考研英語(yǔ)時(shí)文賞讀（141）：尼斯湖水怪之謎終揭曉

　　Loch Ness monster might be giant eel, scientists say

　　科學(xué)家稱，尼斯湖水怪可能是巨型鰻魚(yú)

　　The most famous photo of the Loch Ness monster has long been discredited as a hoax, but scientists have come up with a new explanation for other sightings of the elusive beast -- it could be just a giant eel.

　　長(zhǎng)久以來(lái)，人們一直認(rèn)為尼斯湖水怪最著名的照片不過(guò)是一個(gè)騙局，但科學(xué)家們對(duì)尼斯湖水怪的其他目擊事件提出了新的解釋——它可能只是一條巨型鰻魚(yú)。

　　A team of researchers used DNA samples from taken from the lake in Scotland where "Nessie" is believed to dwell and concluded that a more familiar creature was behind the legend.

　　一組研究人員檢測(cè)了來(lái)自蘇格蘭湖泊的DNA樣本后得出了結(jié)論，尼斯湖水怪傳說(shuō)的背后可能是一種更熟悉的生物。

　　There are large amounts of eel DNA in Loch Ness, Neil Gemmell, a geneticist from New Zealand’s University of Otago said on Thursday.

　　周四，新西蘭奧塔哥大學(xué)遺傳學(xué)家尼爾·格默爾表示，尼斯湖中含有大量鰻魚(yú)的DNA。

　　Scientists began the study of the lake’s biodiversity in June 2018, taking 250 samples of water from various locations and depths to identify its inhabitants.

　　2018年6月，科學(xué)家們開(kāi)始研究尼斯湖的生物多樣性，他們從不同地點(diǎn)和深度采集了250個(gè)樣本，以確定其棲息物種。

　　They found about 3,000 distinct species, Gemmell told a press conference at the Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochit, Scotland. "Most of those are so small, you’ll never see them."

　　格默爾在蘇格蘭德拉姆納德羅基特的尼斯湖中心舉行的新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上說(shuō)，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)了大約3000種不同的物種。“大部分生物都很小，你永遠(yuǎn)都看不到它們。”

　　Gemmell said that while the study’s primary focus was the lake’s biodiversity, a Loch Ness monster sighting would’ve been a bonus.

　　格默爾說(shuō)，雖然這項(xiàng)研究的主要關(guān)注點(diǎn)是尼斯湖的生物多樣性，但如果能發(fā)現(xiàn)尼斯湖水怪的痕跡，那將是一個(gè)額外的收獲。

　　Although the discredited 1934 photo was later said to be a toy submarine, with a model head and neck attached, various theories over the years have suggested the monster could actually be a dragon, a marine dinosaur or just a really big catfish.

　　盡管1934年那張不可信的照片（有著頭部和頸部的不明物）后來(lái)被說(shuō)成是一艘玩具潛艇，但多年來(lái)的各種理論都表明，這只怪物實(shí)際上可能是一條龍、一只海洋恐龍、或者實(shí)際上只是一條大鯰魚(yú)。

　　The new data suggested some of the more outlandish theories about Nessie could be ruled out.

　　新的數(shù)據(jù)表明，關(guān)于尼斯湖水怪的一些更古怪的理論已經(jīng)可以排除。

　　“Is there a plesiosaur in Loch Ness? No. There is absolutely no evidence of any reptilian sequences in our samples,” Gemmell said. "So I think we can be fairly sure that there is probably not a giant scaly reptile swimming around in Loch Ness."

　　格默爾說(shuō)：“尼斯湖里有蛇頸龍嗎？沒(méi)有。在我們的DNA樣本中絕對(duì)沒(méi)有任何爬行動(dòng)物的痕跡。所以我認(rèn)為我們可以非?？隙ǖ氖?，尼斯湖里可能并沒(méi)有一只巨大的有鱗爬行動(dòng)物在游動(dòng)。”

　　(全文共281個(gè)詞)

　　重難點(diǎn)詞匯：

　　hoax  n. 惡作劇；騙局；謊報(bào) v. 捉弄，欺騙

　　outlandish  adj. 古怪的；奇異的；異國(guó)風(fēng)格的；偏僻的

　　reptile  n. 爬行動(dòng)物；卑鄙的人 adj. 爬行動(dòng)物的；卑鄙的