英语听力：自然百科 特立尼达岛上的独特鸟类

 Dawn on the tropical island of Trinidad. Birds are arousing in the trees, calling, flashing brilliant colors amidst the endless shades of green, and Roger Neckles is arousing too. For the last decade, he has been documenting the island's winged inhabitants. 

 

"We've just got passed by a hummingbird¹. Did you hear that?"

 

“Close your eyes and just imagine you died and went to heaven, and you're in the Garden of Eden. It's just so incredibly beautiful, flowers everywhere, myriad² variety of brilliantly colored birds, butterflies zipping all over the place. It’s just like paradise. It's fantastic.”

 

“This is the best time of the day for me, getting up, you know, 5 o'clock in the morning,  then heading off into the stakes, you know, up in the mountains. And the atmosphere or temperature up here is just fantastic, with pure oxygen(s). It's the typical day in the office for me.”

 

Birds are Roger's passion, and the Asa Wright Nature Center where he works draws amateur and professional ornithologists from many countries, just to catch a glimpse of some of the planet's most dazzling and unique birds.

 

“It's so fast you know, you just really got to be quick on the draw, otherwise you’ll miss him. Got him. Here you go. Oh, look at that purple honeycreeper. Whoa. The color is so unique, the fantastic state of purple.”

 

There are some 460 species of birds on the island, and Neckles is trying to catch them all on film. It is painstaking³ work.

 

“But if you're not prepared to, to wait for the shot, you won't get it.”

 

Neckles has studied the birds' habits and calls tirelessly.

 

“Come on, talk to me. But these birds skillfully with their beaks⁴ and their feet, you know, stitch and weave these, these, these nests together, and they are really strong. They build them on the edges of, the very edges of the branches, and, and winds come, hurricanes will come, and you know, gale⁵ will swing them. They wouldn't blow down.”

 

Over the years, Neckles has found his own place in these woods.

 

“I came here in 1978, and I was so enchanted⁶ with its topography overland here in Trinidad and Tobago that I thought, ‘oh yes, I could do this’.”

 

“Oh, look, check this out, check this out, Look at this. Look at this… Watch this. Watch this...”

 

Through his research, Neckles has come to know all the wildlife on the island.

 

“Wow, you don't wanna get your fingers in there.”

 

But time and again, it is the birds that draw him into the woods. This morning he hopes to capture on-film a very tiny elusive⁷ bird.

 

“Oh, look at this. This is the most festive⁸ hummingbird in Trinidad and Tobago, the smallest hummingbird in Trinidad and Tobago. It’s tough to go get. Oh, look at it …”

 

He’s been trying for 6 weeks to get this shot, an agonizing⁹ wait that comes down to a breathless moment.

 

“I'm very very high right now. Though goose bumps are all on my arms, this is still fantastic.”

 

Neckles does not mind waiting for that perfect moment. Like the birds he follows, he lets the morning and its beauty unfold around him.

 

“No plans to give this up at all because, you know I feel I could do this for the rest of my life, and every time I go out, I see something new.”

1 hummingbird   

n.蜂鸟

参考例句：

• The hummingbird perches on a twig of the hawthorn.小蜂鸟栖在山楂树枝上。
• The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backward.蜂鸟是唯一能倒退向后飞的鸟。

2 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

3 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

4 beaks   

n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 )；鹰钩嘴；尖鼻子；掌权者

参考例句：

• Baby cockatoos will have black eyes and soft, almost flexible beaks. 雏鸟凤头鹦鹉黑色的眼睛是柔和的，嘴几乎是灵活的。 来自互联网
• Squid beaks are often found in the stomachs of sperm whales. 经常能在抹香鲸的胃里发现鱿鱼的嘴。 来自互联网

5 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

6 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

7 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

8 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

9 agonizing   

adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式)

参考例句：

• I spent days agonizing over whether to take the job or not. 我用了好些天苦苦思考是否接受这个工作。
• his father's agonizing death 他父亲极度痛苦的死