Electric Eels!

Electric Eels. Written by Rachel Rice. Focus question. What is an electric eel?

电鳗 蕾切尔·赖斯 撰文 思考问题 什么是电鳗？

Legendary Shocker Alexander Humboldt went to South America to catch electric eels in 1800. He thought they could help him learn about electricity, a kind of energy that scientists knew little about. He knew not to touch the eels because their shocks could cause great pain. He asked some fishermen to help.

传奇研究者亚历山大·洪堡，在1800年前往南美洲捕捉电鳗。 他认为研究电鳗能帮自己了解电——当时科学家对这种能量还知之甚少。 他知道不能触碰电鳗，因为它们的电击会带来剧烈的疼痛。 于是他请当地渔民来帮忙。

The fisherman led about 30 horses into a pond. The electric eels began to shock the horses. When the eels were too tired to shock the horses anymore, the fisherman caught five eels. Humboldt learned much about the eels.

渔民赶着大约三十匹马走进了池塘。 电鳗开始对马儿放电电击。 等电鳗累得没法再放电后，渔民抓到了五条电鳗。 洪堡由此了解到了很多电鳗的知识。

It's a fish! Electric eels are long, gray -brown fish with yellow or orange on their throats. They are more like catfish than other eels and belong to a group of fish that are all electric. Electric eels can be about as big around as an adult person's leg and three times as long. Male and female electric eels are alike in color and size.

它是一种鱼呀！ 电鳗身体长长的，是灰棕色的，喉咙部位是黄色或者橙色的。 比起其他鳗鱼，它们和鲶鱼亲缘更近，属于全都带电的鱼类族群。 成年电鳗差不多有成年人的腿那么粗， 长度是成年人腿长的三倍。 雄性和雌性电鳗的颜色和个头都差不多。

Unlike most other fish, electric eels breathe air. They have gills but their gills mostly help them breathe out. Electric eels have special organs in their mouths that help them breathe in. They breathe out waste air from their mouths and gills. They come up to breathe air every few minutes and

和大多数其他鱼不一样，电鳗呼吸空气。 它们也长有鳃，但鳃主要用来帮它们呼出气体。 电鳗的嘴巴里有特殊器官，能帮它们吸入空气。 它们把废气从嘴巴和鳃排出去。 每隔几分钟它们就会游到水面呼吸空气，

Like most other fish, electric eels have fins and a backbone. Their backbones and fins are body parts that help them move. They swim slowly most of the time, but they move quickly when they attack.

和大多数鱼类一样，电鳗长有鱼鳍和脊椎。 脊椎和鱼鳍都是帮助它们游动的身体部位。 大多数时候它们游得很慢，但发起攻击时游得非常快。