纪录片《我们的地球》 第352期 广袤草原(17)

Five hundred miles further north than any tree can survive, grass returns to life.

在树木生存极限八百公里以北的地方，青草春风吹又生。

Caribou¹ females have journeyed to the far north to calve.

雌性北美驯鹿远赴北方，来此产仔。

Over 70,000 caribou babies will be born in the next few days.

超过七万只驯鹿幼崽将在几天内出生。

As the calves² appear, so too do the leaves of the newly sprouting³ grass.

小鹿出生的时候，也正是青草发新芽的时候。

And the calves must strengthen quickly.

幼鹿必须迅速增强体能。

Within days they will have to keep up with their parents on a never-ending march.

几天内他们就将跟随自己的父母踏上无尽的征程。

At one day old, they're already faster than an Olympic sprinter⁴.

第一天，他们的速度就已经超过人类短跑健将。

They're testing the legs that will carry them thousands of miles, better to learn their limitations now.

他们正在测试自己跋山涉水用的四肢，最好现在就知道极限在哪里。

It may look playful, but there's no harder life on the grasslands⁵ than that facing these infants.

看起来很好玩，但草原上最艰苦的生活正等着这些他们。

The caribou mothers now join together, each with an infant exactly the same age.

母驯鹿现在聚集起来，每只都带着一只同样大小的幼鹿。

They're setting off on the greatest overland trek⁶ made by any animal.

她们准备启程，进行陆地上最伟大的长途跋涉。

1 caribou   

n.北美驯鹿

参考例句：

• Afar off he heard the squawking of caribou calves.他听到远处有一群小驯鹿尖叫的声音。
• The Eskimos played soccer on ice and used balls filled with caribou hair and grass.爱斯基摩人在冰上踢球，他们用的是驯鹿的毛发和草填充成的球。

2 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 sprouting   

v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• new leaves sprouting from the trees 树上长出的新叶
• They were putting fresh earth around sprouting potato stalks. 他们在往绽出新芽的土豆秧周围培新土。 来自名作英译部分

4 sprinter   

n.短跑运动员，短距离全速奔跑者

参考例句：

• He is more a sprinter than a swimmer. 他是短跑健将，而不是游泳选手。 来自辞典例句
• The sprinter himself thinks he can run the race at 9.4 seconds. 这位短跑运动员自认为可以用9.4秒跑完比赛。 来自互联网

5 grasslands   

n.草原，牧场( grassland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Songs were heard ringing loud and clear over the grasslands. 草原上扬起清亮激越的歌声。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Grasslands have been broken and planted to wheat. 草原已经开垦出来，种上了小麦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。