英国新闻听力 科学家正在研究企鹅为何蹒跚而行（在线收听）

Scientists are trying to get to the bottom of one of nature’s most distinctive walks, a penguin’s waddle.A team from UK’s Royal Veterinary College and the University of Texas have been studying the birds at London Zoo. Our correspondent Rebecca Morale went down there to find out more.

I’m here at London Zoo’s penguin beach. I think we are gonna try and get one to say hello. And they’ve come to London Zoo setting up an experiment here so that they can analyze every tiny movement they make. How did you get them to go across the track? Did they behave?

They did behave. The did like walking across the track, but the actual setting up process was a bit of a problem because the penguins were attracted to really expensive equipment. And they were really keen on destroying it.

So love destroying equipment as we found out. I’m also joined here by James. He’s come all the way from the University of Texas to look at the penguins. Now what are you hoping to find out cuz it turns out thatpenguins havn’t always waddled, have they?

No, it’s first we know the earliest known penguins from the fossil record looks very different. Although we know that they were swimming in the water using their wings and they weren’t flying. They had a lot ofthings about their skeleton that shows us that maybe they are moving differently on land. So we are tryingto understand more about how living penguins work.

They are swimming absolutely beautifully cutting through the water.

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that they are so good at being aquatic birds. The dominant hypothesis is that waddling seems to have a lot to do with their body shape. So we think that that has somethingto do with it.

The penguins here don’t really like doing what they’re told. The experiments have been very very funny. And they are also a bit vicious I found out this morning. I’ve been savaged. I’ve been pecked.

Rebecca Morale with the penguins at London Zoo.

Forensic scientists said they found the tomb of Spain’s most celebrated writer Miguel de Cervantes nearlyfour hundred years after his death.

A team of forensic scientists looking for the remains of one of Spain’s greatest writers Miguel de Cervantes have announced they’ve found his tomb in a small convent in Madrid. The author of Don Quixote was buried in 1616, but his body was lost after it was moved into a new church. In January, researchers found a number of adult bones in Madrid’s Literary Quarter.

It’s March 17th today which means it’s St. Patrick’s Day, a day to celebrate if you are an Irish. But the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has decided to join in. His special address to mark the day has come under fire both at home and abroad for his tone.

This is the one day of the year when it's good to be green. As you can see I’ve got my green tie on for this occasion.

科学家们正在研究自然界最与众不同的一种走姿——企鹅的蹒跚步伐。来自英国皇家兽医学院和德克萨斯大学的团队正在伦敦动物园研究这种鸟类。本台记者丽贝卡·莫拉莱前往那里进行详细报道。

我现在位于伦敦动物园的企鹅滩，我觉得还是让企鹅派个代表跟我们打招呼吧。科学家们来到伦敦动物园开始做实验，分析企鹅的每个微小动作。你是怎么让它们走过轨道的？它们照做吗？

它们会照做，它们很喜欢从轨道上走过，但实验的操作过程还是遇到了点麻烦，企鹅很喜欢靠近昂贵的设备，并且非常热衷于搞破坏。

噢，原来它们喜欢破坏实验设备。站在我身边的还有詹姆斯，他从德克萨斯大学远道而来，就是为了观察这些企鹅。你希望得出怎样的发现？因为据说企鹅并非一直蹒跚而行，是吗？

对，首先我们知道，目前最早的企鹅化石和现在的企鹅样貌差别很大。虽然我们知道早期的企鹅凭借翅膀在水里游，不会飞，但是它们的骨骼包含的信息量很大，可以推测出也许它们在陆地上的走姿会非常不同。所以，我们正在试图了解现在的企鹅是怎样走路的。

它们用翅膀划过水面，泳姿非常优美。

我认为企鹅的走姿和它们是擅长游泳的水鸟很有关系。目前的主流假设是，蹒跚而行似乎和它们的体型关系很大。所以我们认为这是主要的原因。

这里的企鹅可不大喜欢听话。实验过程也非常非常滑稽。而且今天早上我发现它们还有点恶毒，对我动粗，乱咬。

丽贝卡·莫拉莱在伦敦动物园带来有关企鹅的报道。

法医科学家称他们找到了西班牙最著名的作家——米格尔·德·塞万提斯的墓穴，这距离塞万提斯去世已近400年。

一个法医科学家小组一直以来都在寻找西班牙一位最伟大作家——米格尔·德·塞万提斯的遗骸。日前，他们宣布在马德里的一座小修道院内找到了他的墓穴。这位《堂吉诃德》的作者葬于1616年，但他的遗体在被转移到一座新的教堂后就失踪了。一月份，研究人员在马德里的“文学区”发现了许多成年人的遗骨。

今天是3月17日，也就是圣帕特里克节，所有爱尔兰人都庆祝的节日。然而，澳大利亚总理托尼·阿博特决定也参与进来。他发表的节日特别讲话因语气问题遭到国内外的炮轰。

又到了每年应该穿绿色的日子，你们看，我为了这个节日还专门配了条绿领带。