托福听力短文 I-13-1

(woman) We've just seen two contemporary large birds that cannot fly: the emu and the ostrich¹. Over here is an interesting specimen² from the past. This stuffed animal is not the giant penguin³ it appears to be, but an auk. This particular kind of auk is very rare --- only 78 skins are known to exist and most are not preserved as well as this one. The great auk, as you can see, was a rather large bird, and it couldn't fly either. However, evidence suggests that the auk was an excellent swimmer and diver. Unfortunately, those abilities did not protect it from being easy prey⁴ for hungry sailors who yeas ago sailed the very cold and often icy waters of Greenland, Iceland, and Scotland. In fact, records indicate that the auk was rather tasty and that its eggs --- Excuse me... that its eggs and feathers were useful as well. Still, it isn't clear what other factors led to the big bird's demise⁵ around 1844, the last time anyone reported seeing one. Of course, we believe it's important to take extra precautions to preserve the remaining great auk skins. After all, these specimens⁶ should prove invaluable⁷ for future scientific research. Does anyone have any questions before we move on to our next bird exhibit?

1 ostrich   

n.鸵鸟

参考例句：

• Ostrich is the fastest animal on two legs.驼鸟是双腿跑得最快的动物。
• The ostrich indeed inhabits continents.鸵鸟确实是生活在大陆上的。

2 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

3 penguin   

n.企鹅

参考例句：

• The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
• He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。

4 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

5 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

6 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。