probably need to be very large.
马克·米肯是澳大利亚海洋科学研究所的海洋生物学家。他领导了这项发表在《海洋科学前沿》上的研究。米肯称鲸鲨为非凡的生物。他指出，雌性鲸鲨一次能产下许多幼崽，多达300只。因此，米肯表示，雌性鲸鲨可能需要长得非常大。
Our study provides the first evidence that male and female whale sharks grow at different rates. Meeken said whale sharks are filter feeders, meaning they take food and nutrients from the water. They swim great distances to find enough to eat. The longest known whale shark ever recorded reached a length of about 18 meters. Whale sharks can live for 100 to 150 years.
我们的研究首次证明，雄性鲸鲨和雌性鲸鲨的生长速度不同。米肯表示，鲸鲨是滤食性动物，这意味着它们从水中获取食物和营养。它们会游很长的距离来寻找足够的食物。已知最长的鲸鲨记录达到了约18米长。鲸鲨的寿命可达100至150年。
Meeken suggested the study's findings were important for saving whale sharks. He noted that if it takes 30 or more years for the creatures to reach sexual maturity, there are lots of threats, such as hunting and ship strikes, before they get a chance to breed. For that reason, Meeken described efforts to save the creatures as urgent.
米肯表示，这项研究的发现对于保护鲸鲨具有重要意义。他指出，如果这些生物需要30年或更长时间才能达到性成熟，那么在它们有机会繁殖之前，会面临许多威胁，如捕猎和船只撞击。因此，米肯称保护这些生物的工作迫在眉睫。
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