英语听力文摘 English Digest 510、斑马能驯化吗？

 　　Zebra

 

　　After all, domesticating¹ zebras is nothing new. It's not? No. In fact, people have been trying to domesticate² zebras for about a hundred years. So the zebra market has already been cornered? Not exactly. There is no zebra market, because zebras can’t be domesticated³.

 

　　Why not? Compared to horses, zebras are pretty unpredictable. They can be very aggressive and even vicious as they get older. Plus, their body shape doesn’t take a saddle very well. Trying to train and ride a zebra is pretty dangerous.

 

　　So it's impossible?

 

　　Not impossible. Over the years, some zebras have been successfully trained, but as a group they just don’t lend themselves to domestication⁴. Some animal trainers and breeders have created zebra hybrids⁵, such as the “zorse,” a cross between a zebra and a horse, and the “zonkey”, which is what you get when you cross a zebra and a donkey.

 

　　That sounds likes creepy.

 

　　Yeah. So far there’s no specific purpose to creating zebra hybrids; they’re not stronger or more useful than regular horses and donkeys.

 

　　毕竟，驯化斑马并不是什么新奇事。不是吗？是的。事实上，近100年来，人们都试图驯化斑马。所以斑马市场一直处于窘境中？也不是。根本没有斑马市场，因为斑马驯化不了。

 

　　为什么？和普通马比起来，斑马相当难捉摸。他们可能十分具有攻击性，当他们变老时甚至变得凶猛。而且，他们的体型也不适合把鞍具装好。试图驯骑斑马很危险。

 

　　所以驯化他们是不可能的了？

 

　　也不是不可能。多年以来，一些斑马也被成功的驯化了。但是作为一个群种，他们不会让自己被驯化。一些驯兽师和饲养员已经成功的创造了混血斑马，比如斑马马——斑马和马和混血儿；斑驴——当你将斑马和驴杂交就可以得到它。

 

　　听起来让人毛骨悚然。

 

　　是啊，迄今为止，还没有特定目的要去创造混血斑马。斑马并不比普通的马和驴健壮或更有用。

1 domesticating   

v.驯化( domesticate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Domesticating rabbits are the basis of a profitbale fur industry. 驯养野兔是赚钱的毛皮工业的基础。 来自互联网
• In addition, the extent of a facsimile of culture, foreignizing and domesticating are important in translation. 此外，翻译中“文化传真”度的把握，以及译语的异化与归化都至关重要。 来自互联网

2 domesticate   

vt.驯养；使归化，使专注于家务

参考例句：

• Many thousand years ago people learned how to domesticate animals.数千年以前人们就学会了饲养动物。
• If you domesticate this raccoon,it will have trouble living in the wild.如果你驯养这只浣熊，它生活在野外将会有困难。

3 domesticated   

adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He is thoroughly domesticated and cooks a delicious chicken casserole. 他精于家务，烹制的砂锅炖小鸡非常可口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The donkey is a domesticated form of the African wild ass. 驴是非洲野驴的一种已驯化的品种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 domestication   

n.驯养，驯化

参考例句：

• The first was the domestication of animals. 第一个阶段是驯养动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In northwestern China, there is no evidence for endemic domestication of any animals. 在中国西北，没有任何当地动物驯化的迹象。 来自辞典例句

5 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句