美語情景對話 第1354期:Birds Don't Fly 不會飛的鳥(1)

Todd: So Rachel, you said that in your home country, New Zealand, there're lots of birds that don't fly?

託德：蕾切爾，你之前說過，你的祖國新西蘭有很多不會飛的鳥。

Rachel: Yes, there are a lot of birds that don't fly.

蕾切爾：對，有很多鳥不會飛。

Todd: Wow, so I only knew of the kiwi and of course the penguin, but I didn't know of other ones. So first the kiwi. It doesn't fly, right?

託德：哇哦，我只知道幾維鳥和企鵝不會飛，不知道其他不會飛的鳥類。首先來說幾維鳥。這種鳥不會飛，對吧？

Rachel: That's the famous one.

蕾切爾：幾維鳥因不會飛而聞名。

Todd: Right.

託德：對。

Rachel: They don't fly but they can run very fast. I've seen them.

蕾切爾：它們不會飛，不過它們跑得非常快。我看到過。

Todd: Like and are the kiwi all over? Like are there different types of kiwi?

託德：到處都能看到幾維鳥嗎？幾維鳥是否有不同種類？

Rachel: Yeah, there are several different varieties. They're very rare though, and they're nocturnal.

蕾切爾：對，有很多種不同的幾維鳥。不過幾維鳥非常稀有，而且它們是夜行動物。

Todd: Oh, nocturnal.

託德：哦，夜行動物。

Rachel: I'd say most New Zealanders have never seen one in the wild. I've only seen them in Kiwi parks.

蕾切爾：我認爲大多數新西蘭人從來沒在野生環境中看到過幾維鳥。我只在新西蘭公園中看到過幾維鳥。

Todd: Oh, really.

託德：哦，真的嗎？

Rachel: Yeah, you don't see them.

蕾切爾：對，一般看不到它們。

Todd: So, I thought they'd be like kangaroos in Australia, or something like you go and there's one.

託德：我本來以爲幾維鳥和澳大利亞的袋鼠一樣，隨處可見。

Rachel: No, they're very precious and very rare. One that you see more often is the pukeko which is ... it looks a little bit like a stork I suppose except it's dark blue.

蕾切爾：不是，幾維鳥非常珍貴，而且很稀有。新西蘭比較常見的動物是紫水雞，看起來有點像鸛，不過紫水雞是深藍色的。

Todd: What's it called?

託德：那種動物叫什麼？

Rachel: Pukeko.

蕾切爾：紫水雞。

Todd: Pukeko.

託德：紫水雞。

Rachel: Ah, yeah, and they're a lot more commom. And takahe is another one.

蕾切爾：對，它們更常見。還有短翅水雞也很常見。

Todd: So the first one ...

託德：第一個……

Rachel: You can see them along the side of the road. When you're driving through the countryside they're much more common.

蕾切爾：你可以在路邊看到它們。開車經過鄉村時經常能看到。

Todd: So this pukeko, does it fly?

託德：紫水雞會飛嗎？

Rachel: No, they don't fly.

蕾切爾：不會，它們不會飛。

Todd: Really, and it's like a stork. It has long legs?

託德：真的嗎？紫水雞和鸛很像。也有長長的腿嗎？

Rachel: It has quite long legs. Yeah, it a very cute little bird, but it's very dark.

蕾切爾：它們的腿的確很長。紫水雞是一種非常可愛的小鳥，不過羽毛的顏色很深。

Todd: How tall is it? Like up to your knee? Up to your hip?

託德：這種鳥體長多少？到你膝蓋嗎？還是能到你的臀部？

Rachel: Up to your knees.

蕾切爾：到膝蓋。

Todd: Really.

託德：是嗎？

Rachel: Cute little bird.

蕾切爾：可愛的小鳥。

Todd: That's awesome. So what was the other one you mentioned?

託德：真不錯。你剛提到的另一種鳥是什麼來着？

Rachel: Takahe. It's very similar looking to that one. It's a little different. It's difficult to tell apart.

蕾切爾：短翅水雞。這種鳥和紫水雞非常像。只有一點兒不同，很難區分。

Todd: Really, and it's also kind of dark blueish.

託德：是嗎？短翅水雞也是深藍色。

Rachel: Yeah, another one's a kakapo. A very famous one. It's New Zealand's flightless green parrot. It's kind of like a large fat parrot that lives on the ground.

蕾切爾：對，另一種鳥名爲鴞鸚鵡，非常有名。這是新西蘭不會飛的綠色鸚鵡。這種鸚鵡體型龐大且肥胖，生活在地上。

Todd: Really.

託德：真的嗎？

Rachel: It's extremely rare. I'm not sure what the numbers are now, but around twenty years ago I think there were only 45 left.

蕾切爾：這種鸚鵡極爲稀有。我不確定現在現存多少隻，不過大約20年前其數量僅剩下45只。

Todd: Oh, that is rare.

託德：哦，那很稀有。

Rachel: Extremely rare, so there's an intensive breeding program for them, and of course nobody's seen those in the wild.

蕾切爾：極爲稀有，所以有關部門實施了鴞鸚鵡集中覆育計劃，當然沒人在野外看到過鴞鸚鵡。

Todd: Yeah, you have to be careful or it'll go like the way of the Tasmanian tiger.

託德：一定要小心，不然就會像塔斯馬尼亞虎一樣滅絕。

Rachel: Yeah, they breed and they nest on the ground. They lay their eggs on the ground, so they're very vulnerable to introduced predators, to any animals.

蕾切爾：對，鴞鸚鵡在地上繁衍、建巢。它們在地上生蛋，所以極易受到外來捕食者和其他任何動物的襲擊。

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重點講解：
1. know of 聽說過；略有耳聞；
I know of him, but I can't really say that I know him.
我只是聽說過他，但是我不能說我認識他。
2. all over 到處；遍及；
We have friends all over the world.
我們的朋友遍天下。
3. tell apart 區分；區別；辨別；
Free range and battery eggs, boiled for four minutes, were hard to tell apart.
柴雞蛋和籠養雞蛋在煮過4分鐘之後很難區分。
4. be vulnerable to 易受傷害的；易受影響的；
Tourists are more vulnerable to attack, because they do not know which areas of the city to avoid.
遊客們最容易受到襲擊，因爲他們不知道應該不去城市裏哪些地區。