英语听力：自然百科 爱情鸟

Here in an umbrella thorn tree, in Tanzania, Africa, some Fischer's lovebirds are looking for a nice hollow in which to nest and raise their young. The lovebird is a small stout¹ member of the parrot family. They are like humans and their location is a very important factor in finding a home. And sometimes, you find just the right spot, but only to discover somebody else got there first.

 

Fischer's loverbird:费希氏鹦鹉,费氏爱情鸟

 

Unlike humans, lovebirds who have found their perfect tree hollow can be evicted³ merely because another bird, like this Von der Decken's hornbill decides it might want to take a look. The hornbill pokes⁵ around a bit, but there’s no prey⁶ here, and this wouldn't make a suitable hornbill home. So the resident lovebird moves back in.

 

evict²: 驱逐

Von der Decken's hornbill: 德氏弯嘴犀鸟

poke⁴:啄

 

It’s getting to be the time for the lovebird to make love and to make eggs. First, she feathers her nest with some nice cushy fronds⁷. Then, she and her mate for life pledge their union by, uh.. kissing. To seal the deal, the male passes edibles⁸ to his beloved. For lovebirds it doesn't get any better than this. Now actually does get better than this. After foreplay, the real play. I mean...they are lovebirds. Don't you know?

1 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

2 evict   

vt.驱逐，赶出，撵走

参考例句：

• The lessor can evict the lessee for failure to pay rent.出租人可驱逐不付租金的承租人。
• The government always says it's for the greater good when they evict farmers from their land.当政府把农民从他们的土地赶出去的时候，总是号称是为了更大众的利益。

3 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

4 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

5 pokes   

v.伸出( poke的第三人称单数 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• He pokes his nose into everything. 他这人好管闲事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Only the tip of an iceberg pokes up above water. 只有冰山的尖端突出于水面。 来自辞典例句

6 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

7 fronds   

n.蕨类或棕榈类植物的叶子( frond的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You can pleat palm fronds to make huts, umbrellas and baskets. 人们可以把棕榈叶折叠起来盖棚屋，制伞，编篮子。 来自百科语句
• When these breezes reached the platform the palm-fronds would whisper. 微风吹到平台时，棕榈叶片发出簌簌的低吟。 来自辞典例句

8 edibles   

可以吃的，可食用的( edible的名词复数 )； 食物

参考例句：

• They freely offered for sale what edibles they had. 他们很自愿地把他们的一点点可吃的东西卖给我们。
• Our edibles the wild vegetable. 我们只能吃野菜。