VOA标准英语2012--Alligators Drift into Florida Canals Near Homes

（单词翻译）

Alligators² Drift into Florida Canals Near Homes

The lowly, ugly alligator¹ is an American success story. An endangered species that was threatened with extinction³ all the way into the late 1980s, it has made such a comeback that there are now millions of the scaly⁴ reptiles⁵. So many that they’re considered a nuisance.

“Gators,” as American alligators are sometimes called, now thrive in a hospitable⁶ habitat: the swamps and wetlands of the southeastern United States. The gator is even the mascot⁷ of the huge University of Florida in Gainesville. 

You’ll see them - the real, grouchy⁸ ones, not the mascots⁹ - sunning on hillocks in the vast Everglades, the wetlands that stretch clear across southern Florida.

Prized for their hides, these menacing reptiles with big eyes and nostrils¹⁰ and bigger teeth had almost been wiped out by poachers and a shrinking habitat as Florida’s fast-growing cities drained the swamps in which alligators once thrived.

But according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there are now an estimated 1.3 million gators in the state - some of them drifting along South Florida’s many canals, and others snatching the occasional egret, swan, or pet dog right out of people’s backyards.

The gators float nearby, looking for all the world like logs, then rush out of the water on their stubby legs - at the surprising speed of 11 kilometers an hour - to nab their startled prey¹¹. These frightening reptiles, which can reach four-and-one-half meters long and 450 kilograms in weight, then drag their victims back underwater and roll and twist them until they drown.?

Every year, a few human swimmers, dog-walkers, or those who dangle¹² their feet enticingly¹³ off a canal dock suffer the same fate.

No wonder these cold-blooded beasts - in both physiology¹⁴ and outlook on life - are the stars of shows put on for tourists. Florida’s native Seminole Indians, and muscular young men in theme parks such as Sunken Gardens in Saint Petersburg, wrestle¹⁵ the meanest-looking gators you can imagine - lifting the thrashing reptiles out of a tank and holding them up for tourists to take pictures.

Alligators are a long way down the evolutionary¹⁶ tree when it comes to intelligence. Their brains are the size of a large bean. But they’re said to be smart by reptilian¹⁷ standards. 

Still, one gator-wrestler we met told us he could go after an alligator a thousand times in a row, and the gator would think he was a new threat every time. 

He isn’t, but the gator is to him.