英语听力精选进阶版 6114（在线收听）

Divers Battle Deadly Dragon 潜水员与龙搏斗

What does the word dragon make you think of?

The chances are, if you are thinking of a Chinese dragon or 'long', you will think of a long serpent-like mythical creature which is benevolent, wise and lucky.

In a Western cultural context, what people call dragons are quite different; fearsome, fire-breathing creatures which look like dinosaurs, live in caves and guard piles of treasure.

But for three British divers who found themselves washed up on a remote Indonesian island last week, there was little time to worry about the symbolic significance of dragons.

Instead they found themselves having to fight off a real "man-eating" Komodo dragon.

Dehydrated and exhausted after treacherous currents had carried them for 12 hours through shark-infested waters, the divers' relief at reaching dry land must have been short-lived when they found themselves face-to-face with a Komodo dragon.

Komodo dragons are the largest living lizards in the world, can grow to over two metres long, and are very dangerous.

The animals have sharp teeth, long muscular tails and toxic saliva, which contains over 80 kinds of bacteria. Their prey, which includes large mammals such as goats, deer, and very occasionally humans, become infected with this lethal cocktail of bacteria and die within a couple of days of being bitten.

In this case, the frightened divers pelted the animal with sticks and rocks until it slithered away into the jungle. They then survived by eating shellfish until they were rescued.

So are these lizards, of which only 4,000 survive in the wild, as scary as they sound? Ian Stephen, who looks after two Komodos in London Zoo says the animals are actually very intelligent and love playing.

Just be careful which games you play with them.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

serpent-like 像蛇的

mythical creature 神秘动物

benevolent 乐善好施的

fearsome 令人生畏的

fire-breathing 口吐火焰的

divers 潜水员

washed up 冲上（岸边）

symbolic significance 象征意义

fight off 反击

dehydrated 脱水的

treacherous currents 暗流；险流

shark-infested 鲨鱼遍布的

short-lived 短命的；一时的

muscular （肌肉）强健的

toxic saliva 有毒唾液

bacteria 微生物

prey 被捕食的动物；受害者

lethal cocktail （致命的鸡尾酒）致命毒液

slithered 蜿蜒爬行

in the wild 野生的