英文杂志-Magazine：Goodbye Great Auk

Goodbye Great Aukby John KutiIn those days, people still lived on the islands of Saint¹ Kilda. Two men from the village went out on the rock. They found a big strange bird. It was sleeping. They decided² to bring it home to the village.

Far out into the ocean to the north and west of Britain are the cold wild islands of the Outer³ Hebrides of Scotland⁴. They make a line of beautiful beaches 150 miles long. Further⁵ west is the small group of islands called Saint Kilda. They are cold and wild too, but without beaches. The islands are tall volcanic⁶ rocks hundreds of metres high.

For thousands of years, people lived on these islands. In 1930 the last people, there were only 36 of them, had a meeting and decided to leave. The biggest island in the group is called Hirta. Sheep still live there without any people. When you arrive by boat, you see very tall black rocks all around. Some big rocks make their own small islands. This true story happened on the tallest of the rocks – “Stac An Armin” in 1840.

In those days, people still lived on the islands of Saint Kilda. Their stone houses were all in one village by the ocean at the bottom⁷ of a tall dark hill. The houses only had one room – for people and sheep, which used⁸ to live with them in the winter and spring. Two men from the village, McDonald and McKinnon, were on the rock. It was their work to collect birds – some for food, some to make shoes or hats with. Some dead birds they put in the earth to help their vegetables grow. They found one strange big bird. It was sleeping. They decided to bring it home to the village.

I think people in the village were interested in the bird. We now know that this was a Great Auk, a kind of swimming bird that lived in many parts of the North Atlantic⁹. It was big and strong and had a loud cry. They began to talk with the other people in the village about what they should do with it. After two days, the weather got worse and then there was a terrible storm. The people in the village decided that this was because of the bird and they killed it. This was the last example of the Great Auk in Britain. Four years later, the last Great Auk in the world died in Iceland.

We know the Great Auk died out because of people. But where did the people of Saint Kilda go? This is more difficult to explain. Some say that they were bored living on the island so far from modern cities. Other people think that the problem was tourists, who began to visit Saint Kilda at the end of the 19th century. A new theory¹⁰ says that using too many dead birds as fertilizer¹¹ made their food unhealthy. I think it was a mistake to kill the auk.
 

1 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 outer   

adj.外部的；外面的

参考例句：

• The outer door was wide open but the inner one was locked.外面的门大开着而里面的门锁着。
• The outer walls of the house were made of brick.这座房子的外墙是砖的。

4 Scotland   

n.苏格兰

参考例句：

• He has been hiking round Scotland for a month.他围着苏格兰徒步旅行了一个月。
• Scotland is to the north of England.苏格兰在英格兰之北。

5 further   

adv.（在时间或空间上）距离更大地；更远地

参考例句：

• Have you had any further news?你有进一步的消息吗？
• We will help you further.我们会进一步帮助你的。

6 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

7 bottom   

n.底部;屁股，臀部；adj.底部的

参考例句：

• The bottom of the cup is broken.这杯子的底破了。
• The channel must have a flat bottom.沟道的底要平。

8 used   

adj.用旧了的，旧的；习惯于…；过去惯/经常

参考例句：

• I used to work until nearly 6:00 o'clock each day.我过去常常工作到6:00左右。
• He used to walk anywhere from two to five miles an hour.他过去经常一小时走二至五英里。

9 Atlantic   

adj.大西洋的；n.大西洋

参考例句：

• Who was the first person to fly the Atlantic?谁是飞越大西洋的第一人？
• The ship sailed across the Atlantic.这艘船曾横渡大西洋。

10 theory   

n.理论，原则，看法，推测

参考例句：

• He needs to fine down his theory a bit.他需要使他的理论更完善一些。
• He hasn't a leg to stand for this theory of his.他的这种理论是站不住脚的。

11 fertilizer   

n.肥料，化肥

参考例句：

• Fertilizer enriches the soil.肥料使土壤肥沃。
• Get some more fertilizer for the garden.给花园再多施些肥料。