Ocean Commotion 1

Shay Maunz

笪景行编译

Sound pollution caused by humans is making oceans noisier than ever and harming seaanimals.

人类造成的噪音污染使海洋变得比以往任何时候都嘈杂，并危害到海洋动物。

Researchers looked at thousands of studies on ocean sound and its effects on wildlife. Theyfound that noise pollution in oceans has increased over the vears. And it has had a negative 2influenCe on animal behavior.

研究人员研究了数千项关于海洋声音及其对野生动物影响的研究。他们发现海洋中的噪音污染多年来有所增加，并对动物行为产生了负面影响。

Sea animals depend on the ocean's natural sounds to find their way around andcommumcate with one another. “Sounds travel very far underwater，”a researcher says.¨Forfish， sound is probably a better way to sense their environment than light.”But noise fromactivities like shipping and drilling drown 3 out natural sounds. As animals flee noisy areas，their habitats4 shrink5.

海洋動物依靠海洋的自然声音来找到它们的路并相互交流。“声音在水下可以传得非常远。”一位研究人员说，“对鱼来说，声音可能是比光线更好的感知环境的方式。”但是，航运和钻井等活动发出的噪音淹没了自然的声音。当动物逃离嘈杂的区域时，它们的栖息地就缩小了。

There are ways to solve this problem. Wind-powered ships and quieter propellers 6 wouldlower the volume 7. And governments could pass laws on ocean noise. We have noise standardsfor cars and trucks. Why should we not have them for ships？

有一些方法可以解决这个问题。风力驱动的船舶和更安静的螺旋桨会降低音量。政府可以制定海洋噪音相关的法律。我们有汽车和卡车的噪音标准，为什么不对船只也制定噪音标准呢？

（英语原文选自：timeforkids.com）

[Notes]

1.commotion [k??m????n] n.骚动;暴乱 2.negative [?neɡ?t?v] adj.负的;消极的

3.drown [dra?n] v.淹没

4.hahitat [?h?b??t?t] n.栖息地

5.shrink [?r??k] v.缩小，收缩

6.propeller[pr??pel?（r）] n.螺旋桨

7.volume [?v?lju?m] 力，音量