跟读练习: Why Don’t We Eat Shark Meat? - 通过视频学习英语口语
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What if I told you, the shark you're afraid to see in the ocean could actually end up on your dinner plate?
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Yes.
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Shark meat is edible.
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People have eaten sharks for centuries.
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So then why don't we see shark steaks, shark burgers, or shark fillets in every supermarket?
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Because there's something very strange about a shark, and it starts inside its body.
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When a shark is alive, its body contains a large amount of a chemical called urea.
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For the shark, that's completely normal.
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But when the shark dies, everything begins to change, bacteria start breaking down that urea, and one of the results can be ammonia.
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And you already know what ammonia smells like.
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A powerful, unpleasant smell.
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So imagine cooking what looks like a perfectly normal piece of fish.
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And suddenly your entire kitchen smells like chemicals.
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But that's not even the biggest problem.
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Some sharks can also accumulate high levels of mercury because they spend years eating other animals.
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And there's one more thing that makes sharks completely different from ordinary fish.
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They can take years to grow and years to reproduce.
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So if humans catch too many of them, their populations can take a very long time to recover.
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Which raises an even bigger question.
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If sharks can be eaten, why do humans eat almost everything in the ocean, but rarely choose the animal at the very top?
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The answer is much stranger than you think.
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Shark meat isn't automatically poisonous.
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In fact, people in different parts of the world have been eating certain shark species for a very long time.
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But shark meat has a unique problem.
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It needs to be handled and processed carefully.
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If it isn't, the chemistry inside the meat can create that strong ammonia -like smell we talked about.
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This is because sharks have evolved a very different way of controlling the balance of water and salt in their bodies.
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Urea helps them maintain that balance.
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While the shark is alive, everything works normally but after death, bacteria begin breaking down compounds in the tissues,
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and that can produce ammonia.
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That's why freshly caught shark meat can become unpleasant very quickly if it isn't processed properly.
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Traditional preparation methods can help.
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Depending on the species and culture, shark meat may be soaked,
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salted, dried, fermented, smoked, or otherwise processed before it is eaten.
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So the shark itself isn't necessarily poisonous.
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The problem is what happens to the meat after the animal dies.
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But then we reach another concern, mercury.
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Sharks are predators, and many of them spend years eating other animals.
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A small fish eats smaller organisms, a larger fish eats that fish, then a predator like a shark eats many of those larger fish.
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Over time, certain contaminants can become concentrated higher up the food chain.
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This is called bioaccumulation, and mercury is one of the biggest concerns.
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Large, long -lived shark species can contain relatively high levels of mercury.
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That means eating certain sharks frequently may not be a good idea.
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So when someone says shark meat is dangerous, that's not the whole story.
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The real question is, which species?
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How much are you eating?
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How often are you eating it?
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And where did the shark come from?
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Different sharks can have very different levels of risk.
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But there's another reason sharks aren't an ideal everyday food.
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And this one has nothing to do with taste.
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It has to do with their biology.
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Many shark species grow slowly.
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Some take many years to reach sexual maturity.
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And some produce relatively few young compared with many other fish.
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Think about what happens when humans heavily fish two different species.
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One species produces thousands of young and grows quickly.
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The other grows slowly and produces only a small number of young.
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Which population is going to recover faster?
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Usually the first one.
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That's the problem with many sharks.
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They simply cannot replace their numbers quickly.
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So when too many sharks are removed from the ocean, their populations can take years or even decades to recover.
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And this is one of the biggest reasons shark fishing has become such a serious conservation issue.
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But if shark meat has all these problems, why do people eat it at all?
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The answer is simple.
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Tradition.
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In some parts of the world, shark has been eaten for generations.
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Different species can taste very different, and different preparation methods can completely change the final result.
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Shark meat can be dried, salted, smoked, fermented, or cooked fresh, so it would be completely wrong to say that nobody eats shark.
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People absolutely do.
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The more interesting question is why shark never became a normal, everyday seafood choice around the world.
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And when you put all the pieces together, the answer starts to make sense.
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For a seafood to become popular worldwide, it usually needs to be tasty, affordable, easy to prepare, reasonably safe, and available in large quantities.
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has problems with several of these.
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Its meat can develop a strong ammonia -like smell if it isn't processed correctly.
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Some species can contain high levels of mercury.
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Many sharks grow slowly and reproduce slowly, and heavy fishing can put enormous pressure on their populations.
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Compared with fish like salmon, cod, sardines, or tuna, there are simply easier choices.
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But there's one final reason sharks matter.
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They aren't just another fish.
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They are predators.
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And in many marine ecosystems, they play an important role near the top of the food chain.
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They help control populations of other animals.
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They influence the behavior of prey.
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And their presence can affect the balance of an entire ecosystem.
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So removing too many sharks isn't just about losing one species.
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It can change the way an entire marine ecosystem works, which brings us back to the original question.
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Why don't we eat shark meat?
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The answer isn't that sharks are universally poisonous.
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They aren't.
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It isn't that shark meat is impossible to cook.
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It isn't.
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And it certainly isn't because humans have never eaten sharks.
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They have.
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The real answer is a combination of chemistry, taste, health concerns, biology, and sustainability.
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Shark meat can be eaten, but some species can contain high levels of mercury.
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The meat can develop a strong ammonia -like smell if it's handled incorrectly.
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And many shark populations cannot recover quickly from heavy fishing.
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So the next time you see a shark swimming through the ocean, remember this strange fact.
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That terrifying predator could technically become dinner.
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But perhaps there's a better question to ask.
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Not, can we eat sharks?
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But, do we really need to?
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Because in an ocean full of fish, maybe we don't need to turn one of its most important predators into food.
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本课的词汇与口语要点
这节 B2 级别的口语课以视频“Why Don’t We Eat Shark Meat?”为素材。 视频中反复出现的词有：shark, meat, species, fish, eat。 这段视频共有 105 个句子、1118 个单词可供跟读。 讲话部分时长为 6:45。 说话人语速自然，每分钟约 166 个词，接近日常对话。 只有 80% 的单词属于英语最常用的 3,000 词，词汇难度较高。
视频中的重点词汇
视频中最难的 15 个单词，附发音和释义：
| 单词 | 发音 | 释义 |
|---|---|---|
| ammonia 名词 | /əˈmoʊn.jə/ | 氨, 氨氣 /氨气 |
| mercury 名词 | /ˈmɜɹkjəɹi/ | 汞, 水銀 /水银 |
| predator 名词 | /ˈpɹɛd.ə.tɚ/ | 掠食者, 天敵 /天敌 |
| urea 名词 | /jʊˈɹiːə/ | 尿素 |
| poisonous 形容词 | /ˈpɔɪzənəs/ | 有毒的 |
| ecosystem 名词 | /ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/ | 生態系 /生态系, 生態系統 /生态系统 |
| bacterium 名词 | /bækˈtɪəɹ.ɪəm/ | 細菌 /细菌 |
| ferment 动词 | /fɚˈmɛnt/ | 發酵 /发酵 |
| reproduce 动词 | /ˌɹi.pɹəˈdus/ | 複製 /复制 |
| seafood 名词 | /ˈsiːfuːd/ | 海鮮 /海鲜, 海產食品 /海产食品 |
| unpleasant 形容词 | /ʌnˈplɛzn̩t/ | 令人不快的 |
| accumulate 动词 | /əˈkjuːmjʊˌleɪt/ | 積累 /积累 |
| sardine 名词 | /sɑɹˈdin/ | 沙丁, 沙丁魚 /沙丁鱼 |
| incorrectly 副词 | /ˌɪnkəˈɹɛk(t).li/ | 不正確 /不正确 |
| organism 名词 | /ˈɔɹ.ɡəˌnɪz.əm/ | 生物, 有機體 /有机体 |
视频中出现的短语动词
| 单词 | 释义 |
|---|---|
| break down 动词 | 壞了 /坏了, 出故障 |
值得反复跟读的句子
视频中简短而完整的句子，可以直接用在日常对话里：
- How much are you eating?
- How often are you eating it?
- Why don't we eat shark meat?
- Not, can we eat sharks?
视频中的语法
说话人最常用的结构，并附上视频中的原话：
| 结构 | 视频中的用法 |
|---|---|
| 被动语态 be + 过去分词 — 强调发生了什么，而不是谁做的 | can be eaten · be handled · isn't processed |
| 现在完成时 have/has + 过去分词 — 过去发生但与现在仍有关联的事 | have eaten · have evolved · has become |
需要注意的发音
说话人用了 17 次缩略和弱读形式，例如 isn't, aren't, don't。请按听到的简短形式来说。
- 长单词——注意重音位置: ecosystem /ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/, accumulate /əˈkjuːmjʊˌleɪt/, contaminant /kənˈtamɪnənt/, incorrectly /ˌɪnkəˈɹɛk(t).li/, organism /ˈɔɹ.ɡəˌnɪz.əm/
中文母语者容易读错的音：
- /v/ — 不要读成 /w/，上齿轻触下唇: universally /ˌjunɪˈvɝsəli/, evolve /ɪˈvɑlv/
- 词尾辅音 — 要读清楚，后面不要加元音: poisonous /ˈpɔɪzənəs/, ferment /fɚˈmɛnt/, reproduce /ˌɹi.pɹəˈdus/, seafood /ˈsiːfuːd/, unpleasant /ʌnˈplɛzn̩t/
- /r/ 和 /l/ 的区别: incorrectly /ˌɪnkəˈɹɛk(t).li/, freshly /ˈfɹɛʃli/, reasonably /ˈɹiː.zən.ə.bli/
如何用这段视频练习
- 先完整听一遍视频，不要开口，记下不认识的单词。
- 先用 0.75 倍速逐句跟读，熟练之后再回到正常速度。
- 录下自己的声音并与原声对比，特别注意 ammonia, mercury, predator 这类单词。
什么是跟读法？
跟读法 (Shadowing) 是一种有科学依据的语言学习技巧，最初开发用于专业口译员的培训，并由多语言者Alexander Arguelles博士普及。这个方法简单而强大：您在听英语母语原声的同时立即大声重复——就像是一个延迟1-2秒紧跟说话者的影子。与被动听力或语法练习不同，跟读法强迫您的大脑和口腔肌肉同时处理并模仿真实的讲话模式。研究表明它能显着提高发音准确性，语调，节奏，连读，听力理解和口语流利度——使其成为雅思口语备考和真实英语交流最有效的方法之一。