国家地理-2008-08-25 南极生存大作战

In Antarctica, everyday is (an) Olympic one. These Emperor Penguins² are near the end of a two-week fishing marathon, bringing food for their hungry chicks, waiting miles away. But a challenger threatens the entire competition. A Leopard³ Seal waits at the shoreline. It's hungry too.

 

Some Emperors make the leap onto shore before it can reach them. But the Leopard Seal is patient, it knows it controls the playing field. Superb athletes, they sense the Leopard Seal, and reverse direction in a split second.

 

Seeing opening, more and more penguins stream up and out onto the ice. The momentum⁴ seems to turn the way of the penguins. Dozens  make the leap to the safety of land, until the Leopard Seal changes the rules of the game.

 

The penguins scramble⁵ to get away. Out of the water, both the seal and the penguins lose their speed and agility⁶. Only desperation remains⁷. The Leopard Seal snares⁸ a penguin¹, but the "seal victory" seems certain.

 

But the game is not over yet. Penguins will go limp rather than struggle. When the Leopard Seal loses its grip, the penguin will make a break for it. This one is gone like a shot. It rejoins its teammates safely waiting at a distance. The Leopard Seal ,though ,doesn’t give up. It still has good field position. And now, the element of surprise. The Leopard Seal won’t lose its grip this time and takes its prize into the sea. For all but one, these competitors have won the fight to see another day.

 

1 penguin   

n.企鹅

参考例句：

• The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
• He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。

2 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》

3 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

4 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

5 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

6 agility   

n.敏捷，活泼

参考例句：

• The boy came upstairs with agility.那男孩敏捷地走上楼来。
• His intellect and mental agility have never been in doubt.他的才智和机敏从未受到怀疑。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 snares   

n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He shoots rabbits and he sets snares for them. 他射杀兔子，也安放陷阱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself fallen unawares into the snares of death. 我自己不知不觉跌进了死神的陷阱。 来自辞典例句