纪录片《南太平洋》 第131期 奇异岛屿（07）

The sharp teeth and rough scales of the needlefish are tangled¹ in the spider silk.

有着锋利的牙齿和粗糙的鱼鳞的颚针鱼受到了蜘蛛丝的迷惑

It's clever, it's effective...and many fish can be caught in this way.

灵巧而又有效...许多鱼就用这种方法捕获

Their ability to adapt and find food both on land and at sea was

适应了既能在海洋也能在陆地觅食的技能是

crucial to the survival of the Pacific's first human colonisers.

太平洋首批人类开拓者生存的关键

But it wasn't all plain sailing...the Pacific's more remote islands

但并非一切都是顺利的...太平洋许多偏远岛屿是

were some of the last places on Earth to be discovered by humans.

人类最晚发现的一些地方

And the island chain of Hawaii is the remotest of them all.

夏威夷列岛是其中最偏僻的

These islands are so hard to reach that before humans arrived,

人类到达前这些岛屿很难触及

only one new species of plant or animal turned up here every 35,000 years.

每隔35000年才会有一个新的植物或动物物种出现在这里

For those lucky few that made it, this was a land of milk and honey.

对于那些幸运到达的 这是一片肥沃而丰裕的土地

This bird's beak² is perfect for sipping³ nectar from tubular flowers.

这只鸟嘴能完美地从管状花朵中吸取花蜜

It's an 'I'iwi...a long-billed honey creeper only found in Hawaii.

这是镰嘴管舌鸟...一种只在夏威夷发现的长嘴吸蜜鸟

But when blown to these shores four million years ago, its ancestors looked very different

400万年前曾在这些海岸兴盛，它们的祖先外形非常不同

Those first Hawaiian honey creepers were finch-like, with short bills,

起初夏威夷吸蜜鸟像雀鸟，有着短短的嘴

perhaps quite similar to this modern honey creeper, the palila.

或许体形也比现在的黄胸拟管舌鸟要小

Its stout⁴ bill is perfect for ripping open tough seed pods.

它结实的嘴能劈开坚果的壳

But once here, the honey creepers made the most of it,

但在这 吸蜜鸟为了充分利用嘴

evolving into a variety of birds with some very distinctive⁵ bills.

进化成多种带有特色嘴部的鸟

1 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

2 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

3 sipping   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink. 她坐在阳光下懒洋洋地抿着冷饮。
• She sat there, sipping at her tea. 她坐在那儿抿着茶。

4 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

5 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。