英语听力文摘 English Digest 422、动物也爱散步？

动物也爱散步？

When you’ve been to the zoo have you noticed how some of the animals pace around a lot?

Scientists think the problem might be that the animals miss the freedom to roam. That make sense. After all, a polar bear’s natural range is about the size of South Carolina. Right. And the typical zoo habitat is about one millionth of that.

Researchers in Oxford¹ studied the pacing behavior of thirty-five captive species using data from over one thousand scientific articles published since the 1960s. When they analyzed² this data–which represented more than five hundred zoos worldwide–they determined³ that the deciding factor for pacing was range size.

That also explains why stay-close-to-home species like snow leopards tend to thrive in zoos. So what happens now?

Well, one option is for zoos to build larger, more varied habitats, and switch enclosures periodically to simulate roaming. But a better option might be to phase animals like polar bears out of zoos, and focus instead on those animals that do well in captivity.

The problem is that this is a double-edged sword: these animals’ natural habitats are increasingly threatened as well.

你去动物园的时候有没有注意到，有些动物喜欢到处走动？

科学家认为这可能是因为它们被剥夺了散步的自由。有道理。一只北极熊自然分布范围为整个南卡罗莱纳州。对。而一般动物园的大小只是南卡罗莱纳州百万分之一。

牛津的研究人员调查了从20世纪60年代发表了一千多篇科学论文里的数据，是关于35个圈养物种的散步习性。他们对这些数据研究后发现：这些数据代表了世界上500多个动物园，他们因此确定散步习性的决定因素是动物的分布范围。

那就可以解释：为什么留守家园附近的物种像雪豹在动物园很多了。现在呢？

一个选择就是把动物园建大一点，更多样化和定期变换围墙促进动物们散步。但还有一个更好的选择就是将那些像北极熊的动物走出动物园，多关注那些能够圈养的动物。

问题在于这是把双刃剑：这些动物的自然习性会受到很大的影响。

 

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。