跟讀練習: Two Different Things Are Killing Sharks - 通過影片學習英語口語

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People tend to think of sharks as fearsome, powerful, untouchable predators.

They're definitely scary and powerful, but… untouchable?

Maybe not as much as you might imagine.

Even the white shark, often considered the largest predatory fish on the planet, is not immune to the unforgiving nature of, well, nature.

These iconic predators of the sea face all kinds of threats.

And in two different places, for two apparently different reasons, great whites are dying in large numbers.

And scientists aren't totally sure why.

First, let's introduce the Great White Shark, also known as the White Pointer, or just simply the White Shark.

They were named for their white undersides, despite the fact that most of the shark is actually gray.

White sharks are common in popular media.

And why wouldn't they be?

They grow to around 4 .5 meters long and roughly 1 ,800 kilograms.

And who doesn't love a massive predator?

They also make pretty compelling subjects for lots of scientific research, and they can be easier to study than other sharks.

See, studying migratory species is extremely hard.

They spend time far offshore and in deep waters that are really hard to reach.

But even though white sharks are also migratory, their patterns can be pretty predictable,

and they tend to spend a lot of their time close to beaches and in shallower waters when they're not crossing oceans.

Bad news if you're a seal.

But if you're a researcher, this makes your job way easier.

And the truth is, sharks, including the white shark, are critical to the health of our ocean ecosystems.

They help regulate the population sizes and behaviors of animals at lower trophic levels, such as sea lions and otters.

So if we want a healthy ocean, and therefore a healthy planet, we want healthy sharks.

Which is where our problem lies.

Let's start with South Africa.

White sharks are ubiquitous in South African waters, aggregating in several regions around the coast.

Or, at least, they used to be.

Over the past decade, people have seen fewer white sharks swimming in those waters, and more of them washing up on beaches.

Beached shark carcasses were often found with missing livers and perfect slashes on them, so precise and clean they almost seemed surgical.

Which probably raised more questions than it answered.

And some people were worried that swordfish had evolved into scalpel fish.

But the discovery of tooth marks on the bodies led scientists to a more feasible hypothesis — orcas.

Although we often describe white sharks as if they're the top of the food chain, that's not always the case.

Orcas are known to hunt white sharks, and they're not interested in a filet -o -shark.

They really just want the shark's liver.

Shark livers are massive, making up approximately a third of their body weight.

They're filled with lipids, and since sharks don't have gas -filled swim bladders like their bony fish cousins,

this fatty liver is what they rely on for buoyancy regulation.

Because of how fatty and nutrient -dense shark livers are, it's the perfect meal for a fast -paced, warm -blooded predator like the killer whale.

Orcas have been known to hunt white sharks in other regions, like California.

And when an orca pod rolls through, the sharks start to roll out, avoiding their predators like any sensible prey would.

However, while the new snacking habits of South African orcas sounds like a tidy answer,

it may not be the only reason the number of white sharks has dipped in the last few years.

In addition to orca gains, South African white sharks are also dealing with fishing pressure and shark deterrent efforts on local beaches.

While experts really aren't sure which factor tipped the shark scales, it all adds up to a pretty hostile environment.

Experts hope that addressing as many of these concerns as possible may bring back the iconic

South African sharks.

Not sure how they'll convince the orcas to lay off the liver, but we'll see what happens.

Our next group of endangered white sharks is found off the coast of North America.

And what's disrupting the sharks in Canada and the US is even more confusing

and less visible than it is in South Africa.

Allow me to explain.

In 2023, a dead white shark washed ashore on Prince Edward Island in Canada.

It didn't look injured and seemed otherwise pretty healthy.

But when researchers did a necropsy, which is just an animal autopsy, they found that the shark had inflammation of the brain and surrounding tissues,

otherwise known as meningoencephalitis.

Meanwhile, more seemingly healthy sharks were washing up dead, blood, many with brain swelling.

One shark was seen displaying some odd behavior, like swimming erratically and bumping into things before dying and washing onto a beach.

Surely this was another case of brain inflammation, right?

Shockingly, no. Just when we think we've figured out a pattern, good ol' Mother Nature throws a curveball.

And it's not just the Great Whites.

Dead sharks with swollen brains seemed to be on the rise in several species, like sandbar sharks and thresher sharks.

Even stranger, this is happening in the Atlantic and the Pacific, meaning whatever the problem is, it's really widespread.

So, some mysterious thing is causing sharks' brains to swell up and die, and we still don't know exactly what.

But, as it turns out, the answer may be hidden in a bunch of decades -old frozen salmon sharks.

In the early 2000s, 18 beached salmon sharks were found to have died of meningoencephalitis.

And in 2012, researchers analyzed some of them and found that a type of bacterium called

Carnobacterium malta rheumaticum was the likeliest culprit.

Which was weird, because this bacterium has been found in other fish species and in the water they swim in.

And those guys all have perfectly unswollen brains.

But for some unknown reason, this bacterium may be becoming pathogenic in some fish, including sharks.

And we have an idea of how it could be reaching their brains.

Through the endolymphatic system, which aids in hearing, balance, and orientation.

Sharks have small pores on their heads that lead to their endolymphatic ducts, which provide access to the cranium.

And we know that when these structures get invaded by pathogens in the water,

it can cause disease and even death in several shark and ray species.

So what do we know?

We know that, for a decade, sharks have been washing up on beaches.

We know that their deaths are often caused or accompanied by meningoencephalitis.

And we know that this disease is sometimes attributed to a particular bacterium.

What we don't know is probably the biggest piece of this medically mysterious marine puzzle,

which is why this is happening and how concerned we all should be about it.

Scientists are worried for some reasons and not so worried for others.

Seeing sharks wash up on shore doesn't seem like it could be positive in any way,

but it could be a sign that shark populations are recovering.

A bigger population of sharks that are living also means there's a bigger population of sharks that are dying, hence an increase in washed up carcasses.

And if this thing is contagious, more sharks also means more of a chance for diseases to be passed around,

simply because the population is bigger and might be more densely packed into an area.

So while we don't love a disease, if it means that shark populations are rebounding, it's not all bad.

The concern comes in though

when we start to think about a bacteria that's been living on other fish species without a problem, suddenly becoming a deadly pathogen in sharks.

If this truly is what is happening, we need to understand why.

Is it climate change?

Pollution?

Or a secret third option?

Knowing what causes the bacterium to go rogue can help us figure out how to stop it from spreading

and prevent it from happening with other bacteria in the future.

These two shark -killing mysteries have two different causes, and therefore two different solutions, at least.

But that also means they're teaching us two different lessons about our planet, our oceans, and all the big and not so big creatures in them,

100

from the sharks and the orcas down to tiny bacteria.

101

And maybe the biggest one is that the driving force behind ecosystem shifts is never really black and white.

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本課的詞彙與口語要點

這節口語課以影片“Two Different Things Are Killing Sharks”為素材。影片中反覆出現的詞有：shark, orca, brain, liver, fish。這段影片共有 101 個句子、1404 個單詞可供跟讀。講話部分時長為 7:32。說話人語速較快，每分鐘約 186 個詞，會出現較多連讀和弱讀。只有 77% 的單詞屬於英語最常用的 3,000 詞，詞彙難度較高。

影片中的重點詞彙

影片中 15 個值得學習的單詞，附發音和釋義：

單詞	發音	釋義
wash 動詞	/wɑʃ/	洗, 洗滌 /洗滌
predator 名詞	/ˈpɹɛd.ə.tɚ/	掠食者, 天敵 /天敵
swim 動詞	/swɪm/	游泳
scientist 名詞	/ˈsaɪəntəst/	科學家 /科學家
liver 名詞	/ˈlɪvɚ/	肝, 肝臟 /肝臟
researcher 名詞	/ˈɹiˌsɝ.t͡ʃɚ/	研究員 /研究員, 研究者
swell 動詞	/swɛl/	膨脹 /膨脹, 擴大 /擴大
mysterious 形容詞	/mɪˈstɪɹi.əs/	神秘, 來源不明的 /來源不明的
iconic 形容詞	/aɪˈkɑnɪk/	代表性的
ecosystem 名詞	/ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/	生態系 /生態系, 生態系統 /生態系統
inflammation 名詞	/ɪnfləˈmeɪ̯ʃən/	炎症, 發炎 /發炎
meal 名詞	/ˈmiːl/	餐, 飯 /飯
meanwhile 副詞	/ˈmiːnwaɪl/	同時 /同時
killer 名詞	/ˈkɪlɚ/	殺手 /殺手, 兇手 /兇手
lesson 名詞	/ˈlɛs.ən/	課業 /課業, -課 /-課

影片中出現的短語動詞

單詞	發音	釋義
figure out 動詞		弄清楚
wash up 動詞		洗臉 /洗臉, 洗手
make up 動詞	/ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/	組成 /組成
turn out 動詞		原來 /原來

影片中的語法

說話人最常用的結構，並附上影片中的原話：

結構	影片中的用法
現在完成進行時 have/has been + -ing — 以前開始、現在仍在繼續的動作	have been washing · that's been living
被動語態 be + 過去分詞 — 強調發生了什麼，而不是誰做的	were named · were often found · are known
現在完成時 have/has + 過去分詞 — 過去發生但與現在仍有關聯的事	have seen · have been known · has dipped

需要注意的發音

說話人用了 21 次縮略和弱讀形式，例如 they're, don't, aren't。請按聽到的簡短形式來說。

“th” 音: tooth /tuθ/, hypothesis /haɪˈpɒθɪsɪs/, pathogen /ˈpæθəd͡ʒn̩/, pathogenic /pæθəˈd͡ʒɛnɪk/, thresher /ˈθɹɛʃə(ɹ)/
“sh” 和 “zh” 音: wash /wɑʃ/, inflammation /ɪnfləˈmeɪ̯ʃən/, regulation /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/, shore /ʃɔɹ/, tissue /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/
長單詞——注意重音位置: mysterious /mɪˈstɪɹi.əs/, ecosystem /ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/, inflammation /ɪnfləˈmeɪ̯ʃən/, regulation /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/, orientation /ˌɔː.ɹi.ənˈteɪ.ʃən/

中文母語者容易讀錯的音：

/v/ — 不要讀成 /w/，上齒輕觸下唇: liver /ˈlɪvɚ/, discovery /dɪˈskʌv.ɹi/, visible /ˈvɪzɪb(ə)l/, recover /ɹɪˈkʌvɚ/, convince /kənˈvɪns/
詞尾子音 — 要讀清楚，後面不要加母音: wash /wɑʃ/, scientist /ˈsaɪəntəst/, mysterious /mɪˈstɪɹi.əs/, iconic /aɪˈkɑnɪk/, hence /ˈhɛns/
/r/ 和 /l/ 的區別: regulation /ˌɹɛɡjʊˈleɪʃən/, roughly /ˈɹʌf.li/, rely /ɹɪˈlaɪ/, regulate /ˈɹɛɡ.jə.leɪt/, predictable /pɹəˈdɪktəbləl/

如何用這段影片練習

先完整聽一遍影片，不要開口，記下不認識的單詞。
先用 0.75 倍速逐句跟讀，熟練之後再回到正常速度。
錄下自己的聲音並與原聲對比，特別注意 wash, predator, swim 這類單詞。

什麼是跟讀法？

跟讀法 (Shadowing) 是一種有科學依據的語言學習技巧，最初開發用於專業口譯員的培訓，並由多語言者Alexander Arguelles博士普及。這個方法簡單而強大：您在聽英語母語原聲的同時立即大聲重複——就像是一個延遲1-2秒緊跟說話者的影子。與被動聽力或語法練習不同，跟讀法強迫您的大腦和口腔肌肉同時處理並模模擬實的講話模式。研究表明它能顯著提高發音準確性，語調，節奏，連讀，聽力理解和口語流利度——使其成為雅思口語備考和真實英語交流最有效的方法之一。

影子跟讀法: 閱讀完整分步指南 →

跟讀練習: Two Different Things Are Killing Sharks - 通過影片學習英語口語

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