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Meerkats: Fuzzy Little Film Stars 杀底片的毛茸茸狐獴

課文朗讀

課文中英文講解

繁體中文譯本

Remember Timon, the fast-talking meerkat from The Lion King? Well, meet Digger, a real meerkat from the Kalahari Desert. This month on Animal Planet, you can watch Digger and his mate Mama as they struggle to build a family and stake out their territory.

还记得在《狮子王》里那只喋喋不休的狐獴「丁满」吗?现在我们来看看「迪格」，牠是一只住在喀拉哈里沙漠里真正的狐獴。在这个月的动物星球频道中，你可以看到迪格和他的配偶「玛玛」如何建立家庭以及划定牠们的地盘。

Meerkats are cute little creatures. They have light brown or gray fur, grow to around thirty centimeters tall when standing (which they do a lot), and have black eyes that make them look like they’re wearing sunglasses. Meerkats are a species of mongoose, a type of animal noted for being immune to snake venom. In fact, Arnie, one of Digger’s sons, was once bitten by a deadly puff adder and was back on his feet in three days. That’s one tough creature.

狐獴是娇小可爱的生物，有着浅褐色或灰色的毛皮，如果站着量的话，可长到约三十公分高(而牠们可是常常站着呢!)还有着让牠们看起来像是戴着太阳眼镜的黑色眼睛。狐獴是猫鼬的一种，猫鼬以对蛇的毒液免疫而闻名。事实上，迪格的儿子「阿尼」曾被致命的鼓腹毒蛇咬伤，但三天内就复原了。真是个韧性够强的生物啊!

Meerkats live in burrows and complex tunnel systems. Some of these they dig themselves; some they take over from squirrels. In either case, meerkat families work together. It’s well documented that the animals watch out for each other when danger is around, and juveniles often share babysitting duties as well.

狐獴住在洞穴以及复杂的地道系统中，有些是牠们自己挖的，而有些则是从松鼠那儿接管过来的。不论是哪一种情况，狐獴家族都是相互合作的。有很多文献记载这些小动物在危险逼近时会看护彼此，而未发育成熟的狐獴通常也会分担照顾幼儿的责任。

Tough, cute, and cooperative – it’s no wonder meerkats are attracting more and more attention from humans. Timon must be glowing with pride.

狐獴韧性强、可爱又会彼此通力合作，难怪引起越来越多人的注意。丁满现在一定神气得不得了。

Vocabulary

tough [tʌf] adj. 不屈不挠的，坚强的

complex [ˋkɑmplɛks] adj. 复杂的，错综复杂的

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

juvenile [ˋdʒuvən!] n. 幼兽；幼体

cooperative [koˋɑpə͵retɪv] adj. 合作的

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stake out:  声称对(研究领域、地方等)有特殊关联或所有权 to claim something belongs to you

territory [ˋtɛrə͵torɪ] n. 版图；领地

mongoose [ˋmɑŋgus] n. 猫鼬; 獴

immune [ɪˋmjun] adj. 免疫的

venom [ˋvɛnəm] n.（蛇、蜘蛛等的）毒液

back on one's feet: 恢复  healthy, returned to good health

burrow [ˋbɝo] n. 洞穴，地道

take over  接管, 继任

squirrel [ˋskwɝəl] n. 松鼠

watch out for  密切注意; 看护

glowing: 欣喜若狂的  very happy

課文中英文講解

Wildlife filmmakers need to get animals used to their presence before they can film them up close. But this is no piece of cake. It took Simon King, for example, two months just to get within a meter of a family of meerkats to make his documentary.

在近距离清楚地拍到动物前，野生生物影片拍摄者必须要让动物适应他们的存在，但这可不是小事一桩。举例来说，赛门金花了两个月的时间，就只是为了靠近一个狐獴家族至一公尺以内地距离来拍摄纪录片。

Simon started off by sitting in his jeep 100 meters away from the meerkat burrow. He made gargling and humming noise so the animals could recognize him from a distance. After a few weeks – yes, weeks! – Simon was able to step out of the vehicle. Day by day, he crept closer and closer to the meerkats.

赛门一开始先坐在距离狐獴巢穴一百公尺以外的吉普车中，他发出漱口声和哼唱声好让这些狐獴在远处就能认得他。几周之后(没错，是几周!)，赛门已经可以走出车外。一天天过去，他蹑手蹑脚地前进，越来越接近那群狐獴。

It was a brutally slow process, but it paid off when the meerkats finally became comfortable having Simon around. They started to climb, play, and even sleep on him. Other filmmakers have had similar success getting up close and personal with meerkats. Incredibly, some have had meerkats climb up onto their heads to look around for predators. Now there’s an image for the cover of a magazine.

这是个缓慢到有点残忍的过程，但当那群狐獴最后终于对赛门的存在感到自在时，一切都值得了。牠们开始在赛门身上爬来爬去、玩耍，甚至睡在他身上。其他影片拍摄者也有与狐獴混的越来越亲密的类似成功经验。不可思议的是，有些影片拍摄者甚至让狐獴爬到他们的头上来看看四周是否有掠食者。这下子就可以拍下来拿来当杂志封面了。

But what do these fuzzy little film stars think of all this attention? Are the meerkats enjoying their time in the limelight, or do they regard Simon and his kind as annoying animal paparazzi? See for yourself on Animal Planet this month.

但是这些毛茸茸的小明星是怎么看待这一切的关注呢?牠们是喜欢成为注目的焦点，还是认为像赛门之类的拍摄者是烦人的动物狗仔队呢?你亲自来看看这个月的动物星球频道吧!

－By Robert Kelly

Vocabulary

wildlife [ˋwaɪld͵laɪf] n. 野生生物

gargle [ˋgɑrg!] v. 漱口

creep [krip] v. 蹑手蹑足地走

annoying [əˋnɔɪɪŋ] adj. 恼人的

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piece of cake【口】容易之事; 轻松愉快的事 something easy to do

documentary [͵dɑkjəˋmɛntərɪ] n. 记录像片

start off 开始; 出发

step out of  从....走出来

brutally [ˋbrut!ɪ] adv. 残忍地

pay off【口】(尤指冒风险的政策、做法等)带来好结果, 成功

up close and personal: 熟悉地；親密地 intimately

predator [ˋprɛdətɚ] n. 食肉动物；掠夺者

fuzzy [ˋfʌzɪ] adj. 有绒毛的

limelight [ˋlaɪm͵laɪt] n. 众人注目的中心

paparazzi [ˏpɑpə`rɑtsɪ] n. 追逐名人的（摄影）记者﹐狗仔队

Reading Questions

1. What do we know about Digger and Mama?

A. They are the children of Arnie

B. They have the same parents

C. They are mother and son.

D. They had children together.

2. What can we say about young meerkats?

A. They help with raising other young meerkats.

B. They love getting attention from people.

C. They often fight with squirrels.

D. They take over tunnels from other meerkat families.

3. Which of the following statement does NOT reflect the author’s opinion about meerkats?

A. They cooperate with each other to survive.

B. They are annoying animals and are seen as pests.

C. They are friendly toward people they recognize and trust.

D. They are tough creatures that can resist poisonous snakebites.

Meerkat Manor

Answer