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Lt. Flipper 有鳍的海军上尉【注】

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

Since WW II, underwater mines have sunk and damaged more U.S. ships than enemy fire. Detecting these mines is no easy task for humans, but for dolphins, it’s as easy as pie.

自从第二次世界大战以来，水雷击沉或重创的美军船舰已经比敌人所发炮火击沉的还多了。人类要侦测这些水雷是件难事，对海豚来说这是小事一桩。

Using their natural sonar, dolphins can locate objects hundreds of meters away which a human might not see even a meter away. For this reason, the U.S. Navy has trained dolphins to locate mines. Accompanies by a human handler in a boat, dolphins are shown where to search for mines by means of hand signals. Dolphins then communicate their findings by pressing a rubber disk on either side of the boat: one side to indicate the presence of a mine, the other side to signify the opposite.

用天然的声纳系统，海豚能侦查到几百公尺以外的东西，而人类可能近在一公尺处还没办法看见。正因为如此，美国海军训练海豚来侦测水雷。海豚出动时，操作员在船上陪同出勤，用手势指示海豚搜寻那个区域。海豚要传达搜寻结果，会挤压船身两旁的橡皮圆盘，一边表示有水雷，另一边则是相反。

Though dolphins have been used by the U.S. for military purposes since 1960, the war in Iraq this year marked their first wartime deployment as mine searchers. In earlier conflicts, dolphins were used to safeguard navy ships by detecting approaching divers and underwater vehicles.

虽然从1960年起，海豚就已经被美国用在军事用途上，但在今年对伊拉克的战役中才真正首次被部署为水雷搜索员。海豚在早期的战役中被用来替海军船只护航，侦测企图接近的潜水人员和水下载具。

The navy has consistently denied that these dolphins are in danger, but fear that dolphins may become war casualties is growing amongst animal-rights activists. However, given their potential to save thousands of lives, the navy is unlikely to eliminate its marine sentries any time soon.

海军方面坚称海豚没有任何危险，但是愈来愈多争取动物权益的行动人士担心，海豚会成军事伤亡的一环。不过因为牠们的天生潜能可以救数千条性命，短期内海军不可能放弃这样的海底岗哨。

【注】：Lt.是Lieutenant的缩写，海军上尉军阶，军阶一般都用缩写。

Vocabulary

单词发音

Lt. n. 海军上尉= lieutenant [luˋtɛnənt]

mine [maɪn] n. 地雷，水雷

as easy as pie 【口】极容易 very easy

sonar [ˋsonɑr] n. 声纳

locate [loˋket] / [ˋloket] v. 确定……的地点（或范围）

accompany [əˋkʌmpənɪ] v. 陪同，伴随

handler [ˋhændlɚ] n. 操作者; 驯兽师〔尤指驯狗师〕

signal [ˋsɪgn!] n. 信号；暗号

signify [ˋsɪgnə͵faɪ] v. 表示……的意思；有……的意思

deployment [dɪˋplɔɪmənt] n. 部署；调度

safeguard [ˋsef͵gɑrd] v. 保护；防卫

consistently [kənˋsɪstəntlɪ] adv. 一贯地；固守地

casualty [ˋkæʒjʊəltɪ] n.（事故、灾难等的）死者；伤者

given [ˋgɪvən] prep. 考虑到

sentry [ˋsɛntrɪ] n.【军】步哨；哨兵

Sentence of the Day

They're testing the waters.

他们正在评估情势。

test the water  试探，摸底

课文讲解

Kendal, an animal lover, is considering a petition protesting the use of dolphins as mine searchers. She is discussing it with her friend, Jason:  爱护动物人士康妲儿考虑发起一项请愿，抗议军方把海豚用做水雷搜索员。她和朋友贾森正在讨论。

K: Dolphins are highly intelligent creatures. We ought to protect the navy’s exploitation of them.

海豚是高智商动物，我们应该抗议海军剥削牠们。

J: Why are you so up in arms? These dolphins are fulfilling an important function – like police dogs sniffing out drugs. They’re not in danger.

妳干嘛这么义愤填膺？那些海豚是在完成一项重要的使命－就像警犭负责嗅出毒品一样。牠们并没有危险。

K: What if a dolphin sets off a mine accidentally?

万一无意中海豚误触了水雷呢？

J: That’s impossible. Mines are magnetic; they only explode if a ship goes by.

那不可能。水雷要靠磁性触动；只有船只行过它才会爆炸。

K: OK, but they could be assassinated. Surely an enemy country could regard dolphins as weapons and try to poison them in order to protect itself.

就算如此，海豚可能会被暗中干掉。敌方当然可能视牠们为武器之一，想办法毒死牠们以求自保。

J: That’s far-fetched. The military’s used dolphins since 1960, and no real harm has ever come to them.

妳想得太离谱了。军方从1960年起就用海豚，至今都没发生过什么真正的危险。

K: Not true. Official documents released in 1990 revealed that 13 dolphins had died in navy hands. Further, it’s naïve to assume no physical punishment is used in their training. Dolphins can’t consent to their missions; they don’t know they’re in harm’s way.

你说的不对。1990年有官方文件显示13只海豚死在海军手里。而且认为训练过程完全没有体罚是太天真的想法。海豚没办法对牠们自己的任务行使同意权；也不知道自己置身于危险当中。

J: All right, but the fact is dolphins may be saving thousands of human lives. I can’t criticize that.

好，但是事实摆在眼前，海豚能救数千条人命，所以我不愿苛责。

K: In my opinion, it shouldn’t be a dolphin’s responsibility to save human’s life.

我认为救人类性命，并不是海豚的责任。

－by Wade Barnett

Vocabulary

单词发音

petition [pəˋtɪʃən] n. 请愿；请愿书

exploitation [͵ɛksplɔɪˋteʃən] n. 剥削

be up in arms 强烈反对  to be very angry

sniff [snɪf] v. 嗅，闻

set off 使..爆炸  to cause to explode

assassinate [əˋsæsɪn͵et] v. 暗杀

far-fetched [ˋfɑrˋfɛtʃt] adj. 牵强的；未必会的

naïve [nɑˋiv] adj. 天真的；幼稚的

assume [əˋsjum] v. 以为；假定为；（想当然地）认为

consent [kənˋsɛnt] v. 同意，赞成，答应[（+to）][+to-v]

Sentence of the Day

They're banging their heads together.

他们正在脑力激荡，交换意见。

bang  (or knock) people's heads together: Reprimand people severely, especially in an attempt to stop them arguing.