经济学人:有翅膀的恶魔 沿海居民的梦魇

 　　Britain

　　英国

　　The War on Seagulls: Fighting Them on the Beaches.

　　海鸥之战：海滩阻击战

　　Seaside towns are in a flat about belligerent³ birds

　　海边小镇正对这种好战的鸟类严阵以待。

　　SAVOURING the moment before the first bite of a pasty on a beautiful sunny day, Pamela, a holidaymaker, gazed across Porthgwidden beach in St Ives, on the Cornish coast.

　　在一个阳光明媚的日子，一个名为帕梅拉的度假者来到康沃尔海岸，她凝视圣艾夫斯的波斯唯登沙滩，正尽情享受馅饼入口之前的这一刻。

　　She didn’t see the seagull until it was too late.

　　当她看到海鸥的时候为时已晚。

　　The bird missed the pasty but took a chunk⁴ out of her hand.

　　海鸥没咬到馅饼，却咬掉了她手上的肉。

　　Blood poured down her arm and the seagull squawked away.

　　鲜血顺着她的手臂涌出，海鸥叫着飞走了。

　　Seagull attacks are a big problem in coastal⁵ settlements, where about a tenth of Britons live.

　　海鸥的袭击在沿海的居住区是个严重的问题，而有约十分之一的英国人都在沿海地区生活。

　　Politicians want change.

　　政治家们想改变现状。

　　On February 7th Oliver Colvile, MP for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport, led a debate in Parliament about the menace.

　　2月7日，普利茅斯萨顿和德文波特选区的国会议员奥利弗·克维拉在议会上发起了一场关于海鸥威胁的辩论。

　　MPs shared their horror stories.

　　国会议员们分享了他们一个个恐怖的故事。

　　John Woodcock, who represents Barrow and Furness on the north-west coast, spoke⁶ of the “blighted and besieged⁷ people” of his embattled constituency.

　　位于西北海岸的巴罗和弗内斯的代表约翰·伍德科克谈到了他被海鸥围困的选区中饱受摧残、深陷困扰的人们。

　　It is difficult to fight back against the feathered fiends.

　　抵抗这些有羽毛的恶魔是非常艰难的。

　　All species of gull¹ are protected, making a widespread cull⁸ impossible.

　　所有的鸥类物种都是被保护的，因此进行大规模的限量捕杀是不可能的。

　　Yet polls suggest that most Britons—normally a sentimental⁹ bunch when it comes to animals—would like the legislation changed.

　　虽然英国人在涉及到动物问题时一般都多愁善感，但是民意调查却显示大部分的英国人希望通过修改立法。

　　Brexiteers point out that, after leaving the EU, Britain will be able to set more bloodthirsty conservation policies.

　　脱欧支持者们指出，在脱离欧盟之后，英国政府就能够设立更多比较残忍的保护政策。

　　Those in the know see little point in a cull, however.

　　然而，那些知情人士却对限量捕杀不以为然。

　　Among them is Ron Tulley, a local councillor in St Ives, where giant, beady-eyed gulls² saunter down the main drag.

　　其中包括罗恩·塔里，他是圣艾夫斯的地方政务委员会委员，而在圣艾夫斯的主要街道上就有体型巨大、眼睛锐利的海鸥休闲漫步。

　　In July a girl was airlifted to hospital after plunging¹⁰ off a harbour wall when a seagull swooped¹¹ for her ice-cream.

　　在七月份，一只海鸥从天上俯冲而下啄食一个女孩的冰淇淋，导致女孩从海港的堤岸护边上跌落，是救援飞机将她送至医院的。

　　Mr Tulley nonetheless argues that localised culls¹² would not solve the problem.

　　即便如此，塔里仍称局部的限量捕杀并不能解决问题。

　　Seagulls would continue to be attracted by the throngs¹³ of people eating pasties and chips.

　　吃馅饼和薯条的庞大人群会继续诱惑着海鸥。

　　At this time of year up to 750,000 herring gulls (the archetypal seagull) circle over Britain, so a nationwide cull would be costly¹⁴.

　　每年的这个时候，多达七十五万只鲭鸥（通常的海鸥品种）在英国盘旋，所以全国范围内的限量捕杀成本高昂。

　　Seaside towns can wage war in subtler ways.

　　海边小镇可以以更微妙的方式对付海鸥。

　　Rubbish in the streets is sure to attract the birds.

　　大街上的垃圾必然会吸引鸟类。

　　Putting coloured bunting up, or fitting spikes¹⁵ to buildings, deters¹⁶ them.

　　立起鲜艳的旗帜和给建筑安上尖钉阻止了它们乱翻垃圾。

　　But council budgets are tight.

　　但委员会预算紧张。

　　Per-person spending by Cornwall’s local government has fallen by about a fifth since 2009, squeezing spending on the environment and refuse.

　　康沃尔地方政府的人均支出自2009年以来已经下降了约五分之一，这压缩了用于环境治理和废弃物处理的经费。

　　More money looks unlikely to arrive, so tourists will have to stay alert.

　　获得更多的资金来保障安全是不太可能了，所以游客将不得不保持警惕。

　　Seagulls like to approach from behind, which means no more fish and chips with your feet dangling¹⁷ over the harbourside—but at least no nasty surprises.

　　海鸥喜欢从人身后靠近，这就意味着坐在港口双脚闲晃时再不能吃炸鱼和薯条了，但是这样至少能避免引来令人讨厌的“惊喜“。

　　1.horror stories 恐怖故事

　　例句:We hear the horror stories daily.

　　我们每天都会听到可怕的消息。

　　2.beady-eyed 眼光锋利的

　　例句:A beady-eyed cashier called the manager, who demanded my thumbprint on the receipt.

　　眼尖的营业员打电话给经理，经理要求我在收据上按手印。

　　3.point out 指出

　　例句:Critics point out that the prince, on his income, should be paying tax

　　批评家指出王子的收入应该纳税。

　　4.stay alert 保持警惕

　　例句:Experts say the virus is hard to delete and advised mobile phone users to stay alert.

　　专家表示，这种病毒很难删除，建议手机用户保持警惕。

1 gull   

n.鸥；受骗的人；v.欺诈

参考例句：

• The ivory gull often follows polar bears to feed on the remains of seal kills.象牙海鸥经常跟在北极熊的后面吃剩下的海豹尸体。
• You are not supposed to gull your friends.你不应该欺骗你的朋友。

2 gulls   

n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A flock of sea gulls are hovering over the deck. 一群海鸥在甲板上空飞翔。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The gulls which haunted the outlying rocks in a prodigious number. 数不清的海鸥在遥远的岩石上栖息。 来自辞典例句

3 belligerent   

adj.好战的，挑起战争的；n.交战国，交战者

参考例句：

• He had a belligerent aspect.他有种好斗的神色。
• Our government has forbidden exporting the petroleum to the belligerent countries.我们政府已经禁止向交战国输出石油。

4 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

5 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

8 cull   

v.拣选；剔除；n.拣出的东西；剔除

参考例句：

• It is usually good practice to cull the poorest prior to field planting.通常在实践上的好方法是在出圃栽植前挑出最弱的苗木。
• Laura was passing around photographs she'd culled from the albums at home.劳拉正在分发她从家里相册中挑选出的相片。

9 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

10 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 swooped   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来，并把它杀死。

12 culls   

n.挑选，剔除( cull的名词复数 )v.挑选，剔除( cull的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Big business culls the brightest from among college graduates. 大企业从大学毕业生中选拔最优秀的人材。 来自辞典例句

13 throngs   

n.人群( throng的名词复数 )v.成群，挤满( throng的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She muscled through the throngs of people, frantically searching for David. 她使劲挤过人群，拼命寻找戴维。 来自辞典例句
• Our friends threaded their way slowly through the throngs upon the Bridge. 我们这两位朋友在桥上从人群中穿过，慢慢地往前走。 来自辞典例句

14 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

15 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 deters   

v.阻止，制止( deter的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The filth here deters all but the invited guest. 这里污秽不堪，除非有事，外人是裹足不前的。 来自辞典例句
• Many people believe that capital punishment deters crime. 很多人相信极刑能阻止犯罪。 来自互联网

17 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。