2009年高考英语全国卷2 - 阅读理解C

GUATEMALA CITY （Reuters） – A fish that lives in mangrove swamps across the Americas can live out of water for months at a time, similar to how animals adapted to land millions of years ago a new study shows.
危地马拉城（路透社）——一项新的研究表明，一种生活在美洲红树沼泽中的鱼类，可以在没有水的情况下存活数月，这与数百万年前动物适应的陆地的方式类似。

The Magrove Rivulus, a type of small killifish lives in small pools of water in a certain type of empty nut or even old beer cans in the mangrove swamps of Belize, the United States and Brazil. When their living place dries up they live on the land in logs, said Scott Taylor, a researcher at the Brevard Endangered Lands Program in Florida.
Mangrove Rivulus是一种小型鳉鱼，生活在伯利兹、美国和巴西红树林沼泽中的某种空坚果中，甚至是旧啤酒罐中的小水槽中。佛罗里达州布雷瓦德濒危土地项目的研究员斯科特·泰勒说，当居住地干涸后，它们就会生活在陆地圆木上。

The fish whose scientific name is Rivulus marmoratus can grow as large as three inches. They group together in logs and breathe air through their skin until they can find water again.
这种鱼的学名是Rivulus marmoratus（花斑溪鳉），可以长到三英寸长。它们在圆木中聚集在一起，通过皮肤呼吸空气，直到再次找到水为止。

The new scientific discovery came after a trip to Belize.
这项新的科学发现来自于一次伯利兹之旅。

“We kicked over a log and the fish just came crowding out ” Taylor told Reuters in neighboring Guatgemala by telephone. He said he will make his study on the fish known to the public in an American magazine early next year.
泰勒通过电话告诉邻国危地马拉的路透社记者：“我们踢翻了一根圆木，鱼就被挤出来了。”他说，他将在明年初的一份美国杂志上公布他对这种鱼的研究。

In lab tests Taylor said he found the fish can live up to 66 days out of water without eating.
泰勒说，在实验室测试中，他发现这条鱼可以在离开水的情况下不进食存活长达66天。

Some other fish can live out of water for a short period of time. The walking catfish found in Southeast Asia can stay on land for hours at time while lungfish found in Australia Africa and South America can live out of water but only in an inactive state. But no other known fish can be out of water as long as the Mangrove Rivulus and remain active according to Patricia Wright a biologist at Canada’s University of Guelph.
其他一些鱼类可以短时间内离开水存活。在东南亚发现的步行鲶鱼可以在陆地上存活数小时，而在澳大利亚、非洲和南美洲发现的肺鱼可以离开水生存，但只能处于非活性状态。不过根据加拿大圭尔夫大学的一位生物学家帕特丽夏·赖特的说法，目前没有其他已知鱼类能够像Mangrove Rivulus那样离开水存活很久并保持活性。

Further studies of the fish may tell how animals changed over time.
对这种鱼类的进一步研究可能会告诉我们动物是如何随着时间进化的。

“These animals live in conditions similar to those that existed millions of years ago when animals began making the transition from water onto land,” Wright said.
“这些动物生活的环境与数百万年前动物开始从水中向陆地过渡时的环境类似”，赖特说。