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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
But their attitude changed when the head of the village fell ill. They blamed the birds and were all set to destroy their nests, but the local government stepped in to protect them.
Bendy bamboo may not be the safest nesting place, but at least this youngster won’t end up at someone’s dinner. These chicks have just had a meal delivered by their mom, quite a challenge for little beaks1. Providing their colonies are protective, wading2 birds like egrets are among the few wild creatures which benefit directly from intensive rice cultivation3.
Growing rice needs lots of water, but even in the rainy south there are landscapes where water is surprisingly scarce. This vast area of southwest China, the size of France and Spain combined, is famous for its clusters of conical hills like giant upturned egg cartons separated by dry, empty valleys. This is the karst, a limestone4 terrain5 which has become the defining image of southern China. Karst landscapes are often studded with rocky outcrops, forcing local farmers to cultivate tiny fields. The people who live here are among the poorest in China.
In neighboring Yunnan Province, limestone rocks have taken over entirely6. This is the famous Stone Forest, the product of countless7 years of erosion, producing a maze8 of deep gullies and sharp-edged pinnacles9. Limestone has a strange property that it dissolves in rainwater. Over many thousands of years water has corroded10 its way deep into the heart of the bedrock itself. This natural wonder is a famous tourist spot, receiving close to 2 million visitors each year. The Chinese are fond of curiously11 shaped rocks, and many have been given fanciful names. No prizes for guessing what this one is called.
But there’s more to this landscape than meets the eye. China has literally12 thousands of mysterious caverns13, concealed14 beneath the visible landscape of the karst. Much of this hidden world has never been seen by human eyes and is only just now being explored.
For a growing band of intrepid15 young Chinese explorers, caves represent the ultimate adventure. Exploring a cave is like taking a journey through time, a journey which endless raindrops will have followed over countless centuries. Fed by countless drips and trickles16, the subterranean17 river carves ever deeper into the rock.
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1 beaks | |
n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 );鹰钩嘴;尖鼻子;掌权者 | |
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2 wading | |
(从水、泥等)蹚,走过,跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
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3 cultivation | |
n.耕作,培养,栽培(法),养成 | |
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4 limestone | |
n.石灰石 | |
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5 terrain | |
n.地面,地形,地图 | |
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6 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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7 countless | |
adj.无数的,多得不计其数的 | |
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8 maze | |
n.迷宫,八阵图,混乱,迷惑 | |
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9 pinnacles | |
顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 ); 顶点; 尖顶; 小尖塔 | |
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10 corroded | |
已被腐蚀的 | |
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11 curiously | |
adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地 | |
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12 literally | |
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实 | |
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13 caverns | |
大山洞,大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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14 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
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15 intrepid | |
adj.无畏的,刚毅的 | |
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16 trickles | |
n.细流( trickle的名词复数 );稀稀疏疏缓慢来往的东西v.滴( trickle的第三人称单数 );淌;使)慢慢走;缓慢移动 | |
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17 subterranean | |
adj.地下的,地表下的 | |
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