国家地理 熊猫预感地震

Did the pandas in China's Wolong Reserve know that Monday's earthquake was coming before it hit? A British tourist watching the pandas as the quake struck offered a keen observation.

中国卧龙保护区里的熊猫提前就预知道了周一要发生地震？地震发生时，一名当时正在观察熊猫的英国游客提供了敏锐的观察。

They had been really lazy and just eaten a little bit of bamboo and, and all of a sudden they were sort of parading around their pen. And, looking back, they must have sensed something was wrong.

它们当时一直都是懒洋洋的，并只吃了一点点竹子，突然，它们全都在围栏周围走来走去。现在回想起来，它们一定是预感到了不对劲的事。

Some scientists say animals can sense impending¹ danger by detecting subtle or abrupt² shifts in the environment. When the tsunami³ hit in 2004, there were reports that elephants in Sri Lanka fled to higher ground well before the waves crashed into the coastline. National Geographic⁴ grantee and Panda researcher Marc Brody says some animal species, such as elephants who are known to hear low frequency sound waves, hear things sonically and may get an early warning.

一些科学家称，通过察觉环境中细微的或突然的变化，动物能感知即将发生的危险。2004年海啸发生的时候，有报道称斯里兰卡的大象在海浪撞击海岸之前逃到了更高处。国家地理的受让人兼熊猫研究员马克·布洛迪表示，某些动物，比如能听到低频声波的大象，会依靠声音听到东西，并提前得到预警

Some animal species have a greater awareness⁵ than humans of vibrations⁶ in the ground. And they may sense smaller tremors⁷ prior to a big earthquake. A group of tourists was airlifted to safety from Wolong and taken to the provincial⁸ capital of Chengdu on Thursday morning.

一些动物比人类对地下震动的感知更敏锐。他们能在大地震发生之前觉察到小的地震。一群游客从卧龙空运到了安全之地，然后在周三早晨被送到了省会成都。

We were looking forward then to moving onto the larger panda, where we were not sure whether that panda was going to come out of the enclosure or whether that someone was going into an enclosure just to be with that panda. So we were waiting for that to happen and then suddenly we had this horrendous⁹ noise which is just what you can't describe out what it's like, it's just a huge huge noise and the land shaking underneath¹⁰ you.

我们那时盼望着接近大熊猫，在那我们不确定熊猫是否会走出围场，或者是否有人会走进围场与熊猫待在一起。因此我们期待着这事的发生，然后突然我们听到了那个可怕的声音，那种无法用言语形容的声音，那种惊天动地的声音并且你脚下的大地都在颤抖。

Twelve Americans, part of a World Wildlife Fund-sponsored tour of China, were visiting the Panda Reserve in Wolong when the earthquake struck.

地震发生时，十二名美国人正在参观卧龙熊猫保护区，他们是由世界野生动物基金会赞助的中国游的部分人员

Certainly it was a surreal experience to be standing¹¹ there going through a, whatever was 7.9 Richter earthquake surrounded by 25 pandas all sort of reacting to that as well.

“站在那里经历里氏7.9级强震无疑是超现实的，周围还有25只熊猫跟我们经历着同样的事。”

Wolong's 86 pandas were reported safe on Tuesday. The 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit on Monday with the epicenter near Wolong Reserve. Rescuers are still making their way to the more remote areas affected¹². So far the death toll¹³ stands at almost 20,000 and is expected to climb higher as rescue efforts progress.

周二，报道称卧龙的86只熊猫都安然无恙。周一发生的7.9级地震的震中就在卧龙附近。救援人员依然在向更偏远的受灾区挺进。目前为止，死亡人数接近两万，随着救援工作的展开这一数字预计会更高。

1 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

2 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

3 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

4 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

6 vibrations   

n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动

参考例句：

• We could feel the vibrations from the trucks passing outside. 我们可以感到外面卡车经过时的颤动。
• I am drawn to that girl; I get good vibrations from her. 我被那女孩吸引住了，她使我产生良好的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 tremors   

震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动

参考例句：

• The story was so terrible that It'sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。
• The story was so terrible that it sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕，它使我不寒而栗。

8 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

9 horrendous   

adj.可怕的，令人惊惧的

参考例句：

• He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.他形容这是自己一生中最可怕的经历。
• The mining industry in China has a horrendous safety record.中国的煤矿工业具有令人不安的安全记录。

10 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。