VOA常速英语2018--林肯动物园150周年收到天鹅作贺礼

The history of Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo started 150 years ago with a gracious gift from New York City officials, when the commissioners¹ of the Board of Public Works of the city of Chicago received a gift of two pairs of swans from the commissioners of Central Park in New York City. The gift was actually arranged by two brothers, a man named Andrew Greene who was quite famous for starting a lot of the famous cultural institutions in New York City, and his brother who was working for the Illinois Michigan canal.

150年前，芝加哥林肯动物园成立，当时收到了纽约市官员赠送的贴心贺礼。芝加哥市公共工程委员会的几位委员收到的礼物是：纽约中央公园的委员赠送的两对天鹅。这份礼物实际上是由两兄弟准备的：其中一位叫安德鲁 格林(Andrew Greene)，他因在纽约创办了许多知名文化机构而闻名；另一位则在伊利诺伊州密歇根运河工作。

The swans appeared to have brought the zoo good luck. Today their descendants still flowed gracefully² in the zoo’s pond, but there’s a lot more to see. Spread across five square kilometers, the Lincoln Park Zoo boasts a spacious³ pool with sea lions, big for the Lions, for predators⁴ and giant spaces for herbivores. With more than 200 different species of animals on display, it’s a popular attraction that draws about three million visitors each year. Hi, yeah, I do visit the zoo often we live in Chicago. And I wasn’t aware that it was the anniversary so that’s fantastic.

这两对天鹅似乎给给公园带来了好运。今天依然能看到它们的子孙后代闲庭信步地在公园的池塘里游弋，但可以欣赏的不止于此。方圆5平方公里的林肯公园有一个宽敞的池塘，里面有海狮，完全容得下狮子、食肉动物和大型食草动物自由活动。这里有200多种不同物种的动物展出，是一个知名景点，每年吸引着近300万游客。没错，我们住在芝加哥的时候，我们经常去公园游玩。我不知道是周年纪念，真是太棒了。

But with the Earth’s climate changing and the loss of natural habits, many of the animals pieces on display are fighting for their survival. This species of penguins⁵, African penguins are endangered in the wild. And we’re part of a Species Survival Plan working with other zoos to support the population. And so that’s really good news here when we had that chick born. He’s about four months now and he’s already almost as big as his parents. A lot of people believe penguins only live in the icy Antarctic, but these little ones come from South Africa. Chicago’s climate is very similar to where they come from, so the birds feels right at home with the windy city’s snowy winters and warm summers.

但由于地球气候变化，很多自然栖息地消失，所以很多展出的动物都不得不艰难生存。我们参与了物种生存计划，与其他动物园一道支持动物的生存。所以当我们听说幼崽出生的时候，觉得这是好消息。现在小崽已经有4个月大了，已经跟父母长的差不多大了。很多人认为企鹅只能在冰冷的南极生存，但这些小家伙却来自南非。芝加哥的气候跟它们的来源地很相似，所以这些小企鹅感觉就像在家一样，这个多风的城市冬天也会下雪，夏天十分温暖。

I think this is one of the best enclosures for penguins I’ve seen yet. So the zoo has always been free since it was stared as a civic⁶ park. The question came up early in the zoo’s history sometime in the 1870s, of whether we should start charging for some buildings to sort of maintain and pay for the animals upkeep. The commissioners in the 1870s decided⁷ no, it would always remain free. A lot has changed at Lincoln Park Zoo over the last century and a half, but some things remain the same. For visitors and animal researchers, it’s a place to appreciate nature and cherish the wildlife that’s alive among us.

我觉得这是我见过的最好的企鹅居所之一。这个公园一开始就是市民的公园，一直都免费。公园成立初期就出现一个问题，大概是19世纪70年代的时候，即，我们是否应该开始对建筑收费，从而为维护设施和动物提供资金。当时，一些委员决定不这样做，要永远保持这个公园的免费参观。过去150年来，林肯公园动物园发生了很多变化，但有些东西没有变。对于游客和动物研究家来说，这里可以欣赏自然，也可以关爱我们周围的野生动物。

1 commissioners   

n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官

参考例句：

• The Commissioners of Inland Revenue control British national taxes. 国家税收委员管理英国全国的税收。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The SEC has five commissioners who are appointed by the president. 证券交易委员会有５名委员，是由总统任命的。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

2 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

3 spacious   

adj.广阔的，宽敞的

参考例句：

• Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。
• The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

4 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》

5 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。