英语听力精选进阶版 7096

Background: 北爱尔兰的贝尔法斯特动物园正在寻找一位曾在二战时期照顾过一只动物园大象宝宝的善良姑娘。恰逢该动物园创办75周年纪念日，动物园方面宣布，正式开始寻找这位曾在自己家花园看养大象的姑娘。

The baby elephant, Sheila, was moved out of Belfast Zoo because of fears she might be hit by bombers¹ 轰炸机 during the Belfast Blitz 贝尔法斯特闪电战 of 1941.

She was one of the lucky ones. A lot of the animals were killed because of fears they might escape during the bombing and attack people. They included a tiger, a black bear, a lynx, a hyena², and two polar bears.

But Sheila was walked down the road by zoo-keepers 动物园饲养员 to a nearby house where a woman gave her sanctuary³ 庇护 in her backyard 后院 for several months until the bombing was over.

The woman has never been identified and the zoo knows her only as "the elephant angel 天使".

As it celebrates its 75th birthday the bosses have decided⁴ to try to identify 寻找 her. Mark Challis is the manager of Belfast Zoo. He explained a bit more about Sheila's story.

"Well we know that Sheila, the elephant that was in the zoo at that time spent some time living with a lady relatively⁵ near to the zoo and we have one sweet photograph, you can see it on our zoo website.

"We have a photograph of the elephant with the lady and friend, honestly and literally⁶ in her back garden and that's roughly all we know.

"So we're just trying to find a little bit more information and maybe, not sure that the lady might be alive, but maybe her relatives 亲戚 or somebody will recognise 认出 the back of that house and we can fill in 填写 some detail on this story."

Once the bombing was over, Sheila went back to the zoo and lived for another quarter of a century 25年. She died of a skin complaint 皮肤疾病 in 1966.

GLOSSARY⁷ 词汇表

bombers 轰炸机

the Belfast Blitz 贝尔法斯特闪电战

zoo-keepers 动物园饲养员

sanctuary 庇护

backyard 后院

angel 天使

identify 寻找

relatives 亲戚

recognise 认出

fill in 填写

quarter of a century 25年

skin complaint 皮肤疾病

Questions and Answers

1. What was the name of the elephant?

The elephant was called Sheila.

2. How did the elephant get from the zoo to the lady’s garden?

The zoo-keepers walked with the elephant from the zoo to the lady’s house.

3. How long was the elephant in the lady’s garden?

The elephant was in the lady’s garden for several months until the bombing was over.

4. How many years has the zoo been open?

The zoo has been open for 75 years.

1 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 hyena   

n.土狼，鬣狗

参考例句：

• African hyena noted for its distinctive howl.非洲鬣狗，以其特别的嚎叫而闻名。
• The hyena's public image is not aided by its ridiculous appearance.鬣狗滑稽的外表无助于改善它在公众心中的形象。

3 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。