新奇事件簿 老鼠和山羊一边大

Rats that are the size of sheep might be a good horror movie story. However, scientists from the University of Leicester in England say that in the future, there could really be giant rats on the Earth. They could be as big as sheep and weigh up to 80kg. Rats are spreading all over the Earth. They are now the strongest animals on many small islands. One of the reasons for this is that they travel on ships and relocate toareas that never had rats before. Another reason is that many larger animals are becoming extinct, so there are fewer animals that might kill rats. Researcher Dr Jan Zalasiewicz said: "Given enough time, rats could probably grow to be…the world's largest rodent¹."

老鼠的体型和绵阳一边大这或许是电影中的恐怖故事。但是，来自英格兰莱斯特大学的科学家认为在未来的某一天，地球上或许真的会存在巨型老鼠。他们的体型能够和山羊一边大，体重将达到80公斤。老鼠在全世界的范围极广。如今在许多小型岛屿上，他们是那里最强大的生物。其中一个原因要归功于它们乘船而来，聚集在从没有老鼠生活过的区域。另一个原因是许多大行动物正在灭绝的边缘，所以能够杀害老鼠的动物变得越来越少。研究人员扎拉斯维奇博士称：“如果时间允许，老鼠将很有可能成为世界上最大的啮齿型动物。

Dr Zalasiewicz said rats are one of the best examples of a species that we have spread around the world, and have successfully adapted to many of the new environments. He said: "There will be future thin rats, future fat rats, slow and heavy rats, fast and ferocious² rats, probably future aquatic³ rats - the list goes on." After the dinosaurs⁴ died out, many small animals slowly grew bigger and bigger. The same thing could happen with rats if there are no animals left that hunt and kill them. Dr Zalasiewicz also believes that "super-rats" will start killing⁵ other species to make them extinct. This will have a big impact on food chains. He did not say what humans would do about giant rats running around everywhere.

扎拉斯维奇博士称老鼠是人类在全球传播的例证之一，它们成功地适应了许多新的环境。他认为：“将来可能会出现瘦老鼠、胖老鼠、还有体型庞大，动作迟缓的老鼠，还有轻盈，动作敏捷的老鼠，或许还有能够游泳的老鼠，等等。”恐龙灭绝以后，许多小型动物越长越大。如果地球上没有了其他动物，这样的事情同样也会发生在老鼠身上。扎拉斯维奇博士还相信“超级老鼠”将杀害其他动物，并将其灭绝。这将会对食物链产生巨大的影响。他没有提到当老鼠横行时，人类该怎么做。

1 rodent   

n.啮齿动物；adj.啮齿目的

参考例句：

• When there is a full moon,this nocturnal rodent is careful to stay in its burrow.月圆之夜，这种夜间活动的啮齿类动物会小心地呆在地洞里不出来。
• This small rodent can scoop out a long,narrow tunnel in a very short time.这种小啮齿动物能在很短的时间里挖出一条又长又窄的地道来。

2 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

3 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

4 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。