纪录片《我们的地球》 第374期 奇迹城市(16)

Losing its fear of humans has enabled one animal to spread into cities everywhere, and in huge numbers.

丧失对人类的恐惧，让一种动物遍布世界各个城市，而且数量庞大。

Pigeons are by far the most successful urban bird.

鸽子是目前最成功的城市鸟类。

Here, in Albi, in the south of France, the pigeons come to the river to bathe.

在法国南部的阿尔比，鸽群飞到河边沐浴。

They need to preen¹ their flight feathers,

它们要整理飞羽，

clean off the city dust, and cool themselves down.

清洗掉城市的灰尘，并给自己降降温。

But death lies in wait.

而死神正埋伏以待。

A predator² that has taken advantage of the very thing that has led to the pigeon's success.

捕食者正是利用了鸽子在城市得以成功生存的法宝。

Their lack of fear.

它们已丧失的恐惧感。

As the pigeons bathe, oil from their plumage flows downstream, and is detected.

鸽子洗澡时，羽毛上的油脂顺流而下，被捕食者察觉。

A monstrous³ Wels catfish⁴.

一条巨大的六须鲶鱼。

Introduced here just 40 years ago, they have proliferated⁵.

虽然才被引入此地四十年，繁殖数量却已大大增长。

Virtually exterminated⁶ the local fish stocks.

几乎迫使本地鱼类灭绝。

And they've now developed a taste for pigeon.

现在它们将猎食对象转向了鸽子。

Their eyesight is poor, so they use their barbels to sense the movements of their victims.

由于视力微弱，它们依靠触须来探测猎物的动静。

This is a radical⁷ new hunting strategy for what is normally a bottom-dwelling fish.

对底栖鱼类来说，这是种全新的捕猎策略。

After a thousand years of living in this city, pigeons are now having to learn to avoid a fish.

在城市居住了上千年之后，鸽子现在却要学会避开水里的鱼。

1 preen   

v.（人）打扮修饰

参考例句：

• 50% of men under 35 spend at least 20 minutes preening themselves every morning in the bathroom.50%的35岁以下男性每天早上至少花20分钟在盥洗室精心打扮。
• Bill preened his beard.比尔精心修剪了他的胡须。

2 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

3 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

4 catfish   

n.鲶鱼

参考例句：

• Huge catfish are skinned and dressed by hand.用手剥去巨鲇的皮并剖洗干净。
• We gigged for catfish off the pier.我们在码头以鱼叉叉鲶鱼。

5 proliferated   

激增( proliferate的过去式和过去分词 )； （迅速）繁殖； 增生； 扩散

参考例句：

• Books and articles on the subject have proliferated over the last year. 过去一年以来，论及这一问题的书和文章大量涌现。
• Influenza proliferated throughout the country. 流感在全国蔓延。

6 exterminated   

v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was exterminated root and branch. 它被彻底剪除了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The insects can be exterminated by spraying DDT. 可以用喷撒滴滴涕的方法大量杀死这种昆虫。 来自《用法词典》

7 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。