国家地理:Is It Real? Wild Children 野孩子

Imagine a baby alone in the woods, how would he eat? Where would he sleep? As humans, we come into this world completely helpless. Mostly, we just know how to breathe and cry. Animals, on the other hand, stagger to their feet within minutes of birth, and begin to take on the world. Animals instinctively¹ know how to get nourishment² from their mothers. Life can be a struggle, and only the fittest survive.

But while kids and animals do have some things in common, the fact is a human child is ill-equipped to face the world on its own. So take away a parent and the comforts of home, could a child survive in the wild? And is it possible that in the absence of mom, a nurturing³ monkey will step in? That's why we are asked to believe in stories of so-called "feral children", children living in the wild often with the help of animals. But are these stories real?

"Would I rule it out? No, it may be possible and may have been possible, may have happened".
"My gut⁴ instinct is to say some are probably real and some are not."

Although rare, tales of "feral children" appear all over the world. Oxana Malaya, known as the Ukrainian Dog Girl, lived for years with a pack of dogs. In South Africa, a boy named Lucus allegedly spent his childhood in the care of a troop of baboons⁶. Or there is Amala and Kamala, Indian girls who local police found sleeping together in a wolf den⁷. These stories are intriguing⁸ and utterly⁹ compelling, but what exactly are we dealing¹⁰ with?

"Well, word feral has many different meanings, but here we are using it in the sense of children who either reared themselves without human companionship or more likely were reared by some form of animal."

Dr. Douglas Candland has studied the phenomenon of feral children and their alleged⁵ interaction with wild animals. He's examined hundreds of reported cases. Most, he says, rely on eyewitness¹¹ accounts, and have certain common elements.

"They all said the child had no recognizable speech. The child did not like to eat cooked food. The child walked on all fours. So quite properly, people would say 'This is a wild child'."


feral: (a.) Existing in a wild or untamed state. 野性的
rear: (v.) To care for (children or a child) during the early stages of life; bring up. 抚养
all fours: (n.) 四肢

1 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 nourishment   

n.食物，营养品；营养情况

参考例句：

• Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。
• He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。

3 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

4 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

5 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

6 baboons   

n.狒狒( baboon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Baboons could break branches and leaders. 狒狒会折断侧枝和顶梢。 来自辞典例句
• And as nonprimates, they provoke fewer ethical and safety-related concerns than chimps or baboons. 而且作为非灵长类，就不会产生像用黑猩猩或狒狒那样的伦理和安全方面的顾虑。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

7 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

8 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。