Craig rogers was sitting on his surfboard, scanning the distance for his next wave, when his board suddenly stopped moving. he looked down and was terrified to see a great white shark biting the front of his board.” I could have touched its eye with my elbow,” says craig. The shark had surfaced so quietly that he hadn’t heard a thing.

　　In his horror and confusion, he waved his arms and accidentally cut tow of his fingers on the shark’s teeth. He then slid off the opposite side of his surfboard into the water. Then, with Craig in the water and blood flowing from his fingers, the five-meter-long shark simply swam away, disappearing into the water below.

　　Although sharks are often categorized as killers that hunt and eat as many humans as then can, this is factually inaccurate. Sharks very rarely kill humans, Aperson has a greater chance of being struck by lightning or drowning in a bath than of being killed by a shark. Only 74 people have been reported killed by great whites in the last century. But great white sharks can reach six meters in length and weigh 2200 kilograms or more. With frightening jaws that can hold up to 3000 teeth arranged in several rows, they could very easily kill and eat a helpless human in the water. Why is it, then, that most people survive attacks by great whites? Shark researchers are trying to comprehend the reasons that allow people to escape without being eaten.

　　The most common explanation is that great whites don’t see well. It has been thought that they mistake people for the seals or sea lions which make up a large part of their diet. There is reason to doubt this, however. Recent information shows that great whites can actually see very well. Also, when accacking seals, great whites shoop up to the surface and bite with great force. When approaching humans, however, they most often move in slowly and bite less hard. They soon discover that humans are not a high-fat meal.” They spit us out because we’re too bony,” says Aidan Martin, director of Reef Quest Center for Shark Research.

　　Shark researchers like Martin hypothesize that great whites are actually curious animals that like to investigate things. It’s possible that they use their bite not only to kill and eat, but also to gather information, Although such an experience is unlucky for people like Craig Rogers, when sharks bite surfboards or other objects or people, they are likely just trying to learn what they are.

　　練習(xí)：

　　1. After Craig Rogers fell into the water, the shark C .

　　A) bit his surfboard B) bit his fingers

　　C) swam away D) attacked him

　　2. It is difficult for the author to understand why great whites A .

　　A) often let humans escape B) kill humans

　　C) have so many teeth D) grow to six meters or more

　　3. Which of the following is closest in meaning to make up in line 2 of paragraph 4? B

　　A) create B) are C) increase D) depend upon

　　4. The word their in line 2 of paragraph 4 means B .

　　A) people’s B) great whites’ C) sea lions’ D) seals’

　　5. What is the main idea of the forth paragraph? C

　　A) Great whites eat low-fat, bony meals more slowly.

　　B) Great whites see well enough to include seals, sea lions, and humans in their diet

　　C) We now know great whites don’t mistake humans for other animals.

　　D) There is reason to doubt that great whites see well enough to attack humans.

　　譯文“

　　克雷格•羅杰斯正坐在他的沖浪板上估算著下一波浪離他還有多遠(yuǎn)，就在這時(shí)沖浪板不動(dòng)了。他低頭向水下看，驚悚的一幕出現(xiàn)了： 一條大白鯊正在撕咬沖浪板的前端�！拔业闹獠靠赡芏家呀�(jīng)碰到了它的眼睛”，克雷格談道。原來(lái)，這條鯊魚(yú)悄悄地浮上了水面，完全沒(méi)讓克雷格聽(tīng)到。

　　克雷格驚慌害怕，手足無(wú)措，但是偶然之間他被鯊魚(yú)咬掉了兩支手指，然后隨著滑板翻了個(gè)個(gè)兒，他也掉進(jìn)水里。就在那時(shí)，處于水中的克雷格兩支手指鮮血直流，但這條五米長(zhǎng) 的鯊魚(yú)卻徑直游開(kāi)，消失在深海之中。

　　雖然鯊魚(yú)常被認(rèn)為是瘋狂殺人的獵手，但事實(shí)上這是不準(zhǔn)確的。鯊魚(yú)很少獵殺人類。比起被鯊魚(yú)殺死，人類更有可能被閃電擊中或是淹死在浴缸中。在上個(gè)世紀(jì)，有報(bào)道的只有74人命喪鯊魚(yú)之口。然而大白鯊可以長(zhǎng)封6米長(zhǎng)、2200公斤重或是更重。3000顆牙齒排成數(shù)排長(zhǎng)在鯊魚(yú)那可怕的血盆大口中，它們可以輕易殺死并吃掉無(wú)助的落水者。但為什么大多數(shù)人受到大白鯊攻擊之后都能鯊口逃生呢?鯊魚(yú)研究者們正在努力尋找使得人類鯊口脫險(xiǎn)的原因。

　　最常用的解釋是說(shuō)大白鯊的視力不好。人們認(rèn)為大白鯊會(huì)把人類錯(cuò)當(dāng)成是海豹或是海獅，后兩者是鯊魚(yú)的主要食物來(lái)源。但是人類又找到了理由來(lái)質(zhì)疑這一論斷。最近的研究信息表明大白鯊視力不錯(cuò)。并且當(dāng)大白鯊在攻擊海豹時(shí)，它們會(huì)迅速竄上海面，用力撕咬。但當(dāng)大白鯊在攻擊人類時(shí)，它們?cè)诖蠖鄶?shù)情況下會(huì)慢慢浮上海面，撕咬的力度也輕得多。它們很快就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)人類的肉不夠肥�！八鼈儼盐覀兺鲁鰜�(lái)是因?yàn)槲覀兲�瘦了”，艾�?#8226;馬丁說(shuō)道，他是鯊魚(yú)研究暗礁搜索中心的領(lǐng)頭人。

　　諸如馬丁這樣的鯊魚(yú)研究者們提出了這樣一種假設(shè)：大白鯊實(shí)際上是一種好奇心很重的動(dòng)物，它們喜歡探索新鮮事物。有可能它們撕咬物體不僅僅是為了獵殺和吃掉，也是為了搜集信息。雖然這種經(jīng)歷對(duì)于像克雷格·羅杰斯這些人來(lái)說(shuō)很不幸，但是當(dāng)鯊魚(yú)在撕咬沖浪板， 或是別的物體，甚至是人類時(shí)，很可能它們只是在盡量了解那到底是個(gè)什么東西。