节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-07-11
难易度:Low
关键字:rain forest, colony, generation, shallow, coral reef, ecosystem
Hi, friends.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
Thanks for joining us today.
Well, put on your sunscreen and get your waterproof camera ready because we're
heading to an amazing underwater world of animal and plant life called a coral
reef.
Coral reefs exist all over the world.
And while they flourish best in shallow, warm tropical waters near the equator
like in Australia,
they can still be found in deeper, colder waters like in Scotland and Norway.
OK. Why don't we open our magazines to page 26 and read along with us: What is a
coral reef?
Our Coral Reefs.
An amazing world of animal and plant life hides just under the water's surface.
What is a coral reef?
They are called the "rain forests of the sea" - beautiful underwater worlds that
from entire ecosystems.
Coral reefs only cover 1 percent of the ocean floor.
But they support 25 percent of ocean life!
Coral itself is actually a small living animal.
These animals live together in colonies.
Only the outside layer of the coral is alive, though.
Hello, everyone.
Thank you for joining us in the studio.
My name is Ryan.
And my name is Kaylah.
And today we are talking about OCEANS.
Now we're specifically talking about a very special part of the ocean that we
need to work on protecting.
That's right.
We're talking about coral reefs.
Now first things first, Kaylah, let's talk about what coral reefs actually are.
Well, let's talk about "coral" first before we talk about the whole... the whole
phrase.
Now the word "coral" is a substance kind of like rock that is formed in the sea
by groups of very small animals that grow together.
So they're very hard.
Coral is not a soft... very soft substance.
It's hard like a rock.
But it is, in fact, an animal, and is living.
So it needs to have light and nutrition and food.
So they need... they do need to be protected.
Now we know what coral is.
What is a coral reef?
All right.
Well, like you said, coral is an animal.
And as it grows, it can get very hard and rock-like, similar to a rock.
And so as it gets bigger and bigger and bigger, all of that rock-like substance
that's left over can become what we call a reef.
It looks like a huge structure of stone.
That's right.
And a "reef" would then be underwater because these are underwater animals.
We know because we're studying the ocean.
So a coral reef is all of these animals that are living together and are
connected and create beautiful patterns and colors underneath the water.
That's right. And this is an amazing world of animal and plant life.
And it hides just under the water's surface.
That's right.
So the water's surface is the top of the water.
So "just under" means go just a little way's down, not very far, and you will
find the coral reef.
Yeah. Most coral, it's not very deep in the ocean.
It's just right below the surface.
OK.
We talked a little bit about what a coral reef is.
But as we start our article, we see that's our first question:
What is a coral reef?
OK. Let's learn more about these things.
They are called the "rain forests of the sea." And they're beautiful underwater
worlds that form entire ecosystems.
Well, a "rain forest" is a forest in the very tropical areas of the world that
gets a lot of rain.
And rain forests are famous, are very well-known for having millions and
millions of animals and creatures living in it.
And they have thousands of plants.
So it's a very large system, a very large part of the world, and it's very
special.
So we consider all of this life going on above grounds as the rain forest.
And if it's underwater, we call the coral reef.
Yeah, the rain forest of the sea.
And like you said, there are many animals in rain forests.
And that is the same for coral reefs as well.
Many different kinds of fish and many animals maybe you've never even heard of,
and they all form entire ecosystems underwater.
That's right.
Now an "ecosystem" is all the living things in a very specific area and the way
they affect each other.
So you would say that maybe the way the fish swimming by the choral that's
standing in one place.
They affect each other.
How do they affect each other?
What are they doing for and helping each other with?
That would be called their ecosystem.
Right. Certain fish eat certain other kinds of fish, and maybe those fish eat
some of the coral.
But they all give each other something like that.
Now coral reefs only cover about 1 percent of the ocean floor.
So it's a very small percentage, only 1 percent.
Yeah, it's very small.
And the ocean floor here means the bottom of the ocean.
But even though this is just a small amount of the whole ocean floor, these
coral reefs actually support 25 percent of ocean life.
That's incredible.
It's only 1 percent of the ocean.
But they're responsible for keeping 25 percent of ocean life alive.
Now coral itself is actually a small living animal.
So we do know that this is probably part of that ocean life we're talking about.
Yeah. Most of the time when you see coral like you see on page 26, it looks like
a lot of things like very big all growing together.
But it's actually just a small little animal, all these tiny little animals
living together.
And they grow to build the coral reef.
That's right.
So it is alive, it's not dead.
Coral reefs are not just rocks.
They are living animals.
Now these animals live together in colonies.
Now Ryan, what is a colony?
All right. Now a "colony" is, well, a group of animals that live together.
It can be a colony of birds.
And all of those birds will stay together, and they'll fly places together; or a
colony of fish.
In this case, it's a colony of coral.
That's right.
So they all live together, right near each other, and they support each other.
Now only the outside layer of the coral is alive, though.
So what does that mean?
Well, like I said before, the coral actually grows.
And as it continues to get bigger and bigger, the part that is underneath
actually turns hard like stone, like rock.
And so as it gets older and older, it gets bigger and leaves that rock behind.
Well, that explains why it doesn't move around because only the top layer, the
outside layer, is alive.
We're going to talk about what's underneath that living layer and what else is
in our coral reefs after we visit the Chat Room.
Hi, Ken. Do you have a minute?
Sure, Bryan. What's up?
Well, I'd like to apologize and say I'm really sorry for not letting you check
out that book the other day.
Oh! No problem, Bryan.
Don't worry about it.
I thought my supervisor would allow it.
But who would have thought that he was so inflexible?
Well, I did have half a dozen overdue books, so I'm partly to blame.
What is it that they say, the bridge is under the water?
Uh, Ken, you mean it's water under the bridge.
Oh, yeah, water under the bridge.
Oh, by the way, how exactly should I use that idiom?
Can I say all my happy memories are water under the bridge?
No, I wouldn't use the idiom that way.
Why don't we go to Studio Classroom Editor-in-Chief Doris for an explanation.
OK.
If you stand on a bridge and drop a leaf into the water below, you'll see that
the water will carry away the leaf, and you won't see it again.
So if something is "water under the bridge," it means that it is in the past,
and is no longer important.
Let me give you an example.
Peter used to go out with Mary.
But that's all water under the bridge.
He married someone else long ago.
So I should use this idiom to describe something negative or unpleasant.
Yes, especially something unfortunate.
So I wouldn't say my happy memories are water under the bridge.
But an argument I had with a friend can be water under the bridge if my friend
and I forgive each other.
Well, then you don't need to apologize to me for not letting me check of the
book.
It's water under the bridge.
Thanks, Ken.
That's good to hear.