国家地理 冰岛的海雀

On a rocky beach in Iceland, two youngsters are on a mission of mercy. Inside their cardboard box, they have two orphans¹, fledglings plucked from the streets of town, baby puffins. The children of Heimaey have been saving young puffins called pufflings for generations. In fact, at the end of the summer, releasing them by the hundreds to the safety of the sea has become a local tradition.

在冰岛的岩石海滩上，两名年轻人正在执行一项仁慈的任务。在他们的纸板箱里，有两个孤儿，从街上捡来的雏鸟，海雀宝宝。赫马岛的孩子们世世代代都在拯救被称为pufflings的幼海雀。事实上，在夏末，数百只海豚被释放到安全的海域已经成为当地的传统。

"They have to save the birds, well, if they don't do it, they'll die. They find it very exciting."

“他们必须拯救鸟类，如果他们不这样做，他们会死的。”他们觉得这很令人兴奋。”

Exciting obviously for the kids who get to throw live birds into the air and watch them fly away. But no doubt it's a little nerve-racking for the recently born pufflings. The problem for the pufflings is that when they are old enough, they leave their burrows² in the cliffs and head out to sea. But the lights of the town confuse them. Instead of flying out to sea, they fly into town where they crash land and end up on the streets. That's where the puffling patrols come in. Each night, during the month of August, Moms and Dads lead troops of kids through town looking for wayward pufflings. They use flashlights to search the ground near buildings and street lights. The piers³ are particularly popular place.

对于那些把活鸟扔到空中并看着它们飞走的孩子们来说，这显然很令人兴奋。但对于刚出生不久的海雀来说，这无疑有点伤脑筋。这些海雀的问题是，当它们长大了，它们会把洞穴留在悬崖上，然后出海。但是城市的灯光使他们迷惑。他们不是飞向大海，而是飞向城镇，在那里他们迫降并最终流落街头。这就是海雀巡逻队的由来。在八月的每个夜晚，爸爸妈妈们都带领着一群孩子在城里寻找任性的小鸭。他们用手电筒在建筑物和路灯附近搜寻地面。桥墩特别受欢迎。

"Oh hey guys, look i's there, it's there!"

“嘿，大家看，我在那儿，在那儿!”

When a bird is spotted⁴, the kids rush to scoop⁵ it up, and bring it in off the mean streets of Heimaey for the night. It's hard work. The following day all the birds that landed in friendly hands are transported to the seashore, pointed⁶ in the right direction, and given their flying orders. The kids seem to be having a great time. Apparently⁷ there is a proper way to release the pufflings. First, the proper grip, then, the right technique. With its wings free and flapping, the idea is to cock your arm like a quarterback, and throw a short path. Whether they swim to safety or fly off over the North Atlantic, one wonders what kind of impact all this has on this species as a whole. The world's largest Atlantic puffin colonies are found in Iceland, containing some 8 to 10 million birds. They are still flourishing with a little help from some strong arms and big hearts.

当一只鸟被发现时，孩子们就会赶着把它从赫马岛的街道上捡起来过夜。这是艰苦的工作。第二天，所有落在这些善良人手里的鸟儿都被送到海边，指向正确的方向，发出飞行命令。孩子们似乎玩得很开心。很明显，有一种适当的方法可以释放这些海雀。首先，适当的抓地力，然后，正确的技术。当你的手臂像四分卫一样翘起，然后抛出一条短道时，它的翅膀就会自由地拍打着。不管它们是游到安全的地方，还是飞越北大西洋，人们都想知道这对整个物种有什么影响。在冰岛发现了世界上最大的大西洋海雀群，约有800万到1000万只。在一些强壮臂膀和宽厚的心的帮助下，它们仍然茁壮成长。

1 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

2 burrows   

n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻

参考例句：

• The intertidal beach unit contains some organism burrows. 潮间海滩单元含有一些生物潜穴。 来自辞典例句
• A mole burrows its way through the ground. 鼹鼠会在地下钻洞前进。 来自辞典例句

3 piers   

n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩

参考例句：

• Most road bridges have piers rising out of the vally. 很多公路桥的桥墩是从河谷里建造起来的。 来自辞典例句
• At these piers coasters and landing-craft would be able to discharge at all states of tide. 沿岸航行的海船和登陆艇，不论潮汐如何涨落，都能在这种码头上卸载。 来自辞典例句

4 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

5 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。