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The Slothful Life 树懒: 慵懒过一生

課文朗讀

課文中英文講解

繁體中文譯本

One animal on earth may have the most appropriate name – the sloth. The word “sloth” means “laziness,” and being lazy is what a sloth does best. Most of the time sloths just hang upside down in trees, sleeping. On average, sloths spend 15 to 19 hours of every 24-hour day asleep. They only move when necessary, and sometimes, not even then. If an infant sloth accidentally falls to the ground, it runs the risk of dying. Not because of the fall, though. It’s because the mother is often too lazy to leave the tree to rescue her offspring.

世界上有一种动物有着最名副其实的名字，那就是树懒。sloth这个字在英文就是「懒惰」的意思，而这也是树懒最擅长的事。大部分的时间，树懒就倒挂在树上睡觉。一天二十四小时树懒平均有十五到十九个小时在睡觉。他们只在有必要的时候才动，有的时候甚至有必要也不动。如果一只树懒宝宝不小心掉到地上，牠很可能会有生命危险。生命有危险不是因为从树上摔下来，而是因为牠的母亲懒到连从树上下来救自己的小孩都不愿意。

Because of their lazy lifestyle, sloths don’t need to eat much. When they can be bothered to eat, sloths feed on leaves, berries, and shoots. Sloths eat their food slowly, and it sometimes takes up to a month for them to digest their meals. About once a week, they slowly climb down from their trees and deposit their waste. After carefully burying it, they ascend back up to their perches, where they settle in to rest once again.

因为树懒懒散的生活模式，牠们不需要吃很多东西。当牠们提起劲儿进食的时候，就吃一些树叶、浆果及嫩枝。树懒吃东西很慢，而有时候牠们要花上一个月的时间来消化牠们吃的食物。他们大约一个礼拜缓慢地从树上下来排便一次。小心地把排泄物埋起来后，牠们会再回到牠们栖息地树干上，再次回到休息的状态。

Not only are sloths slow, but they are also remarkably oblivious to the world around them. They have terrible vision. If you wake up a sloth, it will look around lazily trying to figure out where the disturbance is coming from. Their sense of hearing is similarly stunted. Sloths have been known to keep on sleeping even as guns were fired right next to them. No other animal capture the meaning of laziness like the sloth.

树懒不仅动作慢，也非常不在意周遭的环境。牠们的视力很差。如果你叫醒一只树懒，牠会懒洋洋地看一看周遭，试着找出是谁来骚扰牠。牠们的听力也同样很不好。大家都知道，就算在树懒的旁边开枪，牠还是能继续睡。再也没有其他动物比树懒更能诠释「懒散」这个词了。

Vocabulary

ascend [əˋsɛnd] v. 攀登；登上

perch [pɝtʃ] n.（位置较高的）休息处

disturbance [dɪsˋtɝbəns] n. 扰乱；打扰

stunted [ˋstʌntɪd] adj.（发育、生长等）受妨碍的；发育不良的

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upside down: 倒置地

on average 平均, 通常

asleep [əˋslip] adj. 睡着的

run the risk of 冒……危险

offspring [ˋɔf͵sprɪŋ] n.（动物的）幼兽

feed on: 靠...为食 to eat

shoot [ʃut] n. 幼芽，幼枝

deposit [dɪˋpɑzɪt] v. 【正式】把〔某物〕放在〔某地〕

settle in 习惯; 适应

oblivious [əˋblɪvɪəs] adj. 不以为意的

Reading Questions

1. Which one of the following ideas was NOT discussed in the article?

A. The feeding habits of sloths.

B. The way sloths prefer to sleep.

C. The diet of the sloth.

D. The natural enemies of the sloth.

2. What can we infer about the sloth from this article?

A. Mother sloths always try their best to take good care of their young.

B. Sloths don’t require a lot of calories in their daily lives to stay alive.

C. Sloths never leave the protection of the tree unless their lives are threatened.

D. Only when a sloth plays with other sloths does it hang upside down.

3. How does a sloth react when disturbed?

A. It quickly finds another spot in its tree to hide in.

B. It becomes more alert, and it won’t relax for the rest of the day.

C. It may continue to sleep or act like it doesn’t care.

D. It won’t move, but it will use its sensitive ears to identify the distance.

課文中英文講解

One might assume that sloths are lazy because they lack any natural predators. In fact, ___1___, they are hunted by some of the most fearsome beasts of the jungle, including jaguars, eagles, and huge snakes. So ___2___ do sloths manage to stay alive? Mostly by staying out of the way. A type of algae grows on their long, thick fur. The algae turns brown during the dry season and green during the wet season, ___3___ allows sloths to blend in with their surroundings. An algae-covered sloth sleeping in a tree can resemble a nest of white ants or even part of the ___4___ itself.

可能有人会认为树懒是因为没有天敌才会这么懒。但事实上，他们会遭到丛林里一些最骇人的野兽所猎杀，像美洲豹、老鹰和巨蟒。那么，树懒是如何求生的呢?基本上就是明哲保身。树懒又长又厚的毛发中会长一种水藻，这种水藻在旱季时会变成棕色，雨季则会变成绿色，这使树懒得以伪装融入环境中。一只身上覆盖水藻在树上睡觉的树懒看起来很像一个白蚁窝，或甚至像树的一部份。

It’s not easy to provoke a sloth, though. They are peace-loving animals, and prefer to spend their days ___5___lazily in trees. This approach seems to work for them, as sloths usually live longer than most other tropical animals. The major problem they ___6___ face is that their habitat in Central and South America is being threatened by deforestation.

然而，要激怒树懒可不容易，牠们是爱好和平的动物，宁愿慵懒地倒吊在树上过日子。这方式似乎很适合树懒，因为牠们通常活得比其他热带动物来得久。而牠们眼前所面临的最大问题是，牠们在中南美的栖息地争受到森林砍伐的威胁。

Call a person a sloth, and you’re likely to start a fight, since a slothful person is one who is lazy, indifferent, or slow. Call a sloth a sloth, ___7___, and you’re likely to get no reaction at all. The sloth will probably just ___8___ sleeping, content in the knowledge that it’s being true to its nature.

如果你叫一个人树懒，你可能会挑起一场战争，因为一个树懒似的人意谓他是个懒惰、冷漠又慢吞吞的人。但另一方面，称一只树懒为树懒，你可能就不会得到任何响应了。因为牠大概只会继续睡觉，心满意足地知道这就是牠的天性。

－By Mark Hammons

Vocabulary

resemble [rɪˋzɛmb!] v. 相似; 像

provoke [prəˋvok] v. 激怒

habitat [ˋhæbə͵tæt] n.（动物的）栖息地

deforestation [͵difɔrəsˋteʃən] n. 砍伐森林

indifferent [ɪnˋdɪfərənt] adj. 不感兴趣的；不关心的；冷淡的

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fearsome [ˋfɪrsəm] adj. 可怕的

jaguar [ˋdʒægwɑr] n. 美洲豹

manage to 设法

algae [`ældʒi] (不可数名词) 藻类（植物）

blend [blɛnd] v. 协调，相称

be likely to 可能

content [kənˋtɛnt] adj. 满足的

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