新奇事件簿 美大猩猩无辜躺枪

Police in the US state of Ohio are going to look into the shooting of a 17-year-old gorilla¹ at Cincinnati Zoo. They will investigate the facts around the killing² of Harambe the gorilla after a four-year-old boy fell into the ape's enclosure³ on Saturday. Video footage showed the gorilla dragging the boy through shallow water in his cage for up to ten minutes. Some people who were at the zoo said they were worried about the little boy's safety. Other people said the gorilla was trying to protect the child and that the animal was becoming upset by the noise from the crowds of people looking at the event. Zookeepers made a decision to shoot the gorilla because they feared for the boy's life.

辛辛那提动物园17岁大猩猩被迫遭射杀，俄亥俄州警方对此进行调查。警方将围绕与射杀哈拉比有关案情进行调查，一名4岁男孩于上周六掉入黑猩猩饲养区。据监控录像显示，猩猩在浅水区对男孩进行拖拽，时间长达10分钟。许多在场市民称他们担心小男孩安危。还有人称猩猩是在保护他，它是被现场噪声吵得躁动不安。因担忧男孩安全，工作人员被迫将猩猩射杀。

Animal rights groups are very angry that the gorilla was shot and killed. They say zookeepers should have used a tranquilizer gun on the animal to put it to sleep. Zookeepers say it would have taken too long for the 200kg gorilla to be sedated⁴. They say this would have been too dangerous. There is now an online petition⁵ that 300,000 people have signed to hold the boy's mother and the zoo accountable for Harambe's death. Many people say the mother should have looked after her son better to stop him from falling into the gorilla's area. The mother said no parent in the world can watch their children every second. She said: "As a society, we are quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off their child."

动物权益组织对射杀一事表示愤慨。称工作人员应使用镇定剂。但要让200公斤重的猩猩镇定下来需要时间。称这样做就将太过危险。30万民众在网上签署请愿书，要求男孩母亲和工作人员承担责任。许多人称母亲应该看好孩子，阻止他进入饲养区。但她称没有人能无时无刻看住孩子。她认为：“作为社会人士，我们都知道孩子无人看管是个什么状态。”

1 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

2 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。

3 enclosure   

n.围绕，圈地，围场，围墙，附件，封入物

参考例句：

• We were led to a fenced enclosure.我们被带到一处用篱笆围住的场地。
• I received your enclosure with gratitude.附件收到，十分感谢。

4 sedated   

v.使昏昏入睡，使镇静( sedate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She's sedated,but she's probably scared out of her mind. 她很安静，但是她可能已经吓疯了。 来自电影对白
• Are you telling me the porn actually sedated you? 你是要告诉我，那毛片的确让你镇静下来吗？ 来自电影对白

5 petition   

n.请愿书，申请书，诉状；v.请愿，正式请求

参考例句：

• Thousands of citizens subscribed the petition.几千名公民在请愿书上签名。
• The number of signers of the petition for a new school snowballed.要求增设新学校而签名的人像滚雪球似的越来越多。