英语听力精选进阶版 6114

Divers¹ Battle Deadly Dragon 潜水员与龙搏斗

What does the word dragon make you think of?

The chances are, if you are thinking of a Chinese dragon or 'long', you will think of a long serpent-like mythical² creature which is benevolent³, wise and lucky.

In a Western cultural context, what people call dragons are quite different; fearsome, fire-breathing creatures which look like dinosaurs⁴, live in caves and guard piles of treasure.

But for three British divers who found themselves washed up on a remote Indonesian island last week, there was little time to worry about the symbolic⁵ significance of dragons.

Instead they found themselves having to fight off a real "man-eating" Komodo dragon.

Dehydrated and exhausted⁶ after treacherous⁷ currents had carried them for 12 hours through shark-infested waters, the divers' relief at reaching dry land must have been short-lived when they found themselves face-to-face with a Komodo dragon.

Komodo dragons are the largest living lizards⁸ in the world, can grow to over two metres long, and are very dangerous.

The animals have sharp teeth, long muscular tails and toxic⁹ saliva¹⁰, which contains over 80 kinds of bacteria. Their prey¹¹, which includes large mammals such as goats, deer, and very occasionally humans, become infected with this lethal¹² cocktail¹³ of bacteria and die within a couple of days of being bitten.

In this case, the frightened divers pelted¹⁴ the animal with sticks and rocks until it slithered away into the jungle. They then survived by eating shellfish until they were rescued.

So are these lizards, of which only 4,000 survive in the wild, as scary as they sound? Ian Stephen, who looks after two Komodos in London Zoo says the animals are actually very intelligent and love playing.

Just be careful which games you play with them.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

serpent-like 像蛇的

mythical creature 神秘动物

benevolent 乐善好施的

fearsome 令人生畏的

fire-breathing 口吐火焰的

divers 潜水员

washed up 冲上（岸边）

symbolic significance 象征意义

fight off 反击

dehydrated 脱水的

treacherous currents 暗流；险流

shark-infested 鲨鱼遍布的

short-lived 短命的；一时的

muscular （肌肉）强健的

toxic saliva 有毒唾液

bacteria 微生物

prey 被捕食的动物；受害者

lethal cocktail （致命的鸡尾酒）致命毒液

slithered 蜿蜒爬行

in the wild 野生的

1 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

2 mythical   

adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的

参考例句：

• Undeniably,he is a man of mythical status.不可否认，他是一个神话般的人物。
• Their wealth is merely mythical.他们的财富完全是虚构的。

3 benevolent   

adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的

参考例句：

• His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him.他乐善好施的本性使他不会拒绝走上前向他行乞的任何一个乞丐。
• He was a benevolent old man and he wouldn't hurt a fly.他是一个仁慈的老人，连只苍蝇都不愿伤害。

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 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

6 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

7 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

8 lizards   

n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nothing lives in Pompeii except crickets and beetles and lizards. 在庞培城里除了蟋蟀、甲壳虫和蜥蜴外，没有别的生物。 来自辞典例句
• Can lizards reproduce their tails? 蜥蜴的尾巴断了以后能再生吗？ 来自辞典例句

9 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

10 saliva   

n.唾液，口水

参考例句：

• He wiped a dribble of saliva from his chin.他擦掉了下巴上的几滴口水。
• Saliva dribbled from the baby's mouth.唾液从婴儿的嘴里流了出来。

11 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

12 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

13 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

14 pelted   

（连续地）投掷( pelt的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续抨击； 攻击； 剥去…的皮

参考例句：

• The children pelted him with snowballs. 孩子们向他投掷雪球。
• The rain pelted down. 天下着大雨。