英語聽力文摘 兇猛的魚類

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兇猛的魚類

The movie Jaws(大白鯊) was so frightening that many people who saw the film swore off swimming in the ocean. Consequently, when most people think of fearsome sea creatures, sharks come immediately to mind.

Less well remembered is the movie Piranha (食人魚), a Jaws knock-off that featured deadly tropical fish terrorizing a small-town river. But while Piranha the movie may have been toothless, in real life its featured predators put sharks and all other aquatic creatures to shame when it comes to underwater ferocity.

Piranha are native to South American freshwater rivers. Although legends abound about their eating prowess, most of the twenty species of piranha are actually vegetarian. They are flat, oval-shaped fish that grow from ten to approximately twenty-four inches in length.

The four species of piranha that are carnivorous, however, certainly earn their reputation as fierce fish. These meat-eaters have powerful jaws and razor sharp teeth that fit together like cutting shears when they bite.

Piranha travel and hunt in schools of about twenty fish, and can engage in impressive feeding frenzies when aroused by blood or commotion in the water. Carnivorous piranha will eat anything from other fish to large mammals such as cows and even jaguars that wander too far into the water.

Although flesh-eating piranhas sometimes attack people, humans tend to have the last laugh. In South America and elsewhere piranha are considered fine eating fish. It’s safe to say that many more piranha are eaten by people than the other way around.

很多人看了電影《大白鯊》心有余悸，不敢在海邊游泳了。所以，每當人們想到可怕的海洋生物，就會立刻想到鯊魚。

另外一部電影《食人魚》也給觀眾留下深刻的印象，鯊魚吃掉致命的熱帶魚威脅小鎮(zhèn)的安全。電影中食人魚是沒有牙齒的，但在現(xiàn)實生活里，當說到水下兇猛動物，這類食肉動物已經(jīng)使鯊魚和其它水生物相形見絀。

食人魚是一種原產(chǎn)于美國南部的淡水魚。雖然關(guān)于它們捕食本領(lǐng)的傳說比比皆是，但實際上在這二十種比拉魚中，大多數(shù)都是吃素的。它們的身體呈扁平橢圓狀，長度從10到24英寸不等。

有四種食人魚是食肉 的，當然可以稱之為兇猛魚類。這些食肉魚有著強健的下顎和鋒利的牙齒，這樣組合在一起當它們吃東西的時候就像裁剪刀。

食人魚一次可以捕獵到20只小魚，水里的血液和騷動會引起一場激烈的食物獵取大戰(zhàn)。食人魚什么都吃，從其它魚類到大型獸類，例如奶牛，甚至還有那些在水里散步的美洲虎。

雖然食人魚有時也會攻擊人類，但最終還是人類占據(jù)上風。在南美及其它地區(qū)，食人魚被認為是很好的魚類食物。可以這么說，許多食人魚是被人類吃掉而不是食人魚吃人。

Notes:

Piranha n. 比拉魚又名“食人魚”(能掠食活動物的南美淡水小魚