雅思聽力對話：聽力材料-渡渡鳥的滅絕02

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雅思聽力在考試中占據(jù)著重要的地位，時常用聽力材料來磨耳朵可以不斷鞏固大腦的英語語言能力。以下是雅思聽力材料，您可以結(jié)合MP3和下方的原文及翻譯進行聽力學(xué)習(xí)。

聽力原文及翻譯

In fact, one 17th century sailor wrote that he found the birds hard to catch. It's true that the dodo's small wings wouldn't have allowed it to leave the ground, but scientists suggest that these were probably employed for balance while going over uneven ground. Another group of scientists carried out an analysis of the dodo's skull. They found that the reports of the lack of intelligence of the dodo were not borne out by their research, which suggested the bird's brain was not small but average in size. 

事實上，一位 17 世紀的水手寫道，他發(fā)現(xiàn)這種鳥很難捕捉。渡渡鳥的小翅膀確實無法讓它離開地面，但科學(xué)家們認為，這些翅膀可能是用來在崎嶇不平的地面上行走時保持平衡的。另一組科學(xué)家對渡渡鳥的頭骨進行了分析。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，關(guān)于渡渡鳥智力低下的報道并沒有得到他們的研究證實，他們的研究結(jié)果表明，渡渡鳥的大腦并不小，而是中等大小。

In fact, in relation to its body size, it was similar to that of the pigeon, which is known to be a highly intelligent bird. The researchers also found that the structure of the bird's skull suggested that one sense which was particularly well developed was that of smell. So, the dodo may also have been particularly good at locating ripe fruit and other food in the island's thick vegetation. 

事實上，就其體型而言，它與鴿子相似，而鴿子是一種眾所周知的高智商鳥類。研究人員還發(fā)現(xiàn)，渡渡鳥頭骨的結(jié)構(gòu)表明，一種特別發(fā)達的感覺是嗅覺。因此，渡渡鳥可能還特別擅長在島上茂密的植被中找到成熟的水果和其他食物。

So, it looks as if the dodo was better able to survive and defend itself than was originally believed. Yet, less than 200 years after Europeans first arrived on the island, they had become extinct. So, what was the reason for this? For a long time, it was believed that the dodos were hunted to extinction, but scientists now believe the situation was more complicated than this. 

因此，看起來渡渡鳥的生存和自衛(wèi)能力似乎比最初認為的要好。然而，在歐洲人首次抵達該島后不到 200 年，渡渡鳥就滅絕了。那么，這到底是什么原因造成的呢？長期以來，人們認為渡渡鳥是被獵殺而滅絕的，但現(xiàn)在科學(xué)家認為情況比這更復(fù)雜。

Another factor may have been the new species brought to the island by the sailors. These included dogs, which would have been a threat to the dodos, and also monkeys, which ate the fruit that was the main part of the dodos' diet. These were brought to the island deliberately, but the ships also brought another type of creature: rats, which came to land from the ships and rapidly overran the island. These upset the ecology of the island, not just the dodos but other species too.

另一個因素可能是水手們帶到島上的新物種。其中包括對渡渡鳥構(gòu)成威脅的狗，還有猴子，它們以水果為食，而水果是渡渡鳥的主要食物。這些是故意帶到島上的，但船只還帶來了另一種生物：老鼠，它們從船上登陸并迅速占領(lǐng)了整個島嶼。這些破壞了島上的生態(tài)環(huán)境，不僅是渡渡鳥，還有其他物種。

However, they were a particular danger to the dodos because they consumed their eggs, and since each dodo only laid one at a time, this probably had a devastating effect on populations. However, we now think that probably the main cause of the bird's extinction was not the introduction of non-native species, but the introduction of agriculture. 

然而，它們對渡渡鳥來說尤其危險，因為它們會吃掉渡渡鳥的蛋，而每只渡渡鳥一次只產(chǎn)一個蛋，這可能對種群造成毀滅性的影響。然而，我們現(xiàn)在認為，渡渡鳥滅絕的主要原因可能不是外來物種的引入，而是農(nóng)業(yè)的引入。

This meant that the forest, that had once covered all the island and that had provided a perfect home for the dodo, was cut down so that crops such as sugar could be grown. So, although the dodo had survived for thousands of years, suddenly it was gone.

這意味著曾經(jīng)覆蓋整個島嶼并為渡渡鳥提供完美家園的森林被砍伐，以便種植甘蔗等作物。因此，盡管渡渡鳥已經(jīng)存活了數(shù)千年，但突然間它就消失了。

以上就是本期的雅思聽力練習(xí)，希望對您的聽力水平有所幫助。您也可以訪問網(wǎng)站主頁，獲取最新的英語學(xué)習(xí)資料，全方位提升英語能力。