英语听力精选进阶版 7140

Background:最近，科学家们称马达加斯加岛上的独有动物的祖先，当年是乘坐天然的“木筏”来到了这座位于印度洋的岛屿上。马达加斯加岛位于非洲东海岸300英里处，是世界上少有的生物多种类岛屿。它拥有很多全球其他地方找不到的生物种类，如哺乳类动物还有很多植物。

Madagascar's unique lemurs, flying foxes, and mongooses first started to appear about 60 million years ago, but it's been separated from the mainland, and isolated¹, for at least 100 million years.

The mystery has been, how did they get there, and why are there no giraffes, elephants and big cats?

Professor Matthew Huber from Perdue University in the US:

"The mammals that appear on Madagascar today may have come over on rafts, and by rafts what we mean are trees that may have fallen into a river and been swept out to sea or a large floating mass of matted vegetation that broke off the coast and headed out to sea."

The ocean currents today go the wrong way - from Madagascar to mainland Africa, but Professor Huber used a climate model - the same type we use to predict the future, and effectively ran it backwards² to look at the distant past.

He found that the ocean currents used to go the other way, and were strong enough that the animals would have reached the island without dying of thirst.

Glossary³ 词汇表

lemurs 狐猴 

flying foxes 狐蝠 

mongooses 猫鼬 

mainland 大陆 

mammals 哺乳动物 

rafts 木筏 

matted vegetation 铺地植被 

ocean currents 海洋环流 

climate model 气候模式

Questions and Answers

1. When did Madagascar become an island? 

More than 100 million years ago.

2. When did the animals mentioned in the report arrive? 

They came to the island around 60 million years ago.

3. What African animals are not on the island? 

Giraffes, elephants, lions, leopards⁴ and cheetahs⁵ do not live on the island.

4. How does one American academic believe they got there? 

He believes they floated there on rafts made of collapsed⁶ trees and matted plants.

1 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

2 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

3 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。

4 leopards   

n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移

参考例句：

• Lions, tigers and leopards are all cats. 狮、虎和豹都是猫科动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For example, airlines never ship leopards and canaries on the same flight. 例如，飞机上从来不会同时运送豹和金丝雀。 来自英语晨读30分（初三）

5 cheetahs   

n.（奔跑极快的）非洲猎豹( cheetah的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Unlike lions or cheetahs, leopards are secretive, solitary cats. 花豹不像狮子或印度豹，是属于较神秘而隐居的大猫。 来自互联网
• Among this lot are cheetahs, lions, leopards, rhinoceroses, spotted hyenas and elephants. 印度豹、狮子、花豹、犀牛、斑点土狼、大象等，都是此地的居民。 来自互联网

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。