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美国之音VOA慢速英语周一至周五天天更新，大家可以用VOA这些经典材料来提高自己的听力。另外，如果大家对文章中某个单词意思不清楚，您只需双击或者用鼠标拖动选择一个单词，就会出现一个浮动的层，显示单词的意思，这就是金山词霸在线词典的“网页划词”功能，这可是我们独家发明的专利产品，欢迎大家使用，^_^
This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Shirley Griffith. This week, we tell about sharks. They are among the world's most feared animals. But studies show that sharks are in far more danger from people than people are from sharks.
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VOICE ONE:
An Austrian man was diving in the Bahamas Islands two months ago when he was bitten by a shark. Markus Groh was taking part in a sport known as shark diving. He died in a hospital a day after the attack.
Many people fear sharks. But others put on underwater diving equipment and swim in search of the big fish. They want to observe the shark in its own environment.
VOICE TWO:
You may have seen shark diving on television. If so, you know that some divers observe the animals from the safety of a steel cage or container. Or they wear special equipment made of metal.
But some divers have no extra protection when they watch sharks. A few swim in waters containing food. People drop it in the water to bring fish close to them.
Reports say Markus Groh was in the water with food when he was bitten. His death is the first deadly attack during shark feeding recorded by the International Shark Attack File. But the group has reported many injuries in the sport.
VOICE ONE:
Many shark divers say it is exciting to swim near the animals. They are likely to dismiss any danger. Those who like shark diving say it increases people's interest in sharks.
Such persons say it helps the public understand how important the animals are to the environment. They say it makes people want to protect sharks at a time when some kinds of shark are dying out.
Some ocean experts criticize shark diving that involves feeding the animals. They say the fish can become aggressive after having contact with the people feeding them. They say feeding sharks is bad for both animals and human beings. The American state of Florida seemingly agrees. Florida banned the feeding of all sea life, including sharks, in two thousand one.
VOICE TWO:
Several companies offer diving trips near the Bahamas Islands. That is where Markus Groh died. Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures organized the diving trip taken by the Austrian man. The company has provided passenger boat trips for divers in the Bahamas for several years.
Last year, the Bahamas Diving Association criticized such trips. The group wrote to Mister Abernethy's company and others like it. The Association asked that they stop taking people to shark dives without protective cages. It also proposed an end to cageless dives in open waters with possibly dangerous sharks.
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VOICE ONE:
Markus Groh's death brought criticism of this kind of shark diving. But a group called Shark Savers has praised Jim Abernethy and his company.
The group says Mister Abernethy is an ambassador of protection of sharks in the Bahamas. Shark Savers says he brings public attention to sharks' importance in the environment. It says Mister Abernethy's work helps warn people of the danger that some sharks could disappear from Earth.
Shark Savers operates a Web site called Sharksavers.org. It has asked people to add their names in support of cageless shark diving in the Bahamas. The Web site also contains a list of supporters of shark diving in general.
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