新奇事件簿 被塑料喂饱的海鸟

A BBC team has filmed disturbing footage of the devastating¹ impact plastic pollution is having on seabirds in the Tasman Sea, which is between Australia and New Zealand. The film crew was working on the remote Lord Howe Island for a new wildlife documentary called "Drowning in Plastic". They filmed many birds that had died because their stomachs were literally² too full of plastic to be able to eat any food. The birds starved to death because there was no room in their stomachs for food. The documentary team filmed marine³ biologists working on the island to try and save the birds. The scientists captured hundreds of chicks and physically⁴ removed plastic from their stomachs to give them a chance of survival.

BBC团队拍摄了一组让人揪心的短片，短片展现了塑料污染对塔斯曼海上海鸟的毁灭性影响，塔斯曼海位于澳大利亚和新西兰之间。影片摄制组在偏远的豪勋爵岛拍摄一组新的野生动物纪录片《在塑料中溺亡》。他们拍摄了多只因胃部填满塑料再也无法进食而死亡的鸟。这些鸟是饿死的，因为它们的胃里再也没有空间可以容纳食物了。该纪录片团队拍摄了在岛上试图拯救这些海鸟的海洋生物学家。科学家们捕获了数百只幼鸟，将它们胃部的塑料取出来给它们生存的机会。

Marine biologist Jennifer Lavers explained what was happening to the birds. She said the birds were predators⁵ that will eat anything. She said: "When you put plastic in the ocean, it means they have no ability to detect plastic form non-plastic, so they eat it." Adult birds feed the plastic to their chicks, oblivious⁶ to what they are feeding them. Professor Lavers lamented⁷ that most of the plastic is "entirely⁸ preventable". She said: "We find plastic clothes pegs⁹ and plastic tooth brushes. Those could easily be swapped¹⁰ out for other materials - aluminium¹¹ or wood. My own toothbrush is made of bamboo." TV presenter¹² Liz Bonnin said: "We saw...90 pieces of plastic come out of one of the chicks."

海洋生物学家詹妮佛·莱弗斯解释了发生这种情况的原因。她说海鸟作为捕食者会吃掉任何东西。她表示：“当你把塑料扔进海洋中时，这就意味着它们无法从非塑料制品中区分出塑料，所以它们就把塑料给吃进去了。”成年鸟类将塑料喂给它们的幼崽，它们并不知道自己给幼崽喂的食物是什么。莱弗斯教授哀叹大多数的塑料是“完全可以预防的”。她说：“我们发现了塑料衣夹和塑料牙刷。这些用品完全可以使用其他材料代替—铝或木头。我自己的牙刷就是用竹子做的。”电视节目主持人莉兹·邦尼说到：“我们看到...从其中一只幼崽胃部取出了90块塑料。”

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

5 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 oblivious   

adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的

参考例句：

• Mother has become quite oblivious after the illness.这次病后，妈妈变得特别健忘。
• He was quite oblivious of the danger.他完全没有察觉到危险。

7 lamented   

adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
• We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 pegs   

n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 )；挂钉；系帐篷的桩；弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 )；使固定在某水平

参考例句：

• She hung up the shirt with two (clothes) pegs. 她用两只衣夹挂上衬衫。 来自辞典例句
• The vice-presidents were all square pegs in round holes. 各位副总裁也都安排得不得其所。 来自辞典例句

10 swapped   

交换（工作）( swap的过去式和过去分词 )； 用…替换，把…换成，掉换（过来）

参考例句：

• I liked her coat and she liked mine, so we swapped. 我喜欢她的外套，她喜欢我的外套，于是我们就交换了。
• At half-time the manager swapped some of the players around. 经理在半场时把几名队员换下了场。

11 aluminium   

n.铝 (=aluminum)

参考例句：

• Aluminium looks heavy but actually it is very light.铝看起来很重，实际上却很轻。
• If necessary, we can use aluminium instead of steel.如果必要，我们可用铝代钢。

12 presenter   

n.（电视、广播的）主持人，赠与者

参考例句：

• Most people think being a television presenter is exciting.很多人认为当电视节目主持人是一件刺激的事情。
• The programme dispensed with its most popular presenter.这个节目最受欢迎的主持人被换掉了。