Northern Pacific Sea Stars 北太平洋海星

本份 TPO 考題符合托福 iBT 整合寫作的標準格式：在閱讀內容部分，作者提出三項針對防治北太平洋海星擴散的建議方式。而在講課內容部分，則對此三項主張一一提出反駁。

在閱讀內容方面出現一些專業術語，但是都不難理解，因為文章都有附上補充說明。而在講課內容中，均沿用閱讀段落的術語，並沒有出現新的專業詞彙，所以不會有聽力部分遭到突襲的憂慮。

整篇難度屬於中等程度。只要能夠掌握整合寫作的聽力技巧、寫作格式、並通曉評分原則，應該能夠拿到至少 25 分。

本份考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀與聽力的理解能力。

Reading 閱讀內容

1.  

   The Northern Pacific sea star, which is native to the coasts of Japan, Korea, and China, has recently appeared thousands of kilometers away. Because this sea star now threatens to harm marine ecosystems in new and distant areas, scientists are currently investigating ways of controlling the spread of invasive Northern Pacific sea stars.

   點此看中文翻譯

   原產於日本、韓國和中國海岸的北太平洋海星，最近出現在數千公里之外。由於這種海星現在有可能損害新的和遙遠地區的海洋生態系統，科學家們目前正在研究控制入侵的北太平洋海星擴散的方法。

2.  

   Quicklime

   One method of reducing Northern Pacific sea star populations is by administering a poison called quicklime. Quicklime in its powdered form can be spread over large areas of the seafloor invaded by the sea stars. While quicklime destroys sea stars, it does not harm commercially important mollusks, such as oysters, scallops, and mussels, which are cultivated on the seafloor in many waters.

   點此看中文翻譯

   生石灰

   減少北太平洋海星數量的一個方法是通過施用一種叫做生石灰的毒藥。粉狀的生石灰可以撒在被海星入侵的大面積的海底。雖然生石灰可以摧毀海星，但它不會傷害商業上重要的軟體動物，如牡蠣、扇貝和貽貝，這些軟體動物在許多水域的海底都有養殖。

3.  

   Introducing Parasites

   A second strategy is to introduce parasites that naturally control the spread of Northern Pacific sea stars in their native habitat. One major reason why Northern Pacific sea star populations are flourishing in distant waters is the absence of natural enemies, such as parasites. In their native environment, male sea stars are infected by parasites that specifically attack their reproductive system. If these parasites became established in distant waters, invasive Northern Pacific sea star populations could be significantly decreased.

   點此看中文翻譯

   引進寄生蟲

   第二個策略是引進天然控制北太平洋海星在其原生地傳播的寄生蟲。北太平洋海星種群在遙遠的水域蓬勃發展的一個主要原因是缺乏天敵，如寄生蟲。在它們的原生環境中，雄性海星會被專門攻擊其生殖系統的寄生蟲所感染。如果這些寄生蟲在遠方水域建立起來，入侵的北太平洋海星的數量就會大幅度減少。

4.  

   Treating Ballast Water

   A third measure involves sterilizing ballast water. Ships that have unloaded their cargo take aboard some amount of sea water as a weight and balance stabilizer. This sea water is referred to as ballast water. Sea star larvae (immature sea stars) float freely in the sea and are often taken up in ballast pumps. After taking aboard ballast water with numerous larvae in Northern Pacific waters, ships dump this water in ports thousands of kilometers away and thus contribute to the spread of these sea stars. If ships treated their ballast water with chemicals before releasing it in a different location, Northern Pacific sea stars could be prevented from spreading to new areas.

   點此看中文翻譯

   處理壓艙水

   第三項措施是對壓艙水進行消毒。卸下貨物的船舶會帶上一定量的海水作為重量和平衡穩定劑。這種海水被稱為壓艙水。海星幼蟲（未成熟的海星）在海中自由漂浮，經常被壓艙泵吸走。船隻在北太平洋水域將帶著大量幼蟲的壓艙水吸上船後，將這些水傾倒在幾千公里外的港口，從而助長了這些海星的傳播。如果船舶在將壓艙水排放到不同地點之前用化學品進行處理，就可以防止北太平洋海星擴散到新的地區。 

Lecture 講課內容

提供講課內容的中文翻譯有兩個目的。首先是幫助聽力有困難的同學能夠快速且精確地了解原文的意思。而更重要的原因是，提供給練習英語口語表達的讀者訓練的素材。

由於每個人的知識範疇各不相同，因此碰到超出自己專長的領域，常常會啞口無言，無話可說。這對練習英語表達是一項非常難以克服的障礙。所以參考托福整合寫作英語原稿，既可以讓自我練習英語聽力或會話時有貼切適當的素材，同時也能學些道地的表達方式，實是一舉數得。

使用上，可以在聽完一、兩次原始音檔之後，試著一邊看中文譯稿，一邊流利、正確地用英語說出文中的內容。多次練習之後，未來自然能夠在碰到同樣主題時與人侃侃而談。

1.  

   Now listen to part of a lecture on the topic you just read about.

   Unfortunately, while the measures described in the reading will help, none will really stop invasive northern pacific sea stars from spreading.

   點此看中文翻譯

   現在請聆聽關於你剛剛讀到的主題的部分講座。

   不幸的是，雖然閱讀中描述的措施會有幫助，但沒有一個能真正阻止入侵的北太平洋海星的傳播。

2.  

   First, quicklime doesn't hurt commercially important mollusks. That doesn't mean it's safe for the entire marine ecosystem. You see, this poison destroys not only invasive Northern Pacific sea stars, but also native ones. And native sea stars are critical to maintaining their local ecosystems. Once quicklime is spread over the sea floor, it remains active there for a long time. And that'll be a problem for native sea stars. Soon after the quicklime kills the invasive sea stars, native sea stars will move into the sea floor areas where the invasive sea stars used to live. And when that happens, they'll die too.

   點此看中文翻譯

   首先，生石灰不會傷害商業上重要的軟體動物。但這並不意味著它對整個海洋生態系統是安全的。要知道，這種毒藥不僅會殺死入侵的北太平洋海星，也會殺死本地海星。而本地海星對於維持當地的生態系統至關重要。一旦生石灰被撒在海底，它就會在那裡長期保持活性。而這對本地海星來說將是一個問題。在生石灰殺死入侵的海星後不久，本地海星就會移動到入侵的海星曾經生活的海底區域。當這種情況發生時，它們也會死亡。

3.  

   Second, the idea of importing some of the Northern Pacific sea stars’ natural enemies is unlikely to work as well as the reading would have you believe. The problem with parasites is that they do not completely destroy male Northern Pacific sea stars’ reproductive system. This means that male sea stars infected with the parasite will still be able to fertilize the eggs of females. And given that a single female can produce up to 20 million eggs, it seems unlikely that introducing these parasites into habitats that the Northern Pacific sea star has invaded will have much impact on the population of these sea stars.

   點此看中文翻譯

   其次，進口一些北太平洋海星的天敵的想法不太可能像閱讀內容中說的那樣有效。寄生蟲的問題在於，它們並不能完全破壞雄性北太平洋海星的生殖系統。這意味著感染了寄生蟲的雄性海星仍然能夠使雌性海星的卵受精。而考慮到一隻雌性海星可以產生多達 2,000 萬個卵子，將這些寄生蟲引入北太平洋海星已經入侵的棲息地，似乎不太可能對這些海星的數量產生很大影響。

4.  

   Finally, sterilizing the ballast water of ships is unlikely to prevent Northern Pacific sea star larvae from spreading to new locations. Unfortunately, ballast water isn't the only way that sea star larvae are transported from place to place while floating in the sea, Northern Pacific sea star larvae stick to objects around them, for example, to the bottom of small boats or to equipment used for fishing. Because of their ability to stick to objects around them, invasive northern pacific sea stars will likely continue to spread to new areas regardless of whether ships sterilize their ballast water or not.

   點此看中文翻譯

   最後，對船舶的壓艙水進行消毒不太可能阻止北太平洋海星幼蟲傳播到新的地方。很遺憾，壓艙水並不是海星幼蟲在海中漂浮時從一個地方運到另一個地方的唯一途徑，北太平洋海星幼蟲會粘在周圍的物體上，例如，粘在小船的底部或用於捕魚的設備上。由於它們能夠粘附在周圍的物體上，無論船舶是否對壓艙水進行消毒，入侵的北太平洋海星可能會繼續傳播到新的地區。