英语四级听力 047 Sea Creatures Affected by Noise Pollution

047 Sea Creatures Affected by Noise Pollution Some scientists say that animals in the ocean are increasingly threatened by noise pollution caused by human beings. The noise that affects see creatures comes from a number of human activities. It is caused mainly by industrial underwater explosions, ocean drilling, and ship engines. Such noises are added to natural sounds, these sounds include the breaking of ice fields, underwater earthquakes, and sounds made by animals themselves.
Decibels measured in water are different from those on land. A noise of 120 decibels on land causes pain to human ears. In water, a decibel level of 195 would have the same effect.
Some scientists have proposed setting a noise limit of 120 decibels in oceans. They have observed that noises at that level can frightened and confuse whales.
A team of American and Canadian scientists discovered that loud noises can seriously injure some animals. The research team found that powerful underwater explosions were causing whales in the area to lose their hearing.
This seriously affected the whales’ ability to exchange information and find their way. Some of the whales even died.
The explosions had caused their ears to bleed and become infected.
Many researchers whose work depends on ocean sounds object to a limit of 120 decibels. They say such a limit would mean an end to important industrial and scientific research.
Scientists do not know how much and what kinds of noises are harmful to ocean animals. However, many scientists suspect that noise is a greater danger than they believed. They want to prevent noises from harming creatures in the ocean.
Translation：
一些科学家认为，海洋生物正日益受到人类造成的噪音污染的威胁。

影响海洋生物的噪音来自人类的一些活动。

重要是由工业水下爆炸，海洋钻探，以及船舶发动机造成的。

这些噪音是在自然界声音的基础上增加的。

其中包括冰原破裂的声音，水下地震的声音以及动物自身发出的声音。

水下测量的分贝值不同于地面上测量的分贝值。

陆地上120分贝的噪音会使人类的耳朵感到疼痛。

而在水下195分贝的噪音才会造成同样的效果。

有的科学家建议制定一个120分贝的海洋噪音限制。

他们观察
到，这种程度的噪音可以使鲸鱼收到惊吓并扰乱其对周围环境的判断。

一组美国和加拿大的科学家发现大的噪音会严重伤害某些动物。

研究小组发现，强烈的水下爆炸致使该地区的鲸鱼失去了听力。

这严重影响了鲸鱼的交流信息和认路的能力。

有的鲸鱼甚至因为爆炸造成了耳朵流血，并引发干扰而死去。

由于许多研究者的工作依赖于海洋的声音，所以他们发对120分贝的限制。

他们认为这种限制将意味着要结束重要的工业和科学研究工作。

科学家不知道多大声响以及何种噪音会对海洋生物造成危害。

然而，许多科学家怀疑噪音带来的危险绝对超出他们的想象。

他们想阻止噪声危害海洋动物。

Words:
confuse[kən'fju:z] 搞乱，是糊涂infected[ɪnˈfektɪd]被感染的decibel[ˈdesɪbel] 分贝observe[əb'zɜ:v]观测，观察
drill [dril] 钻井propose [prəˈpəuz] 提出explossion[ɪkˈspləʊʒn] 爆炸，爆发 suspect[sə'spekt] 猜想，怀疑frighten['fraɪtn]使惊吓underwater[ˌʌndəˈwɔ:tə(r)]水下的increasingly [ɪnˈkriːsɪŋli] 日益，愈加
Phrases:
add to 增加noise pollution 噪音污染an end to 结束sea creature 海洋生物exchange information 交流信息to a limit of… ….极限ice field 冰原。