纪录片《非洲》 第71期:撒哈拉沙漠（12）

搜索

复制

But the birds need to be careful,

但鸟儿们需要加倍小心

for the sun has played a terrible trick.

因为太阳开了一个可怕的玩笑

This oasis¹ is poisonous.

绿洲里的水是有毒的

Intense evaporation² over thousands of years

上千年的剧烈蒸发

has left the water saltier than the sea.

使得此片水源的盐度超过了海水

As if to underline the horror,

更为恐怖的是

the place is infested³ by vast swarms⁴ of flies.

大量的苍蝇聚集于此

But this plague is a birds' salvation⁵.

然而这些疫虫是候鸟们的救星

The flies are filled with freshwater, filtered from the brine.

它们能将盐水过滤 使体内充满淡水

So, like a desert wanderer squeezing a drink from a cactus⁶,

就像沙漠迷途者挤压仙人掌摄取水分那样

the birds get all the water they need from the flies' bodies.

鸟儿们通过捕食苍蝇来获取淡水

More and more migrants join in.

越来越多的候鸟加入了捕食行列

Wagtails.

比如鹡鸰

1 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

2 evaporation   

n.蒸发，消失

参考例句：

• Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。
• Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗，由此可以蒸发散热。

3 infested   

adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于

参考例句：

• The kitchen was infested with ants. 厨房里到处是蚂蚁。
• The apartments were infested with rats and roaches. 公寓里面到处都是老鼠和蟑螂。

4 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

5 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

6 cactus   

n.仙人掌

参考例句：

• It was the first year that the cactus had produced flowers.这是这棵仙人掌第一年开花。
• The giant cactus is the vegetable skycraper.高大的仙人掌是植物界巨人。