国家地理:Giraffe: Tall Tale 长颈鹿

What do you know about giraffes? Well, you almost certainly know they are the tallest quadrupeds on earth, capable of growing up to 19 feet tall. You may know that this height allows these vegetarians¹ to eat the very nutritious² leaves of the acacia thorn tree, here in the woodlands of the Serengeti Plain. They have a large jaw³ that moves sideways as well as up and down, a well-patterned mouth, and lobed⁴ teeth. The teeth comb leaves away from these dangerous thorns.

A giraffe can eat up to 75 pounds of food a day and has to eat 12 hours a day to get all the nutrition it needs. The adult giraffe weighs anywhere from 1800 to 2500 pounds. Its huge neck alone weighs 600 pounds. But it has only seven vertebrae, just like yours. Did you know that giraffes only sleep a half an hour a day? They can only put their heads down briefly⁵ to drink water. Otherwise their heads have to stay higher than their stomachs, or they risk choky.

Now here is an especially rare breed of giraffe, the Rothschild Giraffe. It has white stockings, nope, actually just legs without spots.

Giraffes are mostly gentle. If they are hunted, they can either run away from trouble, or they can use those legs to kick. One kick from those six-foot legs can crush the skull⁶ of a lion.

One final thing I bet you didn't know, about the only thing that needs to defend itself from giraffe attack is the acacia thorn tree. Since their thorns don't deter⁷ the giraffes, they've adapted by growing beyond the giraffes' 19-foot reach.

1 vegetarians   

n.吃素的人( vegetarian的名词复数 )；素食者；素食主义者；食草动物

参考例句：

• Vegetarians are no longer dismissed as cranks. 素食者不再被视为有怪癖的人。
• Vegetarians believe that eating meat is bad karma. 素食者认为吃肉食是造恶业。

2 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

3 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

4 lobed   

adj.浅裂的，叶状的

参考例句：

• The testes are lobed organs. 精巢为叶状器官。 来自辞典例句
• Old World vine with lobed evergreen leaves and black berrylike fruits. 有分裂的常青叶子和黑色小而圆的果实的旧大陆藤蔓植物。 来自互联网

5 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

6 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

7 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。