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Into the Pride 贴近狮群

 

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课文讲解

 

繁體中文譯本

 

Wildlife documentaries often feature daring and adventurous hosts who are prepared to put themselves in hazardous situations to get up close and personal with their animal subjects. In Animal Planet’s five-part series Into the Pride, host Dave Salmoni takes this quality to hair-raising extremes by living among a pride of potentially deadly lions.

野生动物纪录片通常以大胆且勇于冒险的主持人为特色，而这些主持人为了亲身贴近他们的动物对象，愿意将自身置于险境。在《动物星球》一共5集的系列节目《贴近狮群》中，主持人戴夫．萨莫尼藉由居住在一群具有致命可能性的狮子间，将这项特性发挥到惊险的极致。

 

Salmoni is a predator expert with a background in training big cats in captivity. His daunting mission is to spend six months alone in the African bush with the aim of getting a particularly aggressive and dangerous pride of lions to live in harmony with humans. The lions’ fate may well hang on Salmoni’s efforts as, unless he can reform their behavior, they could end up being exterminated.

萨莫尼是个掠食动物专家，拥有训练圈养大型猫科动物的背景。他这次艰巨的任务是要在非洲荒野中独自度过6个月，目标是要让一群特别具攻击性且危险的狮子与人类和平共处。这群狮子的命运很可能系于萨莫尼的努力成果，因为除非他能够改正牠们的行为，牠们最终有可能会被扑杀。

 

Five weeks into his mission, Salmoni is still struggling to get close to the pride. They’ve proven to be even more hostile than expected. After his initial attempts to calm the lions are met with repeated charging, he decides to focus his attempt on one particular individual, Brutus. Brutus is the “alpha” male, meaning he’s the most feared and powerful member of the pride. Encountering a lone Brutus guarding a fresh kill, Salmoni spots a prime chance to make his move. He cautiously moves towards the carcass and, with incredible boldness, carves off a piece of it for himself. By demonstrating to Brutus that he’s not afraid, Salmoni manages to gain the chief lion’s grudging respect. It could well be a decisive step on the road to gaining proper acceptance from the pride.

任务开始5周后，萨莫尼仍吃力地尝试接近狮群。事实证明牠们比原先预期的更具敌意。一开始他试图安抚狮群，却屡屡遭到攻击，于是他决定将注意力集中在一只特定的狮子，布鲁图身上。布鲁图是狮王，意味着牠是狮群中最受敬畏、最强悍的成员。当萨莫尼偶然间遇到独自守卫着新鲜猎物的布鲁图时，他发现了采取行动的绝佳时机。他小心翼翼地向猎物尸体靠近，以惊人的胆识切下一块肉给自己。借着向布鲁图展示他毫不畏惧，萨莫尼勉强得到狮王颇不情愿的尊敬。这很可能是他迈向被狮群正式接纳之路决定性的一步。

 

Vocabulary

单词发音  

 

hazardous [ˋhæzɚdəs] adj. 有危险的；冒险的

series [ˋsiriz] n. 连续发生的同类事件; 系列

extreme [ɪkˋstrim] n. 极度；最大程度

potentially [pəˋtɛnʃəlɪ] adv. 潜在地；可能地

deadly [ˋdɛdlɪ] adj. 致命的

in captivity [kæpˋtɪvətɪ] 囚禁, 被关

mission [ˋmɪʃən] n. 使命; 任务

aggressive [əˋgrɛsɪv] adj. 好斗的﹐挑衅性的

in harmony with 与...和谐(相处)

reform [͵rɪˋfɔrm] v. 改正

hostile  [ˋhɑstəl] adj. 怀敌意的；不友善的

encounter [ɪnˋkaʊntɚ] v. 意外地遇见

prime [praɪm] adj. 最好的，最优的

demonstrate [ˋdɛmən͵stret] v. 显示，表露

decisive [dɪˋsaɪsɪv] adj. 决定性的，决定的

 

More Information

单词发音  

 

wildlife [ˋwaɪld͵laɪf] n. 野生生物

documentary [͵dɑkjəˋmɛntərɪ] n. 纪录片

up close and personal 亲密地 intimately

hair-raising [ˋhɛr͵rezɪŋ] adj. 令人恐惧的

pride [praɪd] n.（狮子等的）群

predator [ˋprɛdətɚ] n. 食肉动物；掠夺者

daunting [ˋdɔntɪŋ] adj. 令人怯步的；使人气馁的

hang on 有赖于, 取决于 depend on

exterminate [ɪkˋstɝmə͵net] v. 灭绝；消灭

charge [tʃɑrdʒ] v. 袭击；进攻 to attack violently

alpha male 大男人主义者

lone [ lon] adj. 孤单的，无伴的

cautiously [ˋkɔʃəslɪ] adv. 小心地，谨慎地

carcass [ˋkɑrkəs] n.（动物的）尸体

carve [kɑrv] v. 切开肉

grudging [ˋgrʌdʒɪŋ] adj. 勉强的；吝啬的；不情愿的

 

 

 

课文朗读

 

课文讲解

 

By the time Salmoni has been living among the pride for four months, he is seeing some significant progress in his intervention project. Like Brutus, the other lions feel more comfortable in his presence to varying degrees. The one exception is the lead female, Cleo, who continues to act aggressively towards Salmoni, growling and charging whenever she sees him.

到了萨莫尼与狮群相处4个月之后，他看到他的介入计划有了显着的进展。跟布鲁图一样，在某种程度上，其他狮子在他面前已较能处之泰然。其中一个例外是掌权的母狮克利欧（埃及艳后），牠持续对萨莫尼显现敌意，一看到他就会发出怒吼并攻击他。

 

Salmoni realizes that unless he takes some drastic action, Cleo’s aggressive behavior will be imprinted on the pride’s four cubs. So, in order to make a connection with the young ones, he takes a chance with some improvised “toys.” In this way, he hopes to make the cubs less suspicious of humans and, thus, boost hope for the survival of the next generation. Salmoni also makes use of a remote-controlled car that provided an interesting insight into the lions’ psychology. While they are curious about it, they don’t respond to it aggressively, unlike the other new things that Salmoni has shown them. Salmoni deduces that this is because it is the only object that isn’t physically connected to him. Therefore, it seems that the lions are wary not of new things, but of “people things.”

萨莫尼了解到除非他采取较激烈的行动，埃及艳后攻击性的举动将深植于狮群中4只幼狮心中。于是，为了与幼狮建立联系，他用临时做成的即兴「玩具」放手一搏。他想要用这种方式降低幼狮对人类的戒心，以提升下一代存活的希望。萨莫尼也利用了遥控车，藉此了解狮子有趣的心理。牠们虽然对遥控车感到好奇，反应却不具攻击性，这跟萨莫尼给牠们看其他新东西时的反应不同。萨莫尼推论，这是因为车子是唯一跟他的身体没有关连的物品。所以，狮子们似乎不是对新东西有所提防，而是提防「人的东西」。

 

While Into the Pride documents one lionhearted man’s enlightening personal journey, the real stars of the show are the lions themselves. Tune in to this fascinating series to see these majestic beasts as you’ve never seen them before. And find out if Salmoni can fully succeed in his mission to help the pride secure its future by learning to accept its human neighbors.

虽然《贴近狮群》记录了一名勇气十足男子他深具启发性的个人旅程，节目真正的主角却是狮子本身。请锁定精采的系列节目，见识这些您从未见过的威风凛凛的万兽之王。看看萨莫尼是否能成功地教会狮群接受人类为邻，完成自己帮助狮群保卫未来的任务。

 

−by David Vickers

 

Vocabulary

单词发音  

 

significant [sɪgˋnɪfəkənt] adj. 顯著的; 重大的

intervention [͵ɪntɚˋvɛnʃən] n. 干預; 介入

in one's presence 在某人面前; 有某人在場

drastic [ˋdræstɪk] adj. 激烈的，猛烈的

connection [kəˋnɛkʃən] n. 關聯

suspicious [səˋspɪʃəs] adj. 懷疑的﹐猜疑的

survival [sɚˋvaɪv!] n. 繼續生存; 幸存

respond [rɪˋspɑnd] v. 反應﹐回應

physically [ˋfɪzɪk!ɪ] adv. 身體上

wary [ˋwɛrɪ] adj.〔人〕小心翼翼的; 謹慎的

document [ˋdɑkjəmənt] v.〔通过记述﹑拍电影或拍照片的方式来〕记载

enlightening [ɪnˋlaɪtnɪŋ] adj. 富有启发的

tune in 收聽（廣播）; 收看（電視）

secure [sɪˋkjʊr] v. 保衛

 

 

More Information

单词发音  

 

exception [ɪkˋsɛpʃən] n. 例外

growl [graʊl] v.〔動物〕吼叫

imprint [ˋɪmprɪnt] v. 銘刻；牢記

improvised [ˋɪmprəvaɪzd] adj. 即席而作的; 即興的

insight [ˋɪn͵saɪt] n. 洞悉；深刻的理解

deduce [dɪˋdjus] v. 推論

lionhearted [ˋlaɪənˋhɑrtɪd] adj. 勇猛的；豪膽的

majestic [məˋdʒɛstɪk] adj. 雄偉的；威嚴的

 

 

 

Reading Questions

 

1. Which of the following is NOT true about Dave Salmoni?

A. He is the host of a wildlife TV program.

B. He is very knowledgeable about big cats.

C. He is a particularly courageous individual.

D. He plans to release a pride of lions into the wild.

 

2. How does Salmoni get Brutus to respect him?

A. He challenges Brutus to a fight.

B. He shows Brutus that he isn’t scared.

C. He helps Brutus to kill another animal.

D. He demonstrates his physical strength in front of Brutus.

 

3. In the second part of the article, what is Salmoni worried about?

A. That his project isn’t making progress.

B. That Cleo has a weak relationship with her young.

C. That the lion cubs are being negatively influenced.

D. That he can’t understand how the lions regard humans.

 

4. What is the main aim of Into the Pride?

A. To investigate the psychology of lions.

B. To prove that lions are not as deadly as people think.

C. To show one man’s efforts to reform a group of lions.

D. To report on a daring mission to capture lions in Africa.

 

Into The Pride - Episode 2 (Part 1)

 

Into The Pride - Episode 3 (Part 1)

 

Into The Pride - Episode 4 (Part 3)

 

Dave Salmoni Into The Pride - Episode 1 (Part 4)

 

 

 

 

 

Answer

1. ( D )

2. ( B )

3. ( C )

4. ( C )