新奇事件簿 未来会出现绵羊大的老鼠

Rats that are the size of sheep might be a good horror movie story. However, scientists from the University of Leicester in England say that in the future, there could really be giant rats on the Earth. They could be as big as sheep and weigh up to 80kg. Rats are spreading all over the Earth. They are now the strongest animals on many small islands. One of the reasons for this is that they travel on ships and relocate to areas that never had rats before. Another reason is that many larger animals are becoming extinct, so there are fewer animals that might kill rats. Researcher Dr Jan Zalasiewicz said: "Given enough time, rats could probably grow to be…the world's largest rodent¹."

像绵羊那么大的老鼠或许是很好的恐怖电影主题。然而，来自英格兰莱斯特大学的科学家表示，未来地球上确实会出现这种巨型老鼠。这些老鼠的体型像绵羊那么大，体重达80千克。目前老鼠在全球各地肆虐，是许多小岛上最强大的动物。其中一个原因就是它们搭乘船只迁移到以前从来没有老鼠的地方。另外一个原因是许多更大的动物灭绝，可以消灭老鼠的动物减少。研究人员Jan Zalasiewicz博士表示：“如果有足够的时间，老鼠可能会成为世界上最大的啮齿动物。”

Dr Zalasiewicz said rats are one of the best examples of a species that we have spread around the world, and have successfully adapted to many of the new environments. He said: "There will be future thin rats, future fat rats, slow and heavy rats, fast and ferocious² rats, probably future aquatic³ rats - the list goes on." After the dinosaurs⁴ died out, many small animals slowly grew bigger and bigger. The same thing could happen with rats if there are no animals left that hunt and kill them. Dr Zalasiewicz also believes that "super-rats" will start killing⁵ other species to make them extinct. This will have a big impact on food chains. He did not say what humans would do about giant rats running around everywhere.

Zalasiewicz博士表示，老鼠是物种在世界各地传播，并成功适应诸多新环境的最佳案例之一。他表示：“未来会有比较瘦的老鼠，比较胖的老鼠，行动迟缓，身材笨重的老鼠，行动迅速，性情凶猛的老鼠，也可能有适合水中生活的老鼠，各种各样的老鼠都有可能。”恐龙灭绝以后，许多小型动物慢慢地越长越大。如果没有动物猎捕老鼠，老鼠的体型也会越来越大。Zalasiewicz博士还相信，“超级老鼠”将会开始消灭其他动物，致使它们灭绝。这会对食物链产生重大影响。他没有言明人类应该怎样如何在世界各地肆虐的巨型老鼠。

1 rodent   

n.啮齿动物；adj.啮齿目的

参考例句：

• When there is a full moon,this nocturnal rodent is careful to stay in its burrow.月圆之夜，这种夜间活动的啮齿类动物会小心地呆在地洞里不出来。
• This small rodent can scoop out a long,narrow tunnel in a very short time.这种小啮齿动物能在很短的时间里挖出一条又长又窄的地道来。

2 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

3 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

4 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。