英语听力：Wild China 美丽中国 -11

 But the visitors are not what they seem.

 

Zhe Shuzheng and her son live nearby. Zhe has been caring for her local alligators² for over 20 years, so she had a fair idea when the eggs were likely to hatch³. Back home, she's built a pond, surrounded by netting to keep out predators⁴ where her charges will spend the next 6 months until they are big enough to fend⁵ for themselves.

 

 

For the past 20 years, small-scale conservation projects like this are all that have kept China's 150 wild alligators from extinction⁶.

 

Just south of the alligator¹ country, dawn breaks over a very different landscape -- the 1800-meter-high granite⁷ peaks of the Huangshan or Yellow Mountain. To the Chinese, Huangshan's pines epitomize the strength and resilience of nature. Some of these trees are thought to be over a thousand years old.

 

Below the granite peaks, steep forested valleys shelter surprising inhabitants, Huangshan macaques, rare descendants⁸ of  the Tibetan macaques of western China are unique to these mountain valleys where they enjoy strict official protection.

 

After a morning spent in the treetops, the troop is heading for the shade of the valley, a chance for the grownups to escape the heat and maybe pick up a lunch snack from the stream.

 

As in most monkey societies, social contact involves a lot of grooming⁹. Grooming is all very well for grownups. But young macaques have energy to burn.

 

 

Like so much monkey business, what starts off as a bit of playful rough-and-tumble soon begins to get out of hand.

 

The alpha male has seen it all before. He's not in the least bothered. But someone or something is watching, with a less-than-friendly interest.

1 alligator   

n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼)

参考例句：

• She wandered off to play with her toy alligator.她开始玩鳄鱼玩具。
• Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather.鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。

2 alligators   

n.短吻鳄( alligator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two alligators rest their snouts on the water's surface. 两只鳄鱼的大嘴栖息在水面上。 来自辞典例句
• In the movement of logs by water the lumber industry was greatly helped by alligators. 木材工业过去在水上运输木料时所十分倚重的就是鳄鱼。 来自辞典例句

3 hatch   

n.孵化，舱口；vt.孵，孵出，策划；vi. 孵化

参考例句：

• No one knows how the new plan will hatch out.谁也不知道这新方案将怎样制订出来。
• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。

4 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

6 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

7 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

8 descendants   

n. 后代，后裔 名词descendant的复数形式

参考例句：

• They were the direct descendants of the Dutch settlers. 他们是荷兰移民的直系后裔。
• They are the descendants of Queen Victoria. 他们是维多利亚女王的后裔。

9 grooming   

n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发

参考例句：

• You should always pay attention to personal grooming. 你应随时注意个人仪容。
• We watched two apes grooming each other. 我们看两只猩猩在互相理毛。