国家地理 鳄鱼攻击

Almost ninety percent of all alligators² die in their first two years of life, falling prey³ to other predators⁴ including their own.

所有短嘴鳄中几乎90%都会在一到两岁之间死亡，沦落为其他捕食者（包括它们同类）的猎物。

But normally they don't prey on humans, so why would an alligator¹ attack a woman.

但是通常人类并非它们的猎物，所以为什么短嘴鳄会攻击一名女性呢？

Yovy Jimenez's fatal encounter is the first ever by an alligator in the Fort Lauderdale area. The attacks shock the community.

尤维·希门尼斯的致命遭遇是劳德代尔堡地区的一只短嘴鳄。此次袭击震惊了该社区。

Only seventeen people have been killed by aligators in the last half century.

在过去半个世纪中，仅有17人被短嘴鳄咬死。

But before authorities could make sense of the attack, another incident. This time, just north of Tampa Bay.

但是在官方还未给出解释清楚前，又出了另一场事故。这一次就发生在坦帕湾北部。

Fred Filderbs lives on the bank of a small suburban⁵ canal.

佛瑞德·富力德比住在郊区运河的河岸边。

"My wife saw what appeared to be a pair of pants floating in the water right out of our kitchen window about one o'clock on Saturday. I didn't think anything of it."

“周六约一点的时候，我的妻子从厨房的窗户里看到好像有一条裤子浮在水面。我当时也没多想。”

But the next morning, on Mother's Day, an unsettling discovery was moments away.

但是第二天早晨，母亲节这一天，一个令人不安的发现出现了。

"My wife was still asleep, and so were the kids. I went to the street to get the paper,

“我的妻子还在睡觉，孩子也在睡觉。我出来拿报纸，

and Bailey, the dog that I'm watching bolted to the backyard. I said 'Oh, I'd better to make sure he is OK', so I ran to the backyard."

我看到了被拴在后院的狗狗贝利。我说，我最好去看看它怎么了，所以我跑到后院。”

The dog had led Fred back to the canal.

这只狗把佛瑞德引到运河。

"And I looked at that, that's um...that looks like a pair of pants floating on the water.

“我看到了那个…那条浮在水面上的裤子。

And then just something clicked. That's not what it appears to be.

然后好像有什么东西发出了咔咔声。那不是裤子。

So I ran up to the house and I'm screaming at my wife 'get up, get up, get up, there are something in the pond, I think it's a body.'

所以我跑回家，冲着我的妻子喊道，‘起来，起来，池塘里好像有什么东西，我觉得是一具尸体。’

She, she quickly got up and ran down to the scene, and she said 'Oh, no, those were the pants I saw by those tree though,

她迅速起床并朝着现场跑去，她说，‘不，那些是裤子，

and then there, her sneaker comes just raised above the water. I said 'oh, man, that's not, that's somebody's body."

然后她的运动鞋浮出水面。’我说，‘天啊，那不是裤子，是一具尸体。’

How did this person end up in Fred Filderbs' backyard canal? Authorities determine the body belongs to 43-year-old Judy Cooper.

这个人怎么会死在佛瑞德·富力德比一家的后院运河里呢？官方判定死者是43岁的朱蒂·库珀。

Like Yovy Jimenez, severe bite marks to Judy's remains⁶ also show that an alligator was involved.

和尤维·希门尼斯一样，朱蒂的尸体上也有严重咬痕，这表明短嘴鳄袭击了她。

Incredibly, two women seemed to have fallen victim to alligators just within days of each other. The odds⁷ are astonishing.

让人难以置信的是，似乎两天内，每天都有一位女性成为短嘴鳄的牺牲品。这几件怪事让人诧异。

Lethal⁸ attacks are extremely rare, but then, on the same day, a third victim...

致命袭击极为罕见，但是同一天，又出现了第三名受害者…

1 alligator   

n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼)

参考例句：

• She wandered off to play with her toy alligator.她开始玩鳄鱼玩具。
• Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather.鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。

2 alligators   

n.短吻鳄( alligator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two alligators rest their snouts on the water's surface. 两只鳄鱼的大嘴栖息在水面上。 来自辞典例句
• In the movement of logs by water the lumber industry was greatly helped by alligators. 木材工业过去在水上运输木料时所十分倚重的就是鳄鱼。 来自辞典例句

3 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

4 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

8 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。