VOA慢速：气候变化导致奇怪的有毒鱼类出现

Climate Change Leading to Strange Poisonous Fish

燕山大学 刘立军 编写

u TRANSCRIPT

People in Japan pay good money to eat the deadly puffer fish. There, the food is called fugu. The fish can cost more than $100 a kilogram. Eating fugu is especially popular now, during the winter holiday season.

But in the last few years, the fugu market has seen a change. The part of the ocean where puffer fish live is warming quickly. In answer, pufferfish are traveling north to find cooler water. Along the way, new kinds of poisonous fish are being created.

These puffer fish hybrids worry government officials. They are afraid people will accidentally eat them and die. The Japanese government has ordered fishermen and fish traders to throw away any hybrids that they catch.

Some industry workers strongly object to the order. They note that hybrids have poison in the same areas as regular puffer fish. Trained cooks and fish butchers know how to remove the areas that contain the poison. Usually the poison is in the fish's liver and reproductive organs, or sometimes the skin or muscle.

Naoto Itou leads a seafood-processing company in the city of Shimonoseki. He disagrees with the government's rule to throw away puffer fish hybrids. "But we have to follow the rules," he says, "because if there's any problems, it leads to hysteria."

The Japanese take puffer fish danger seriously. A supermarket in western Japan once accidentally sold some puffer fish that had not had their poisonous livers removed. The town used its missile alert system to warn residents.

The danger linked to the fish may be one reason for its popularity. One man who fishes for pleasure said, "Some people like it when they feel a bit of tingling on their lips."

A high-end fish seller adds that the fish tastes good. But the seller, Koichi Kushida, notes that puffer fish hybrids are a concern. As more hybrids appear in the market, Kushida checks all the fish himself.

"When we hand it to our customers, we have to be sure it's absolutely safe," he says. "We can't have any problems."

But in truth, even experienced fish handlers and scientists cannot always identify the hybrids. The one certainty is that the hybrid population is increasing. And this rise of mixed puffer fish is another example of the effects climate change is having on sea creatures.

I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.

Adapted from http://www.kekenet.com/broadcast/201812/574925.shtml

u VOCABULARY

1. puffer fish n. 河豚鱼

2. fugu n. 河豚属：日本河豚鱼的一属，含有一种烈性神经毒（河豚毒素），集中于性腺和内脏，食用未经特别烹煮者，可引起全身麻庳，严重病例意识消失以致死亡。

3. in answer: answer back to defend yourself against criticism 为自己辩护；答辩。例如：He was given the chance to answer back in a radio interview. 在一次广播访谈中他得到了辩白的机会。

4. hybrid n. an animal or plant that has parents of different species or varieties 杂种动物；杂交植物；杂种。例如：A mule is a hybrid of a male donkey and a female horse. 骡子是公驴和母马交配而生的杂种动物。

5. hysteria n. (medical 医) a condition in which sb. experiences violent or extreme emotions that they cannot control, especially as a result of shock 癔病；歇斯底里

6. tingle v. (of a part of your body 身体部位) to feel as if a lot of small sharp points are pushing into it 感到刺痛。例如：

l The cold air made her face tingle. 冷空气冻得她的脸发痛。

l a tingling sensation刺痛感

7. high-end adj. (North Amercian English) expensive and of high quality 高档的；高端的；价高质优的

u QUESTIONS

Listen to the news and choose the best answer to each question you hear.

Why are puffer fish traveling north in Japan?

 To find cooler water.

 To find warm water.

 To find unpolluted water.  

 To find clean water.

Who are strongly against the order of throwing away puffer fish hybrids?

 Some fishermen.

 Some industry workers.

 Some fish traders.

 Some scientists.

What does the fact of increasing of mixed puffer fish show?

 Even scientists cannot always identify the puffer fish hybrids.

 The puffer fish hybrid population is increasing.

 The Japanese take puffer fish danger seriously.

 Climate change is having some effects on sea creatures.

u KEY

A。细节题。命题出处：The part of the ocean where puffer fish live is warming quickly. In answer, puffer fish are traveling north to find cooler water. Along the way, new kinds of poisonous fish are being created.

B。细节题。命题出处：Some industry workers strongly object to the order. They note that hybrids have poison in the same areas as regular puffer fish. Trained cooks and fish butchers know how to remove the areas that contain the poison. Usually the poison is in the fish's liver and reproductive organs, or sometimes the skin or muscle.

D。推断题。命题出处：But in truth, even experienced fish handlers and scientists cannot always identify the hybrids. The one certainty is that the hybrid population is increasing. And this rise of mixed pufferfish is another example of the effects climate change is having on sea creatures.