时间:2019-02-13 作者:英语课 分类:英语听力精选进阶版


英语课

Can I Come Down Now? 现在我可以下来了吗?


As one of nature’s top predators 1, the tiger is not an animal that we would ordinarily think of as being chicken.


However, one tiger, which lives in an English zoo, turned out to be more cowardly than his keepers could ever have imagined.


Tanvir, a two-year-old Bengal tiger, got stuck at the top of a new 5m-high activity tower in his enclosure, after climbing it for the first time.


The branching tower had been designed to provide mental stimulation 2 for Tanvir by testing his ingenuity 3, but after scaling the exercise structure in just a few seconds, he lost his nerve when it came to coming back down.


Tanvir went on to spend nearly two days at the top of the tower trying to pluck up the courage to attempt a descent.


A spokesperson for the zoo said that Tanvir had taken half an hour to come down from a smaller structure only 1.5m high previously 4, and that the taller tower had clearly been too much for him.


"Every time he gets to the edge, he looks out, puts a paw over, and thinks, 'no, I'm not doing it!'" said Samantha Cordrey.


In the end Tanvir’s hunger got the better of his fear, and after almost 48 hours he made his way down in order to eat.


And what better way to put such a traumatic ordeal 5 behind you than by tucking in to an entire pig’s head?


It appears that Tanvir is none the worse for his experience, but it is not known if he will find the guts 6 to go back up his exercise tower again.


The whole episode only serves to underline the difficulties faced by zoo staff in creating environments that will stimulate 7 the animals living in enclosed spaces.


"It was made to challenge him but he's a bit of a wimp," said Tanvir’s keeper.


GLOSSARY 词汇表


top predators 最高层的猎食动物 


being chicken 没胆量 


cowardly 胆小的,懦怯的


activity tower 练习锻炼塔 


branching 有分枝的 


mental stimulation 脑力锻炼 


testing his ingenuity 锻炼它的独创性 


scaling 攀登 


exercise structure 练习用建筑结构 


lost his nerve 失去勇气 


pluck up the courage 鼓起勇气 


spokesperson 发言人 


paw 爪子 


got the better of (某某)战胜了(某某)


traumatic ordeal 让人精神受创的经历 


tucking in 尽情的吃 


the guts 胆量 


environments 环境 


enclosed spaces 封闭的环境 


wimp 懦夫,窝囊废



n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 );奴役他人者(尤指在财务或性关系方面)
  • birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
  • The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.刺激,激励,鼓舞
  • The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
  • You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。
n.别出心裁;善于发明创造
  • The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
  • I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。
adv.以前,先前(地)
  • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
  • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。
n.苦难经历,(尤指对品格、耐力的)严峻考验
  • She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
  • Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。
v.狼吞虎咽,贪婪地吃,飞碟游戏(比赛双方每组5人,相距15码,互相掷接飞碟);毁坏(建筑物等)的内部( gut的第三人称单数 );取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 );内脏;消化道的下段;肠
  • I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净,我只需烧一下即可。
  • Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》
vt.刺激,使兴奋;激励,使…振奋
  • Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
  • Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。
学英语单词
absolute catalog
absolute speed drop
Amqui
Apium graveolens L. var. rapaceum DC.
aqmds
auxiliary traction machine
baksheeshed
bear the bell
berloque
betake
breathing exercise
by stealth
charge-transfer device
chronic recurrent appendicitis
circular bore
combustibility test
common seals
comptrollers general
computer-aided manufacturing system
Cuxwold
cyclindole
dactylium alpiniae
daughtery
decayablest
digital character generator
Dmitrovskiy Rayon
drifting automatic radio-meteorological system
drum type shears
Eblis
elastic work schedule system
equilux
eristalinus lugens
fade-in fade-out device
free-ports
full-storage system
genus coragypss
genus corallorhizas
genus phyllocladuss
give them a hand
Graptemys
grid lines device
hexosemonophosphate shunt
high definition camera
Hyades Group
hydrodynamic moment
imbabura
inconstancy
inverted vee
irregular rondo
lacker
Lahemaarahvuspark
Liparis kwangtungensis
little-endian
marketing association
maximum likelihood decision rule
mcclatchy
meat consumption
millimho
minimum admissible dimension
molk
Māsimpur
novacek
open and closed shelter deck ship
operational failure
overcultures
Ponkuto-san
raise doubts
response prevention
rolling characteristic
rubra polycythemia
salmiana
scanlated
sechelle
semiautos
seventeen-year-old
silver storm
sinuses reuniens
solar power tower
split off from sb
stir a bath
stirring up
storytime
stranguria due to disturbance of qi
tetramethylthiuram disulfide
top echelon
toxamin
Transcaucasia
transfer fund
truxene
ultramarine blue
unclaimable
univariate optimum interpolation
unsoaped
urology in childhood
uterus incadiformis
vacillation
Vagay
valve lightening arrester
vasotropic
vibration screen
virtual ampere-turn
wind-borne load