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Ocean Oddities: The Horseshoe Crab 海洋搜奇：鲎

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Looking like something out of an alien movie, the horseshoe crab inhabited the Earth long before dinosaurs. In fact, scientists have called it a “living fossil” as, for 400 million years, it has remained ___1___ unchanged.

看起来像是来自外星人电影的鲎（音同：「后」），出现在地球上的时间，比起恐龙要来得早很多。事实上，科学家称牠为「活化石」，因为四亿年来，牠几乎不曾改变。

There are three species of horseshoe crab found in Asia. ___2___ its name, it’s actually not a crab, but a relative of scorpions and spiders. It’s certainly one of the weirder members of that family, with ten eyes, the ability to regrow lost limbs, and blood that ___3___ blue when it bleeds!

亚洲总共有三个品种的鲎。尽管英文名字中有crab（螃蟹）这个字，事实上牠并不是一种螃蟹，而是蝎子及蜘蛛的亲戚。牠当然是该科动物中最古怪的成员之一，有十只眼睛，断肢后有再生能力，血流出来时还会变成蓝色的！

It’s this blood that has put this ocean ___4___ under the scientific spotlight. In the 1960s, scientists noticed that when bacteria were injected into the crab’s blood stream, clotting occurred. Further research discovered that the clotting was a reaction to toxins in the bacteria, and was triggered by the crab’s blood. This proved revolutionary for pharmaceutical companies, who now use its blood to test for harmful bacteria in products like vaccines, drugs, and medical equipment.

就是这种血液让这个海洋怪胎备受科学界瞩目。在1960年代，科学家注意到把细菌注射到鲎的血液里时，便会发生栓塞。进一步的研究发现这种栓塞是对细菌中毒素的反应，而且是由鲎的血液所引起的。这对制药公司来说是项革命性的发现，现在他们利用鲎的血液来测试疫苗、药物与医疗设备等产品中是否带有有害的细菌。

Despite its age-old existence, ___5___, a combination of factors is causing the crab’s numbers to drop. These include destruction of their habitats, and fishermen using them as bait. ___6___ the threat, Taiwan has taken steps to conserve this precious creature, such as breeding and releasing programs, and establishing protected areas. Let’s hope this will ensure its survival for ___7___ few million years!

虽然牠的存在由来已久，可是几个因素综合影响之下，造成鲎的数目减少。这些因素包括栖息地遭破坏，以及渔民使用牠们当鱼饵。有鉴于这些威胁，台湾已经采取行动来保护这种珍贵的生物，例如养殖与放养计划以及成立保护区。但愿此举可以确使牠再存活个几百万年！

−by Claire Tyrrel

Vocabulary

单词发音

inhabit [ɪnˋhæbɪt] v. 居住于；栖息于

fossil [ˋfɑs!] n. 化石

spotlight [ˋspɑt͵laɪt] n. 公众注意的中心

inject [ɪnˋdʒɛkt] v. 注射入[（+into）]

destruction [dɪˋstrʌkʃən] n. 破坏；毁灭

More Information

单词发音

horseshoe [ˋhɔrs͵ʃu] crab 鲎

scorpion [ˋskɔrpɪən] n. 蝎子

weird [wɪrd] adj.【口】奇特的; 非常奇怪的

clot [klɑt] v. 使凝结成块

toxin [ˋtɑksɪn] n.【生化】毒素，毒质

revolutionary [͵rɛvəˋluʃən͵ɛrɪ] adj. 大变革的；完全创新的

pharmaceutical [͵fɑrməˋsjutɪk!] adj. 制药的

vaccine [ˋvæksin] adj. 疫苗的

habitat [ˋhæbə͵tæt] n.（动物的）栖息地

bait [bet] n. 诱饵

conserve [kənˋsɝv] v. 保存；保护

breeding [ˋbridɪŋ] n. 生殖；繁殖

oddity [ˋɑdətɪ] n. 怪人; 怪事﹐奇特的东西

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Answer