有声英文阅读-海中“刺”客(水母)

（单词翻译）

Cloze: Stingers of the Sea

Given impressive-sounding names like "Portuguese¹ man-of-war," jellyfish are certainly respected and feared by humans. Not exactly a fish, and lacking a spine², this creature has a single body cavity or mouth. Any food consumed passes through this opening, and so do undigested remains³ being expelled.

A jellyfish's tentacles⁴, which can exceed 30 meters in length, drag through the sea and capture any prey⁵ that may be in their path. Special cells that line the tentacles then fire small "arrows" into the victim, paralyzing it with a poison toxic⁶ enough to freeze even a human. The unfortunate prey is then drawn⁷ into the jellyfish's mouth.

Possessing neither blood nor brain, jellyfish are primarily filled with a jelly-like substance loaded with nerve cells that help them navigate⁸ the seas. These cells detect light and touch, and then pass this information on to muscle cells.

In all its simplicity⁹, the jellyfish has existed for more than 600 million years with little change. Perhaps the jellyfish is indeed nature's perfect beast.   

海中“刺”客──水母

拥有“葡萄牙军舰”这个听起来就让人印象深刻的名字，水母的确让人类又敬又怕。这种生物既非鱼类，又缺少脊椎，它只有一个体腔，或者也可称之为嘴巴。任何被摄取的食物都要经过这个开口，没有被消化的残骸也是由此排出。

水母在海中拖曳着长度可以超过30米的触须，捕捉任何可能在它前进路线上的猎物。水母的触须上遍布着一种特殊的细胞，它可以向受害者射出“小箭”，足以让一个人动弹不得的毒液去麻痹它。接着这不幸的猎物就被吸入水母的嘴里。

水母既没有血液也没有大脑，主要由满是胶状物质的神经细胞来协助它在海中的航行。这些细胞能侦测光线和触觉，然后把信息传达到肌肉细胞。

虽然水母的结构很简单，它已经在地球上存在超过六亿年了，而且没有什么改变。也许水母真的是自然界中真正的霸主。