国家地理:Animal Mating: Blue-Footed Boobies 蓝脚鲣鸟

The mating ritual of each species on Earth has certain, well, peculiarities¹. As you might tell it from the name of the species itself, blue-footed boobies are no exception to this rule.

Here in the Galapagos Islands, this pair of blue-footed boobies check each other out. Now, what is the most important quality the female looks for in a male: good looks? A steady income? Beachfront property? Well, those are important, but they pale in comparison to having blue feet. Hence, this dance- the revelation of foot color, so that the female will not by mistake mate with a red-footed booby, or even a crab-footed booby.

Now, let's say though an iguana² wanders into a booby land. The boobies tend to breed where the marine³ iguana spend the night, so this iguana does have a reason to be here. Not that the boobies care. They force the poor iguana to run a gantlet of pecking beats.

Peck "Ouch!”
Peck "Ouch!"

Hey, let me out of here, man! This is worse than a fraternity hazing⁴.

The iguana finds its way out, which I guess in this case, you could say is the, er, booby prize- aha, sorry.


check out: to look at someone or something because they are interesting or attractive

iguana: a large tropical American lizard

run the gauntlet: To be made to run between two lines of people facing each other and be hit by them with clubs or other weapons

ouch: Used to express sudden pain or displeasure

haze: To initiate, as into a college fraternity, by exacting humiliating performances from or playing rough practical jokes upon

1 peculiarities   

n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪

参考例句：

• the cultural peculiarities of the English 英国人的文化特点
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another. 他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

2 iguana   

n.美洲大蜥蜴，鬣鳞蜥

参考例句：

• With an iguana,you really don't have to say surprise.惊喜两字已经不足以形容这只鬣鳞蜥了。
• I'm going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguanadj.打开计算机准备制作一部关于我的宠物蜥蜴的电影。

3 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 hazing   

n.受辱，被欺侮v.（使）笼罩在薄雾中( haze的现在分词 )；戏弄，欺凌（新生等，有时作为加入美国大学生联谊会的条件）

参考例句：

• With labor, the hazing period ends. 费了好大力气，痛苦的时期终于过了。 来自互联网
• A high-gloss paint surface is one that directly reflects light with minimum hazing or diffusion. 高度光洁的漆表面可以直接反射光源。 来自互联网