無尾熊有幾根拇指呢?｜英文學習筆記

圖文/蔓無目的、AMEP網站

此單元分別介紹在動物園裡的無尾熊、針鼴、及鑽石蟒的影片，除了練習聽力還有一些有趣小知識:

無尾熊

• Outside the zoo where are these animals found?
  Along the east coast.

出沒地是澳洲東岸(指昆士蘭州、新南威爾斯及維州一帶)。

•  What do koalas eat?
  Gum/eucalyptus(尤加利) leaves.

• Why do koalas sleep a lot?
  Because gum leaves are low in energy.

• Why does the zoo breed koalas?
  To keep a certain number of koalas at this zoo and other zoos and to re-release them back into the wild.

一定數量後會野放

• What is a particular feature of the koala that Gabriel thinks people may find unusual?
  They have 2 thumbs.

無尾熊的特徵是:有兩根拇指

•  How does this feature help koalas move about?
  They can climb very quickly up trees.

兩根拇指可以讓牠爬樹更快!!

•   Why did the Aboriginal people give koalas their name?
  The name means‘they don't drink water'.

之前介紹過「袋鼠」是澳洲原住名語的意思是「不知道」，而「無尾熊」則是「牠們不喝水」^0^

• What do you not see koalas do very often?
  Come down to the ground and get a drink.

• 澳洲針鼴

  針鼴又稱刺食蟻獸，長得很像刺蝟，不過跟刺蝟沒關係，反而跟鴨嘴獸是近親，兩者是世界上唯二的哺乳卵生動物。
  • Echidnas are mammals(哺乳動物) but they also lay eggs.
  會下蛋的哺乳動物，太神奇了!!
  • After the little eggs hatch(孵化), the little babies still suckle on milk.
  • They eat ground invertebrates(無脊椎動物) like ants, termites and other insects.
  • They are dug up(挖出來) and extracted(取出), using powerful front legs, a long snout(長鼻子) and a sticky tongue which the insects stick to.
  • They are often seen by people walking in the bush.
  在深山裡的我還真沒見過
  • Because they are wake during the day searching for food and making a lot of noise craching around in the undergrowth.
  會在白天出沒找食物
  • Their main form of protection is their very spily back(尖背).
  • When they get scared they dig in the soil and make a ball of spines. In this way they are protected against wild animals.
  • They have been bred in zoos around the world.
  • But no-one knows the specific details because they spend so long undergtound.

澳洲鑽石蟒

怕小龍的我看到這個影片介紹馬上跳過，但想著可能會常會跟他們打交道，還是抱持著害怕敵人不如去了解的心態回來看完整個影片，還好沒見牠吐信，不然會看得雞皮疙瘩。

◆ They normally spend all their days sunbaking up in the trees.

原來牠門白天都在樹上日光浴，看來以後不能只留意地上了。

◆ They've got a beautiful diamond pattern that runs down their back.

稱鑽石蟒是因為背上有鑽石圖案，但對我還說並不美阿~

◆ This helps to camouflage(偽裝) them in the trees.

◆ During the night they come down to hunt.

晚上才會下來捕食

◆ They use their tongue to find animals.

◆ They like to eat rats, mice, rabbits and possums(袋貂).

影片裡還提到牠會吃沙袋鼠>"< 害我開始擔心兩貓了!

◆ They can eat food ten times the size of their heads.

◆ They're amazing because their jaw is designed to swallow such large meals.

這單元很有趣，介紹了澳洲知名的動物們，不論是可愛還是可怕大家都不陌生，對我而言沒想到無尾熊有兩根拇指，你也猜對了嗎?

然後世上竟然有針鼴這種卵生哺乳動物，太神奇了，改天去散步要留意一下這可愛小東西，除了只留意腳邊外更要注意樹上的蟒，怎感覺山居生活得眼觀四方好忙阿.....>.<