布拉格动物园的大猩猩诞下小猩猩

AS IT IS 2016-04-27 Gorilla¹ at Prague Zoo Has Surprise Baby 布拉格动物园的大猩猩诞下小猩猩

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Shinda is a 24-year-old gorilla that lives at the Prague Zoo, in the Czech Republic. She is a bit overweight. The gorilla had never given birth.

Several times she became pregnant², but the pregnancies³ ended early, without a baby. Zookeepers did not expect her to ever be able to give birth. In fact, nobody noticed that she, once again, was pregnant.

But on April 23, Shinda delivered a healthy baby gorilla. It shocked everyone at the zoo. The director of the Prague Zoo told the media, “I can’t even imagine what could surprise me more. Not only did we not know about Shinda’s pregnancy⁴, but, to begin with, over time we’ve lost hope she could have a baby anymore.”

People on social media reacted to the unexpected⁵ birth, too. The term “Prague Zoo” has been trending on Facebook and Twitter. Photos and video of the mother and baby gorilla have gone viral. One video of Shinda holding her new baby has more than 2 million views.

One Facebook user⁶ wrote, “just simply amazing how they are so much like humans. Look how she’s holding and feeding this baby.”

But, others reacted with concern that zookeepers did not even know Shinda was pregnant. One social media user asked how “this could...be called care if they didn’t even know she was pregnant. Add the fact [that] she went on display within 24 hours.”

The zoo has already permitted visitors to see mother and baby. The gorillas⁷ are among the most popular animals at the Prague Zoo. Tens of thousands of people watched the birth of another gorilla -- online -- back in 2007.

Words in This Story

trend - v. to be the subject of many posts on a social media website within a short period of time.

viral - adj. relating to an image or video that is spread quickly and widely on the Internet.

amazing - adj. causing great surprise or wonder

on display - n. put somewhere for people to see

1 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

2 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

3 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

4 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

5 unexpected   

adj.想不到的，意外的

参考例句：

• I always keep some good wine in for unexpected guests.我总保存些好酒，用来招待不速之客。
• His promotion was unexpected.他的升迁出人意料。

6 user   

n.用户，使用者

参考例句：

• The company is the biggest user of oil.该公司是最大的石油用户。
• The umbrella keeps the rains off the user.雨伞使撑伞人免受雨淋。

7 gorillas   

n.大猩猩( gorilla的名词复数 )；暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• the similitude between humans and gorillas 人类和大猩猩的相像
• Each family of gorillas is led by a great silverbacked patriarch. 每个大星星家族都由一个魁梧的、长着银色被毛的族长带领着。 来自《简明英汉词典》