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5 . Seahorses are beautiful and unusual fish that have captured the imagination of writers and artists for hundreds of years, and they feature in the ancient mythology (神话) and legends (传说) of many countries. Seahorses seem so magical that, to this very day, many people still believe they only exist in children’s stories. But the fact is that these delicate and shy little creatures are very real!
Scientists believe seahorses evolved at least 40 million years ago, and have survived from ancient times with only very small changes in their body structure and function. Seahorses have a special appearance. They have a head like a horse, a pouch (育儿袋) like a kangaroo, and a long, curved tail like a monkey. Because of their confusing structure, for many years, people didn’t know whether they were fish, insects or shellfish! Today, scientists know without a doubt that seahorses are fish.
Seahorses live mostly in shallow, warm waters. They are not strong swimmers, using only a back fin (鳍) and a pair of tiny fins behind their eyes to push them through the water. Seahorses spend a lot of time attaching to seaweed or sea grass. They are able to hang on to sea grass and seaweed by wrapping their tails around the stems, which helps them to avoid being swept away by strong currents. While they hang from sea grass, their long, tube-like mouth, which has no teeth, acts like a vacuum (吸管) for food. Strangely, seahorses have no stomach so they can’t store their food. This means they have to eat fairly continuously throughout the day.
Another unique characteristic of seahorses is that they (along with their cousins, the pipefish) are the only creature in the animal kingdom where the male, not the female, becomes pregnant and gives birth to babies! The female produces eggs and places them in the pouch inside the male, where they are fertilized. The male gives birth to between 5 and 200 young. Amazingly, just a few hours after the male gives birth, the female will once again place eggs in the male’s pouch.
Sadly, seahorses are in danger all over the world. Their habitats are being destroyed by human activities. People catch seahorses for pets and for souvenirs. The most endangered seahorse in the world is the Knysna seahorse, which is only found in South Africa. The reason it is in grave danger is that it has an exceptionally limited distribution range—it is only found in three estuaries (河口) in the whole of South Africa. Unless these estuaries are conserved, South Africa will lose its only seahorse species for ever.
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Seahorses are fish with a peculiar appearance. They have a horse head, a pouch, a long and curved tail. They live mostly in |
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2. She told the police officer, “I must stress that everything I’ve told you is true.” em
3. After reading it thoroughly, I found her papar both informative and entertaining. amu
4. There is no room for so many things in our new house, so I think those old chairs should be thrown away. g
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7 . An expert on the effects of music on exercise, Dr Costas Karageorghis, claims that listening to music while running can boost performance by up to 15%. To put this theory to the test, I took part in a special Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon, which had groups of musicians playing at various points along the route.
As I lined up at the start with almost 4,000 other runners, a singer sang an inspiring song for us. It may explain why I got off to a good start. I only came eighth in the end, though, even though I’d just spent six months training hard.
“Elite athletes,” says Karageorghis, “tend to focus inwardly when they are running.” According to him, most other runners look for stimulus and distractions from what is going on around them. “Judging by your time,” he says, “you are one of the former.” It is true. Apart from the song at the start, when I was standing still, I can barely remember the music played along the course. The first act I passed, a folk group, made me smile, and at one point I found myself running in time to the beat of some hard rock.
Adam Bull usually runs marathons with no music and little crowd support. “
The only person I found who was less than happy with the music was Lois Lloyd. “There wasn’t enough of it, and I found it wasn’t loud enough, so I ran with an MP3 player,” she said. “
One runner told me there was a direct correlation between the quality of the music on the course and how much it helped. But quality, of course, is subjective. I remember feeling annoyed as I ran past one band playing Keeping On Running.
| A．I need my music all the time. |
| B．I think they knew why I found the music here so distracting. |
| C．I enjoyed that for a few moments, but both of them came and went in a flash. |
| D．Along with some spring sunshine, it certainly achieved that. |
| E．Someone else, though, may have found it uplifting. |
| F．I was, in fact, taking my running pretty seriously at that time. |
| G．The music here has been great for my performance. |
