时差N小时 不安的大象

Here's a gruesome hypothetical:If you and your family were rounded up, and you were forced to watch as older relatives were killed, how would it affect you?

设想这样一个可怕的场景：你和家人遭受围捕，你被迫目睹长辈被杀，这会对你产生怎样的影响？

Needless to say, you'd be horrified¹.

毫无疑问，你吓坏了。

You'd probably also be deeply disturbed for a long time afterwards. Maybe forever.

你可能会在之后的很长一段时间内都深感不安，或许这种感觉会持续一生。

For some non human species, that grisly scenario² is all too common.

对于除人以外的一些生物而言，这种可怕的场景是十分常见的。

For instance, up until a fewdecades ago elephant populations were regularly culled³.

比如几十年前，大象会经常遭受屠杀，借此控制它们的种群数量。

That is, family groups were herded⁴ into atight space so that hunters could shoot and kill the older individuals.

捕猎者会将整个大象家族赶入一个狭小的空间，并枪杀其中一些年老的大象。

The practice was actually meant to help elephants, because park officials worried they'd grow too numerous and overrun the area.

因为公园管理员担心大象数量的增多会超出园区的负载限度，所以这种猎杀大象的行为实际上是在帮助它们。

But research has shown that the surviving elephants are often deeply disturbed.

但是调查表明，那些在猎杀中幸存下来的大象常常会深感不安。

One study foundthat elephants from a culled group had serious problems with social and other behaviors.

一项研究显示，这些幸存的大象在社交和其他行为方面会出现严重的问题。

For example, a group of orphaned⁵ male elephants killed more than one-hundred rhinoceroses⁶ over adecade-behavior that's highly abnormal.

例如，一群失去亲人的雄性大象在近十年中杀死了一百多头犀牛。这是极端反常的行为。

Another study found that culling⁷ survivors⁸ responded chaotically⁹ to elephant calls broadcast byscientists in a nearby jeep.

失去长辈即失去经验，另一项研究显示，当科学家在那些幸存下来大象附近的一辆吉普车中播放大象的叫声时，它们的回应十分混乱。

The animals seemed at a loss-sometimes taking defensive¹⁰ measures,but not necessarily in response to calls from alien or more socially dominant¹¹ females, as they normally would.

它们显得茫然无措，有时还会采取防御措施。这并不像它们在正常情况下回应外来客或是族群中地位更高的母象所表现出的那样。

Scientists speculate that's because elephants typically learn these important behaviors from their elders.

科学家推测这是因为大象通常会从长辈身上学到这些重要的行为。

And when those elders are culled or poached, the younger elephants may not learn how to respond to potential threats.

当长辈遭受屠杀或偷猎后，年幼的小象在面临潜在威胁时会显得不知所措。

Elephants that don't know how to defend themselves have less chance of surviving and reproducing.

不知道怎样保护自己的大象，其幸存机率便会降低，繁殖能力也会减弱。

Although culling is no longer practiced, poaching is. And it may have similar effects.

尽管如今屠杀大象的行为已经消失，但非法狩猎仍会产生类似的效果。

1 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

2 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

3 culled   

v.挑选，剔除( cull的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The herd must be culled. 必须有选择地杀掉部分牧畜。 来自辞典例句
• The facts were culled from various sources. 这些事实是从各方收集到的。 来自辞典例句

4 herded   

群集，纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 )； 放牧； （使）向…移动

参考例句：

• He herded up his goats. 他把山羊赶拢在一起。
• They herded into the corner. 他们往角落里聚集。

5 orphaned   

[计][修]孤立

参考例句：

• Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。
• He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。

6 rhinoceroses   

n.钱，钞票( rhino的名词复数 )；犀牛(=rhinoceros)；犀牛( rhinoceros的名词复数 )；脸皮和犀牛皮一样厚

参考例句：

• Rhinoceroses and dragons for once will let us walk in peace. 犀牛与龙安歇，让我们能平静地行走。 来自互联网
• Although the rhinoceroses are very heavy, they can run very fast. 犀牛虽然体型笨重，但仍能以相当快的速度行走或奔跑。 来自互联网

7 culling   

n.选择，大批物品中剔出劣质货v.挑选，剔除( cull的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mathematicians turned to culling periodic solutions. 数学家们转而去挑选周期解。 来自辞典例句
• It took us a week to find you, a week of culling out prejudice and hatred. 我们花了一个星期的时间找到你们，把偏见和憎恨剔除出去。 来自演讲部分

8 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

9 chaotically   

参考例句：

• His thoughts churned chaotically in his brain like snowflakes whirling about in the north wind. 头脑里，情思弥漫纷乱像个北风飘雪片的天空。 来自汉英文学 - 围城
• In metal the atoms are arranged not chaotically but in even rows, forming a crystal lattice. 在金属里，原子并不是杂乱无章地排列而是排成平整的行列，构成一个晶格。 来自辞典例句

10 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

11 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。