Name: 你見過鯨魚嗎？⏲️ 6 分鐘英語 (Have you ever seen a whale? ⏲️ 6 Minute English)
Uploaded: 2025-10-08T11:39:56.000Z
Duration: 6 min 16 s

Six Minute English from BBCLearningEnglish.com hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

BBCLearningEnglish.com 的 Six Minute English，大家好，這裡是 BBC Learning English 的 Six Minute English。

Encountering an animal in its natural habitat is a magical experience.

在牠的自然棲息地遇到動物，那是一種很神奇的體驗。

Have you ever seen an animal in the wild, Georgie?

Georgie，你有在野外看過動物嗎？

I was on a walk and we saw a baby badger.

我那時候在散步，我們看到一隻小獾。

It was on its own and it was really cute.

The most impressive one I've ever seen is actually a whale.

我看過最令人印象深刻的，其實是一隻鯨魚。

I was driving by the coast in Patagonia and you could see them in the sea.

我那時候開車經過巴塔哥尼亞海岸，你可以在海裡看到牠們。

Well, that sounds amazing and funny you say that because whale watching has become popular in many coastal parts of the world.

哇，聽起來太棒了！你這麼說也很有趣，因為賞鯨在世界許多沿海地區都變得很流行。

But watching whales is very different from what humans used to do.

不過，賞鯨跟人類以前做的事很不一樣。

Hunt and kill them for their oil and meat, an activity known as whaling.

為了牠們的油和肉而獵殺牠們，這項活動就叫做捕鯨。

Last year marked the 40th anniversary of the International Whaling Commission's Global Moratorium.

去年是國際捕鯨委員會全球禁捕令實施的 40 週年。

That's a temporary ban on the commercial killing of whales.

那是暫時禁止商業捕鯨的禁令。

Although Japan, Iceland and Norway continue to hunt whales, there's no doubt the ban has saved many whale species from extinction.

雖然日本、冰島和挪威仍然捕鯨，但毫無疑問，這項禁令確實拯救了許多鯨魚物種免於滅絕。

In this program, we'll discuss our past and present relationship with these giants of the ocean.

在這個節目中，我們將討論我們過去與現在，與這些海洋巨人的關係。

And as usual, we'll learn some useful new words and phrases too.

就像平常一樣，我們也會學到一些有用的新單字和片語。

Plus, you'll find all the vocabulary for this episode, along with a quiz and worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com but first, I have a question for you, Georgie.

另外，你可以在我們的網站 bbclearningenglish.com 上找到本集的所有詞彙，還有小測驗和練習單，但首先，我有一個問題想問妳，Georgie。

You probably know that the world's largest whale is the blue whale, growing up to 30 metres long.

你可能知道，世界上最大的鯨魚是藍鯨，牠們體長可達 30 公尺。

但體型最小的鯨魚是哪一種呢？

Is it A, the beluga whale, B, the vaquita whale, or C, the pygmy right whale?

是 A，白鯨，B，小頭鼠海豚，還是 C，小露脊鯨？

Well, pygmy makes me think small, so I'm going to go with C, the pygmy right whale.

嗯，「小」讓我想到小小的，所以我選 C，小露脊鯨。

Okay, we'll find out later in the program.

好的，我們稍後會在節目中揭曉答案。

Humans have hunted whales for at least a thousand years, starting with small groups of hunters in slow moving wooden boats.

人類捕獵鯨魚至少有上千年的歷史了，一開始是小群的獵人在移動緩慢的木船上進行。

Catching whales like this was often unsuccessful, especially big whales like blue and humpback whales, which can swim up to 330 kilometers per hour.

像這樣捕獵鯨魚常常不成功，特別是像藍鯨和駝背鯨這樣的大型鯨魚，牠們的遊速可達每小時 330 公里。

但到了 1800 年代後期，一切都改變了。

As Jane Pearce of the South Georgia Heritage Trust explained to BBC Radio 4 programme Rare Earth, something happened in Norway in the late 1800s.

正如南喬治亞遺產信託基金會的 Jane Pearce 在 BBC Radio 4 的節目 Rare Earth 中解釋的，1800 年代後期挪威發生了一件事。

A chap called Sven Boin, who was a whaler, he invented what we now know as the exploding harpoon.

一位名叫 Sven Boin 的捕鯨者，他發明瞭我們現在所知的爆炸魚叉。

這對捕鯨業來說是一個轉捩點。

In 1870, a chap, that's an informal word for a man called Sven Voin invented the exploding harpoon, a weapon for killing whales.

1870 年，一位名叫 Sven Voin 的男子發明瞭爆炸魚叉，一種用於獵殺鯨魚的武器。

The phrase turning point means a time when a situation starts to change, especially in a positive way, although sadly, not in this case.

轉捩點的意思是情況開始改變的時刻，特別是朝好的方向發展，雖然很可惜，但在此情況下並非如此。

After this, the whales didn't stand a chance, meaning they had no chance of successfully avoiding the hunters.

在此之後，鯨魚毫無勝算，意思就是牠們沒有機會成功躲避獵人。

Foyden's exploding harpoon, added to the invention of faster steam powered boats, increased whaling massively throughout the 20th century, to the point where over 3 million whales had been killed and many species faced extinction.

Foyden 的爆炸魚叉，加上更快的蒸汽動力船的發明，使得 20 世紀的捕鯨活動大幅增加，甚至導致超過三百萬頭鯨魚被殺，許多物種面臨滅絕。

By the 1970s, there were only a few great whales left and environmental groups like Greenpeace started the Save the Whales campaign to make people aware of devastation in whale populations and the the cruelty of whaling.

到了 1970 年代，只剩下少數大型鯨魚，像 Greenpeace 這樣的環保團體發起了「拯救鯨魚」運動，讓大家意識到鯨魚數量的浩劫以及捕鯨的殘酷。

It became popular to listen to the song of the Whale recordings of whales communicating at sea, which sounds something like this.

聽鯨魚的歌聲變得非常流行，這是錄製的鯨魚在海上溝通的聲音，聽起來有點像這樣。

Here's marine biologist Joe Roman discussing the Save the whales campaign with BBC Radio 4's Rare Earth.

海洋生物學家 Joe Roman 在 BBC Radio 4 的「Rare Earth」節目中，談論了「拯救鯨魚」運動。

People started thinking about whales in different ways.

人們開始用不同的方式看待鯨魚。

And then we have to give a shout out to activist groups like Greenpeace who put their ribboats, they put their Zodiacs in between Soviet hunting vessels and sperm whales and they were very good at media.

然後我們要特別感謝像 Greenpeace 這樣的環保團體，他們將他們的橡皮艇、他們的 Zodiac 船開到蘇聯捕鯨船和抹香鯨之間，他們非常擅長媒體操作。

Joe gives a shout out to Greenpeace activists for protecting whales.

Joe 特別感謝 Greenpeace 的活躍份子們保護鯨魚。

To give a shout out to someone means to praise them in public.

特別感謝某人，意思是在公開場合讚揚他們。

Videos and photos taken by Greenpeace changed public opinion about whaling.

Greenpeace 拍攝的影片和照片改變了公眾對捕鯨的看法。

Joe says Greenpeace were good at media, meaning they skilfully used media outlets like TV and newspapers to convey their message to the public.

Joe 說 Greenpeace 擅長媒體操作，意思是他們巧妙地利用電視和報紙等媒體管道向公眾傳達訊息。

Many whale species are still endangered and all whales still face danger from ocean acidification and plastic pollution.

許多鯨魚物種仍然瀕臨滅絕，所有鯨魚仍然面臨海洋酸化和塑膠汙染的危險。

But the moratorium that means the temporary suspension on hunting them has lasted 40 years and hopefully will help protect whales for decades more.

但是，暫停捕獵牠們的全球禁捕令已經持續了 40 年，希望未來幾十年能繼續保護鯨魚。

Okay, Phil, isn't it time you revealed the answer to your question?

好了，Phil，是不是該揭曉你問題的答案了？

I asked you which was the smallest species of whale and I said the pygmy right whale, didn't I?

我問你哪種鯨魚體型最小，我說的是小露脊鯨，對吧？

Unfortunately, the answer is actually the Vaquita whale, which is about 1.5 metres long.

不幸的是，答案其實是小頭鼠海豚，牠們大約 1.5 公尺長。

OK, let's recap the rest of the vocabulary.

好的，我們來複習一下其他的單字。

We've learnt a chap is an informal word for a man.

我們學到 chap 是男人的一種非正式說法。

A turning point is when a situation starts to change in especially for the better.

轉捩點是指情況開始改變，特別是往好的方向發展。

If someone doesn't stand a chance, they have no chance of success.

如果某人沒有機會，意思就是他們成功的機率為零。

To give a shout out to someone means to publicly praise them.

To give a shout out to someone 意思是公開讚揚某人。

And finally, if you're good at media, you are skilful at using media outlets to convey a message to the public.

最後，如果你擅長媒體，就表示你很熟練地運用媒體管道向大眾傳達訊息。

But remember, you can find worksheets, quizzes and loads more resources to improve your English on our website, bbclearningenglish.com see you there soon.

不過別忘了，你可以在我們的網站 bbclearningenglish.com 上找到講義、測驗和更多能幫助你提升英文的資源，我們很快就會再見。

Six minute English from BBCLearningEnglish.com.

BBCLearningEnglish.com 的六分鐘英語。