国家地理-2008-10-13 纳米比亚的野生世界

From the air, Namibia looks almost uninhabited. Boom towns near depleted¹ diamond mines lie abandoned. Shipwrecks² dock the beaches of the skeleton coast. Salt pans, the largest in Africa, reflect sterile³ white light. 1,200 feet high sand dunes⁵ crest⁶ over empty wastes. The great sprawling⁷ Namib Desert stretches some 1,000 miles. No life seems to exist as far as the eye can see. But that's only from the air.

 

On the ground, life has adapted to this extreme environment. An early morning fog carries water across the sands. Beetles⁸ race to the top of dunes to collect moisture. This green-gaze adder⁹ sips¹⁰ dewdrops from its skin. Soon, the temperatures rise with the sun. To minimize contact with the hot desert sand, the adder side winds its way at the dune⁴. A four-legged relative employs a similar technique. Burying under the sand can help avoid the heat, and help find a meal. The desert has many opportunities if you know where to look.

 

Further along the coast, thousands of fur seals hunt for food in the south Atlantic. These beaches are the breeding grounds for the fur seals, and the hunting grounds for jackals and brown hyenas¹¹, also known as strand¹² wolves. They will strike at any pup left unguarded or alone, then retreat back into the desert.

 

In the interior, Salt Pans Harbor—— Namibia's most famous national park, Etosha. Animals of all shapes and sizes flock to the springs around salt pan's edge. The waters attract the thirsty and the hungry.

 

Wherever there is water, there is life. Deserts become forests; cities bloom; people and animals collide. But there is room enough for both in the wild open spaces of wild Namibia.

 

Uninhabited: an uninhabited place does not have anyone living there
Depleted: being used up gradually and only hints at harmful
Sterile: Not producing or incapable of producing offspring
Crest: to reach the top of a hill or mountain
Employ: to use a particular object, method, skill etc in order to achieve something
Jackal: 亚洲胡狼，豺狼：生长在非洲和南亚的一种犬属 的似狗的哺乳动物，主要掠食植物、小动物，

           偶尔吃动物的腐肉
Hyena: 土狼，鬣狗：非洲和亚洲狼科中几种食肉哺乳动物的任何一种，吃食与食腐动物一样，颚有力，

           后腿相对较短，毛发粗糙

1 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

2 shipwrecks   

海难，船只失事( shipwreck的名词复数 )； 沉船

参考例句：

• Shipwrecks are apropos of nothing. 船只失事总是来得出人意料。
• There are many shipwrecks in these waters. 在这些海域多海难事件。

3 sterile   

adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• This top fits over the bottle and keeps the teat sterile.这个盖子严实地盖在奶瓶上，保持奶嘴无菌。
• The farmers turned the sterile land into high fields.农民们把不毛之地变成了高产田。

4 dune   

n.(由风吹积而成的)沙丘

参考例句：

• The sand massed to form a dune.沙积集起来成了沙丘。
• Cute Jim sat on the dune eating a prune in June.可爱的吉姆在六月天坐在沙丘上吃着话梅。

5 dunes   

沙丘( dune的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The boy galloped over the dunes barefoot. 那男孩光着脚在沙丘间飞跑。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat. 将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

6 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

7 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

8 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 adder   

n.蝰蛇；小毒蛇

参考例句：

• The adder is Britain's only venomous snake.蝰蛇是英国唯一的一种毒蛇。
• An adder attacked my father.一条小毒蛇攻击了我父亲。

10 sips   

n.小口喝，一小口的量( sip的名词复数 )v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• You must administer them slowly, allowing the child to swallow between sips. 你应慢慢给药，使小儿在吸吮之间有充分的时间吞咽。 来自辞典例句
• Emission standards applicable to preexisting stationary sources appear in state implementation plans (SIPs). 在《州实施计划》中出现了固定污染的排放标准。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

11 hyenas   

n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These animals were the prey of hyenas. 这些动物是鬣狗的猎物。 来自辞典例句
• We detest with horror the duplicity and villainy of the murderous hyenas of Bukharinite wreckers. 我们非常憎恨布哈林那帮两面三刀、杀人破坏，干尽坏事的豺狼。 来自辞典例句

12 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。