Underwater Astonishment---Ted英語演講稿範文

We're going to go on a dive to the deep sea， and anyone that's had that lovely opportunity knows that for about two and half hours on the way down， it's a perfectly positively pitch—black world。 And we used to see the most mysterious animals out the windowthat you couldn't describe： these blinking lights —— a world of bioluminescence， like fireflies。 Dr。 Edith Widder —— she's now at the Ocean Research and Conservation Association —— was able to come up with a camera that could capture some of these incredible animals， and that's what you're seeing here on the screen。

好了，我們即將潛入海底深處。任何一個有過這種美妙機會的人都知道在這兩個半小時的下降過程中，是一個完全漆黑的世界。我們透過窗戶會看見世界上各種最神祕的動物，各種無法形容的動物。這些閃亮着的光，完美地構成了如螢火蟲般發光的世界。研究保護協會的Edith Witter博士發明了一種照相機，這種照相機可以拍下這些令人難以置信的生物。這就是你現在在屏幕上看到的。

That's all bioluminescence。 So， like I said： just like fireflies。 There's a flying turkey under a tree。（Laughter） I'm a geologist by training。 But I love that。 And you see， some of the bioluminescence they use to avoid being eaten， some they use to attract prey， but all of it， from an artistic point of view， is positively amazing。 And a lot of what goes on inside 。。。 there's a fish with glowing eyes， pulsating eyes。 Some of the colors are designed to hypnotize， these lovely patterns。 And then this last one， one of my favorites， this pinwheel design。 Just absolutely amazing， every single dive。

他們全部都是生物發光體。像我說的，就像螢火蟲一樣。這是個會飛的火雞，在樹下。（笑聲）我知道我現在像是個實習期的地質學家，不過我就是喜歡。你可以看到這些生物發出的光，有些是爲了避免被吃掉。有些又是爲引誘食物上鉤。儘管如此，用藝術的角度來看，這些都如此神奇。再來看看這裏發生了些什麼—— 這條魚有着會發光，閃爍的眼睛。有些顏色則可以催眠。多麼有趣的.圖案。這是最後一個：也是我的最愛，像轉輪一樣的設計。每一次潛水都充滿着驚喜。

That's the unknown world， and today we've only explored about 3 percent of what's out there in the ocean。 Already we've found the world's highest mountains， the world's deepest valleys， underwater lakes， underwater waterfalls —— a lot of that we shared with you from the stage。 And in a place where we thought no life at all， we find more life， we think， and diversity and density than the tropical rainforest， which tells us that we don't know much about this planet at all。 There's still 97 percent， and either that 97 percent is empty or just full of surprises。

這正是一個未知的世界。到今天爲止，我們只探索了其中的極小部分，大約只佔了所有海洋的3%。到現在，我們已經發現了世界上最高的山峯，最深的峽谷，水下湖，水下瀑布，還有我們剛纔看到的。然而，恰是我們曾經以爲根本不可能有生命的地方，我們發現了衆多的生物，還有它們的密度和多樣性，都超過了熱帶雨林。這告訴我們我們實際上對自己的星球還不甚瞭解。還有剩下的97%，那裏要不就是一片荒蕪，要不就是充滿驚喜。

But I want to jump up to shallow water now and look at some creatures that are positively amazing。Cephalopods —— head—foots。 As a kid I knew them as calamari， mostly。（Laughter） This is an octopus —— this is the work of Dr。 Roger Hanlon at the Marine Biological Lab —— and it's just fascinating how cephalopods can， with their incredible eyes， sense their surroundings， look at light， look at patterns。 Here's an octopus moving across the reef， finds a spot to settle down， curls up and then disappears into the background。 Tough thing to do。

不過我現在還是想說說淺水裏的世界，來看看那些神奇的生物。頭足類動物，有頭有角。小時候我把他們當作是槍烏賊。這是一條章魚。這是來自Roger Hanlon博士，海洋生物實驗室的成果。這些頭足類動物真令人着迷，它用它們的眼睛，它們那難以置信的眼睛來觀察周圍的環境，看光，看圖案。這有隻章魚正在穿過礁石。找到一個位置，停下來，捲起，然後馬上消失在背景之中。這很難做到。

In the next bit， we're going to see a couple squid。 These are squid。 Now males， when they fight， if they're really aggressive， they turn white。 And these two males are fighting， they do it by bouncing their butts together， which is an interesting concept。 Now， here's a male on the left and a female on the right， and the male has managed to split his coloration so the female only always sees the kinder gentler squid in him。 And the male 。。。（Laughter） We're going to see it again。 Let's take a look at it again。 Watch the coloration： white on the right， brown on the left。 He takes a step back —— so he's keeping off the other males by splitting his body —— and comes up on the other side 。。。 Bingo！ Now I'm told that's not just a squid phenomenon with males， but I don't know。（Laughter）

接下來，再來一起看一對魷魚。這就是魷魚。當雄性魷魚搏鬥時，如果它們想要顯示出自己的侵略性，它們就變爲白色了。這有兩條雄魷魚在搏鬥。它們用撞屁股的方式來搏鬥，真是挺有意思的方法。這裏有一條雄性在左邊，雌性在右邊。看，這條雄性能有辦法利用顏色把自己分爲兩半，所以雌性只能看到它溫順，優雅的一邊，雄性—— （笑聲）再來看一次。讓我們再看一次。注意它的顏色：白色在右邊，棕色在左邊。它後退一步，讓其它的雄性無法靠近來到另外一邊，並且馬上轉換顏色。瞧！以前有人告訴我這個雄性特徵不僅僅是在魷魚身上，不過我也不太確定。（掌聲）