優(yōu)秀英語(yǔ)美文文摘3篇
優(yōu)秀英語(yǔ)美文文摘3篇
閱讀是學(xué)習(xí)一門(mén)語(yǔ)言的重要目標(biāo)之一。對(duì)于大多數(shù)中國(guó)學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō),英語(yǔ)閱讀是他們接觸英語(yǔ)的主要方式。下面是學(xué)習(xí)啦小編帶來(lái)的優(yōu)秀英語(yǔ)美文文摘，歡迎閱讀!
優(yōu)秀英語(yǔ)美文文摘篇一
Integrity
正直
-From A Mother in Mannville
——節(jié)選自《媽媽住在曼菲爾》
M.K.Rawlings
M.K.羅林茲
The Orphanage is high in the Carolina mountains. Sometimes in winter the snowdrifts are sodeep that the institution is cut off from the village below,from all the world. Fog hides themountain peaks, the snow swirls down the valleys, and a wind blows so bitterly that theorphanage boys who take the milk twice daily to the baby cottage reach the door with fingersstiff in anagony of numbness.
在卡羅來(lái)納的山地里，有一座孤兒院坐落在高處。隆冬時(shí)節(jié)，風(fēng)雪交加，有時(shí)候積雪堆得老高，將孤兒院與山下的村莊乃至整個(gè)外界完全隔斷。云霧遮蔽了重重峰巒，雪花飛旋著沖人山谷。在呼嘯的寒風(fēng)中，孤兒院的男孩們將一份份牛奶端到育嬰房去，一天得跑兩趟呢。當(dāng)他們走到育嬰房門(mén)口的時(shí)候，手指凍得僵硬，一點(diǎn)兒都不聽(tīng)使喚了。
I was there in the autumn. I wanted quiet, isolation, to do some troublesome writing. I wantedmountain air to blow out the malaria from too long a time in the subtropics. I was homesick,too, for the flaming of maples in October,and for corn shocks and pumpkins and black-walnuttrees and the lift of hills. I found them all, living in a cabin that belonged to the orphanage, halfa mile beyond the orphanage farm. When I took the cabin, I asked for a boyor man to comeand chop wood for the fireplace. The first few days were warm, I found what wood I neededabout the cabin, no one came, and Iforgot the order.
我秋天就到了那里。我需要安靜，與世隔絕，好從事艱辛的創(chuàng)作。我需要山里的清風(fēng)，把久居亞熱帶地區(qū)染上的瘧疾吹散。我還想起家來(lái)，老惦著那十月間的楓葉似火，那一垛垛玉米秫秸，南瓜成堆，黑胡桃林子，還有隆起的山丘。我住在孤兒院的一間小屋里，距院農(nóng)場(chǎng)有半英里，這一切盡收眼底。我住進(jìn)去的時(shí)候，要求派個(gè)男孩或者男人幫我劈柴燒壁爐。頭幾天還算暖和，我在小屋的四周撿了點(diǎn)木柴，沒(méi)見(jiàn)人來(lái)，也就把這話(huà)給忘了。
I looked up from my typewriter one late afternoon, a little startled. A boystood at the door,and my pointer dog, my companion, was at his side and had not barked to warn me. The boywas probably twelve years old, but undersized. He wore overalls and a torn shirt, and wasbarefooted.
一天傍晚，我正在打字，猛抬頭不禁吃了一驚：有個(gè)男孩站在房門(mén)口，而跟我做伴的獵狗竟在他身邊默默呆著，連個(gè)招呼也沒(méi)跟我打一聲。這孩子大概有12歲，不過(guò)個(gè)子沒(méi)那么大，他穿著一條工裝褲，一件破舊的襯衣，光著兩腳。
He said, "I can chop some wood today."
他說(shuō)：“我今天可以劈點(diǎn)兒木柴。”
I said, "But I have a boy coming from the orphanage."
我說(shuō)：“可我請(qǐng)了孤兒院的孩子來(lái)劈。”
"I'm the boy."
“我就是。”
"You? But you're small."
“是你?可你還小呢。”
"Size don't matter, chopping wood," he said. "Some of the big boys don't chop good. I've beenchopping wood at the orphanage a long time."
“劈柴火可不論個(gè)頭兒，”他說(shuō)，“有的大孩子還劈不好呢。我在孤兒院劈了好長(zhǎng)一陣了。”
I visualized mangled and inadequate branches for my fires. I was well into my work and notinclined to conversation. I was a little blunt."Very well. There's the ax. Go ahead and see whatyou can do."
我想象中出現(xiàn)了砍得亂七八糟的樹(shù)枝子，供不上壁爐燒的。我一心在寫(xiě)作，沒(méi)有心思搭理他，話(huà)也說(shuō)得有點(diǎn)生硬：“好了好了，去拿斧子吧。先劈劈再看吧。”
I went back to work,closing the door. At first the sound of the boy dragging brush annoyedme. Then he began to chop. The blows were rhythmic and steady, and shortly I had forgottenhim, the sound no more of an interruption than a consistent rain. I suppose an hour and ahalf passed, for when I stopped and stretched, and heard the boy's steps on the cabin stoop,the sun was dropping behind the farthest mountain, and the valleys were purplewith somethingdeeper than the asters.
我關(guān)上門(mén)，繼續(xù)寫(xiě)作。起先聽(tīng)他拽木頭，鬧得我心煩。后來(lái)他動(dòng)手劈柴了。他劈得錯(cuò)落有致，不緊不慢，我很快就把他忘了，那斧聲就跟一場(chǎng)綿綿細(xì)雨似的對(duì)我全無(wú)干擾。我估計(jì)他劈了有一個(gè)半小時(shí)吧，因?yàn)檫@時(shí)我歇下來(lái)舒展一下身子，聽(tīng)見(jiàn)他正走上門(mén)口的臺(tái)階，夕陽(yáng)已漸漸沉沒(méi)在遠(yuǎn)山的背后，壑谷間一片紫靄，顏色比翠菊還濃。
The boy said, "I have to go to supper now. I can come again tomorrow evening."
這孩子說(shuō)道：“我得去吃晚飯了。我明晚再來(lái)。”
I said, "I'll pay you now for what you've done," thinking I should probably have to insist on anolder boy. "Ten cents an hour'?"
我說(shuō)：“我這就把你的工錢(qián)結(jié)了吧，”心想恐怕還得換個(gè)大孩子來(lái)，“一小時(shí)算一毛?”
"Anything is all right."
“怎么都行。”
We went together back of the cabin. An astonishing amount of solid wood had been cut. Therewere cherry logs and heavy roots of rhododendron, and blocks from the waste pine and oakleft from the building of the cabin.
我們一起來(lái)到屋后。只見(jiàn)滿(mǎn)地都是劈好了的結(jié)結(jié)實(shí)實(shí)的木柴，簡(jiǎn)直令人咂舌。其中有櫻桃樹(shù)的圓木干和杜鵑灌木的粗根，就連蓋小屋剩下的廢松木和廢櫟木，也都劈成了大塊的木柴。
"But you've done as much as a man," I said. "This is a splendid pile."
“你可是跟大人劈得一樣多了，”我說(shuō)，“瞧這么大一堆，太好了。”
I looked at him, actually, for the first time. His hair was the color of the corn shocks, and hiseyes, very direct, were like the mountain sky when rain is pending-gray, with a shadowing ofthat miraculous blue. As I spoke a light came over him, as though the setting sun hadtouched him with the same suffused glory with which it touched the mountains. I gave him aquarter.
我端詳著他，說(shuō)真的，這還是頭一回。他的頭發(fā)呈玉米秫秸的顏色，兩眼里一片率真，像是山雨欲來(lái)的天空——灰暗中透出那奇異的天藍(lán)。我正說(shuō)著，忽見(jiàn)他周身一片光亮，仿佛落日那灑滿(mǎn)群山的余輝也灑到了他身上。我給了他一枚兩角五分的硬幣。
"You may come tomorrow," I said, "and thank you very much."He looked at me, and at the coin,and seemed to want to speak, but could not, and turned away.
“你明天來(lái)吧，”我說(shuō)，“多謝你了。”他看看我，又看看硬幣，好像要說(shuō)什么，可又說(shuō)不出來(lái)，就轉(zhuǎn)身離去。
"I'll split kindling tomorrow," he said over his thin ragged shoulder. "You'llneed kindling andmedium wood and logs and backlogs."
“明天我劈引火柴，”他回過(guò)頭來(lái)又說(shuō)，襯衣的肩部都磨薄磨破了，“點(diǎn)火柴，引火柴，原木，墊底的，你都用得著。”
At daylight I was half wakened by the sound of chopping. Again it was so even in texture that Iwent back to sleep. When I left my bed in the cool morning, the boy had come and gone, and astack of kindling was neat against the cabin wall. He came again after school in the afternoonand worked until time to return to the orphanage. His name was Jerry; he was twelve years old,and he had been at the orphanage since he was four. I could picture him at four, with the samegrave gray-blue eyes and the same-independence? No, the word that comes to me is"integrity."
第二天黎明時(shí)分，一陣劈柴聲攪得我似醒非醒。那拍子依然不緊不慢，又把我?guī)Щ貕?mèng)鄉(xiāng)。我早上起床，天很涼，這孩子來(lái)過(guò)又走了，只見(jiàn)一堆引火柴整整齊齊碼在墻邊。他下午放學(xué)后又來(lái)了，一口氣干到該回孤兒院了才歇手。他叫杰里，12歲了，從四歲起就呆在孤兒院。我可以想象他四歲的樣子，也是這雙鄭重其事的灰藍(lán)色眼睛，也是這份自立?不，我想到的詞兒是“正直”。
The word means something very special to me, and the quality for which I use it is a rare one.My father had it-there is another of whom I am almost sure-but almost no man of myacquaintance possesses it with the clarity,the purity, the simplicity of a mountain stream.But the boy Jerry had it. It is bedded-on courage, but it is more than brave. It is honest, but itis more than honesty. The ax handle broke one day. Jerry said the woodshop at theorphanage would repair it. I brought money to pay for the job and he refused it.
這個(gè)詞對(duì)我有特殊的含義，我用它來(lái)說(shuō)明一種難得的品格。我父親就有這種品格——我相信還有別人，但是在我的相識(shí)中幾乎沒(méi)有一個(gè)人像一泓山泉那般清澈、純潔和樸素地具備這種品格。然而杰里這孩子就有。他的正直植根于勇氣，但又超出勇敢。它是誠(chéng)實(shí)，但又超出誠(chéng)實(shí)。有一天，斧把斷了。杰里說(shuō)孤兒院的木工房給修。我掏出修理費(fèi)，他不肯收。
"I'll pay for it," he said. "I broke it. I brought the ax down careless."
“這錢(qián)該我出，”他說(shuō)，“我弄斷的。我砍得不小心。”
"But no one hits accurately every time," I told him. "The fault was in the wood of the handle.I'll see the man from whom I bought it.
“可誰(shuí)都有個(gè)閃失的時(shí)候，”我對(duì)他說(shuō)，“都怪木把不結(jié)實(shí)。我找賣(mài)斧子的去。”
"It was only then that he would take the money. He was standing back of his own carelessness. He was a free-will agent and he chose to do careful work, and if he failed, he took theresponsibility without subterfuge.
他這才肯把錢(qián)收下。他對(duì)自己的疏忽毫不遮掩。他是個(gè)自有主意的人，干活就要認(rèn)真干好，沒(méi)干好，他就承擔(dān)責(zé)任，決不借故推諉。
優(yōu)秀英語(yǔ)美文文摘篇二
Integrity
正直
-From A Mother in Mannville
——節(jié)選自《媽媽住在曼菲爾》
M.K.Rawlings
M.K.羅林茲
The Orphanage is high in the Carolina mountains. Sometimes in winter the snowdrifts are sodeep that the institution is cut off from the village below,from all the world. Fog hides themountain peaks, the snow swirls down the valleys, and a wind blows so bitterly that theorphanage boys who take the milk twice daily to the baby cottage reach the door with fingersstiff in anagony of numbness.
在卡羅來(lái)納的山地里，有一座孤兒院坐落在高處。隆冬時(shí)節(jié)，風(fēng)雪交加，有時(shí)候積雪堆得老高，將孤兒院與山下的村莊乃至整個(gè)外界完全隔斷。云霧遮蔽了重重峰巒，雪花飛旋著沖人山谷。在呼嘯的寒風(fēng)中，孤兒院的男孩們將一份份牛奶端到育嬰房去，一天得跑兩趟呢。當(dāng)他們走到育嬰房門(mén)口的時(shí)候，手指凍得僵硬，一點(diǎn)兒都不聽(tīng)使喚了。
I was there in the autumn. I wanted quiet, isolation, to do some troublesome writing. I wantedmountain air to blow out the malaria from too long a time in the subtropics. I was homesick,too, for the flaming of maples in October,and for corn shocks and pumpkins and black-walnuttrees and the lift of hills. I found them all, living in a cabin that belonged to the orphanage, halfa mile beyond the orphanage farm. When I took the cabin, I asked for a boyor man to comeand chop wood for the fireplace. The first few days were warm, I found what wood I neededabout the cabin, no one came, and Iforgot the order.
我秋天就到了那里。我需要安靜，與世隔絕，好從事艱辛的創(chuàng)作。我需要山里的清風(fēng)，把久居亞熱帶地區(qū)染上的瘧疾吹散。我還想起家來(lái)，老惦著那十月間的楓葉似火，那一垛垛玉米秫秸，南瓜成堆，黑胡桃林子，還有隆起的山丘。我住在孤兒院的一間小屋里，距院農(nóng)場(chǎng)有半英里，這一切盡收眼底。我住進(jìn)去的時(shí)候，要求派個(gè)男孩或者男人幫我劈柴燒壁爐。頭幾天還算暖和，我在小屋的四周撿了點(diǎn)木柴，沒(méi)見(jiàn)人來(lái)，也就把這話(huà)給忘了。
I looked up from my typewriter one late afternoon, a little startled. A boystood at the door,and my pointer dog, my companion, was at his side and had not barked to warn me. The boywas probably twelve years old, but undersized. He wore overalls and a torn shirt, and wasbarefooted.
一天傍晚，我正在打字，猛抬頭不禁吃了一驚：有個(gè)男孩站在房門(mén)口，而跟我做伴的獵狗竟在他身邊默默呆著，連個(gè)招呼也沒(méi)跟我打一聲。這孩子大概有12歲，不過(guò)個(gè)子沒(méi)那么大，他穿著一條工裝褲，一件破舊的襯衣，光著兩腳。
He said, "I can chop some wood today."
他說(shuō)：“我今天可以劈點(diǎn)兒木柴。”
I said, "But I have a boy coming from the orphanage."
我說(shuō)：“可我請(qǐng)了孤兒院的孩子來(lái)劈。”
"I'm the boy."
“我就是。”
"You? But you're small."
“是你?可你還小呢。”
"Size don't matter, chopping wood," he said. "Some of the big boys don't chop good. I've beenchopping wood at the orphanage a long time."
“劈柴火可不論個(gè)頭兒，”他說(shuō)，“有的大孩子還劈不好呢。我在孤兒院劈了好長(zhǎng)一陣了。”
I visualized mangled and inadequate branches for my fires. I was well into my work and notinclined to conversation. I was a little blunt."Very well. There's the ax. Go ahead and see whatyou can do."
我想象中出現(xiàn)了砍得亂七八糟的樹(shù)枝子，供不上壁爐燒的。我一心在寫(xiě)作，沒(méi)有心思搭理他，話(huà)也說(shuō)得有點(diǎn)生硬：“好了好了，去拿斧子吧。先劈劈再看吧。”
I went back to work,closing the door. At first the sound of the boy dragging brush annoyedme. Then he began to chop. The blows were rhythmic and steady, and shortly I had forgottenhim, the sound no more of an interruption than a consistent rain. I suppose an hour and ahalf passed, for when I stopped and stretched, and heard the boy's steps on the cabin stoop,the sun was dropping behind the farthest mountain, and the valleys were purplewith somethingdeeper than the asters.
我關(guān)上門(mén)，繼續(xù)寫(xiě)作。起先聽(tīng)他拽木頭，鬧得我心煩。后來(lái)他動(dòng)手劈柴了。他劈得錯(cuò)落有致，不緊不慢，我很快就把他忘了，那斧聲就跟一場(chǎng)綿綿細(xì)雨似的對(duì)我全無(wú)干擾。我估計(jì)他劈了有一個(gè)半小時(shí)吧，因?yàn)檫@時(shí)我歇下來(lái)舒展一下身子，聽(tīng)見(jiàn)他正走上門(mén)口的臺(tái)階，夕陽(yáng)已漸漸沉沒(méi)在遠(yuǎn)山的背后，壑谷間一片紫靄，顏色比翠菊還濃。
The boy said, "I have to go to supper now. I can come again tomorrow evening."
這孩子說(shuō)道：“我得去吃晚飯了。我明晚再來(lái)。”
I said, "I'll pay you now for what you've done," thinking I should probably have to insist on anolder boy. "Ten cents an hour'?"
我說(shuō)：“我這就把你的工錢(qián)結(jié)了吧，”心想恐怕還得換個(gè)大孩子來(lái)，“一小時(shí)算一毛?”
"Anything is all right."
“怎么都行。”
We went together back of the cabin. An astonishing amount of solid wood had been cut. Therewere cherry logs and heavy roots of rhododendron, and blocks from the waste pine and oakleft from the building of the cabin.
我們一起來(lái)到屋后。只見(jiàn)滿(mǎn)地都是劈好了的結(jié)結(jié)實(shí)實(shí)的木柴，簡(jiǎn)直令人咂舌。其中有櫻桃樹(shù)的圓木干和杜鵑灌木的粗根，就連蓋小屋剩下的廢松木和廢櫟木，也都劈成了大塊的木柴。
"But you've done as much as a man," I said. "This is a splendid pile."
“你可是跟大人劈得一樣多了，”我說(shuō)，“瞧這么大一堆，太好了。”
I looked at him, actually, for the first time. His hair was the color of the corn shocks, and hiseyes, very direct, were like the mountain sky when rain is pending-gray, with a shadowing ofthat miraculous blue. As I spoke a light came over him, as though the setting sun hadtouched him with the same suffused glory with which it touched the mountains. I gave him aquarter.
我端詳著他，說(shuō)真的，這還是頭一回。他的頭發(fā)呈玉米秫秸的顏色，兩眼里一片率真，像是山雨欲來(lái)的天空——灰暗中透出那奇異的天藍(lán)。我正說(shuō)著，忽見(jiàn)他周身一片光亮，仿佛落日那灑滿(mǎn)群山的余輝也灑到了他身上。我給了他一枚兩角五分的硬幣。
"You may come tomorrow," I said, "and thank you very much."He looked at me, and at the coin,and seemed to want to speak, but could not, and turned away.
“你明天來(lái)吧，”我說(shuō)，“多謝你了。”他看看我，又看看硬幣，好像要說(shuō)什么，可又說(shuō)不出來(lái)，就轉(zhuǎn)身離去。
"I'll split kindling tomorrow," he said over his thin ragged shoulder. "You'llneed kindling andmedium wood and logs and backlogs."
“明天我劈引火柴，”他回過(guò)頭來(lái)又說(shuō)，襯衣的肩部都磨薄磨破了，“點(diǎn)火柴，引火柴，原木，墊底的，你都用得著。”
At daylight I was half wakened by the sound of chopping. Again it was so even in texture that Iwent back to sleep. When I left my bed in the cool morning, the boy had come and gone, and astack of kindling was neat against the cabin wall. He came again after school in the afternoonand worked until time to return to the orphanage. His name was Jerry; he was twelve years old,and he had been at the orphanage since he was four. I could picture him at four, with the samegrave gray-blue eyes and the same-independence? No, the word that comes to me is"integrity."
第二天黎明時(shí)分，一陣劈柴聲攪得我似醒非醒。那拍子依然不緊不慢，又把我?guī)Щ貕?mèng)鄉(xiāng)。我早上起床，天很涼，這孩子來(lái)過(guò)又走了，只見(jiàn)一堆引火柴整整齊齊碼在墻邊。他下午放學(xué)后又來(lái)了，一口氣干到該回孤兒院了才歇手。他叫杰里，12歲了，從四歲起就呆在孤兒院。我可以想象他四歲的樣子，也是這雙鄭重其事的灰藍(lán)色眼睛，也是這份自立?不，我想到的詞兒是“正直”。
The word means something very special to me, and the quality for which I use it is a rare one.My father had it-there is another of whom I am almost sure-but almost no man of myacquaintance possesses it with the clarity,the purity, the simplicity of a mountain stream.But the boy Jerry had it. It is bedded-on courage, but it is more than brave. It is honest, but itis more than honesty. The ax handle broke one day. Jerry said the woodshop at theorphanage would repair it. I brought money to pay for the job and he refused it.
這個(gè)詞對(duì)我有特殊的含義，我用它來(lái)說(shuō)明一種難得的品格。我父親就有這種品格——我相信還有別人，但是在我的相識(shí)中幾乎沒(méi)有一個(gè)人像一泓山泉那般清澈、純潔和樸素地具備這種品格。然而杰里這孩子就有。他的正直植根于勇氣，但又超出勇敢。它是誠(chéng)實(shí)，但又超出誠(chéng)實(shí)。有一天，斧把斷了。杰里說(shuō)孤兒院的木工房給修。我掏出修理費(fèi)，他不肯收。
"I'll pay for it," he said. "I broke it. I brought the ax down careless."
“這錢(qián)該我出，”他說(shuō)，“我弄斷的。我砍得不小心。”
"But no one hits accurately every time," I told him. "The fault was in the wood of the handle.I'll see the man from whom I bought it.
“可誰(shuí)都有個(gè)閃失的時(shí)候，”我對(duì)他說(shuō)，“都怪木把不結(jié)實(shí)。我找賣(mài)斧子的去。”
"It was only then that he would take the money. He was standing back of his own carelessness. He was a free-will agent and he chose to do careful work, and if he failed, he took theresponsibility without subterfuge.
他這才肯把錢(qián)收下。他對(duì)自己的疏忽毫不遮掩。他是個(gè)自有主意的人，干活就要認(rèn)真干好，沒(méi)干好，他就承擔(dān)責(zé)任，決不借故推諉。
優(yōu)秀英語(yǔ)美文文摘篇三
iller on Wings Is Under Threat
飛翔的殺手正受到威脅
Could anything be more majestic, serene or threatening than the largest bird of prey in theworld, the harpy eagle, soaring above its domain? Weighing nine kilograms and with a 2.2-metre wingspan, this giant of the .sky glides at 65 kilometres per hour over dense Brazilianrainforest. Its cruel head with flaring coloured crest and huge hooked beak twists constantlyfrom side to side.
有什么比世界上最大的食肉猛禽熱帶大雕在它的領(lǐng)地上方搏擊長(zhǎng)空更加壯麗，更加安詳，又更具威脅性呢?體重九公斤，翼幅達(dá)2.2米的空中巨物在茂密的巴西雨林上空以每小時(shí)65公里的速度滑翔。它那長(zhǎng)著展開(kāi)的有色肉冠和巨大鉤狀鷹嘴的殘暴的腦袋木斷地向兩邊扭來(lái)扭去。
It spots a monkey in a treetop 2.5 kilometres away and zeroes in on its prey. The monkeymunches on, oblirious to the threat. Then the eagle strikes,plucking its prey from its perchwith talons bome on legs the thickness of your wrists. The monkey dies instantly, pierced bythe talons. The eagle carries the body back to its treetop lair. The famed and feared harpyeagle has killed again.
它發(fā)現(xiàn)了2.5公里之外樹(shù)梢上的一只猴子，就立即把注意力集中在這只獵物身上。猴子全然不知威脅的存在，仍在津津有味地咀嚼著。大雕發(fā)起了進(jìn)攻，用它的利爪將獵物從樹(shù)枝上一把抓了起來(lái)，那利爪長(zhǎng)在與人的手腕一般粗的腿上。被利爪刺穿了的猴子剎時(shí)間一命嗚呼。大雕將其尸體帶回樹(shù)梢上的窩里。鼎鼎大名、令人生畏的熱帶大雕又殺生了。
Whether this frightening creature does indeed soar like other eagles in search of prey is opento conjecture . Forless is known about the harpy than any other eagle-the remoteness of itshabitat sees to that. But it has been seen carrying monkeys, sloth and even small deer back toits nest.
這嚇人的熱帶大雕捕食時(shí)是否真的和其他鷹類(lèi)一樣翱翔還沒(méi)有定論，尚待猜測(cè)。人們對(duì)大雕的了解比對(duì)其他鷹類(lèi)的了解都少——這是因?yàn)樗臈⒌厥诌b遠(yuǎn)而造成的，但確實(shí)見(jiàn)過(guò)它將猴子、樹(shù)獺甚至小鹿帶回巢中。
This eagle's extraordinary eyesight is one of its greatest assets. Like many other eagles, it cansee between four and eight times as much detail as canhumans. The result is an ability to seeclearly a smaU monkey at a distance of up to 2.5 kilometres and to judge distances withpinpoint accuracy . The latter is an obvious requirement if prey is to be snatched at speed.
大雕非凡的視力是其最大的優(yōu)勢(shì)之一。和許多其他鷹類(lèi)一樣，它看清細(xì)節(jié)的能力比人類(lèi)要強(qiáng)四至八倍。這樣它就能夠看清兩點(diǎn)五公里以外的一只小猴子，并能極精確地判定距離，若想快速抓獲獵物，準(zhǔn)確判斷距離很明顯是必需的。
It's hard to believe that a creature so well equipped to survive could- ever find itself underthreat. But with huge tracts of rainforest being felled in Centraland South America, the harpy'sfood sources are harder to find.
令人難以置信的是生存條件如此優(yōu)越的生物竟然也會(huì)處于威脅之中，但隨著中、南美洲大片熱帶雨林的被砍伐，大雕的食物來(lái)源更為困難。
The threat posed could soon be similar to that facing the harpy's near relative, the Philippinesmonkey-eating eagle. This acutely threatened bird was reduced in numbers to fewer than 100in the wild by the loss of its forest habitat and by the heavy demands of trophy hunters in thePhilippines.
不久，這種威脅就會(huì)和熱帶大雕的近親——菲律賓食猴鷹所面臨的威脅相似了。由于森林棲息地的喪失和菲律賓獵手的大量捕殺，這種受到嚴(yán)重威脅的鳥(niǎo)類(lèi)的野外數(shù)量已減少到不足100只。
Like its Filipino cousm, the harpy eagle nests in the tops of the largest forest trees. It thereforeneeds an intact forest to breed. The seemingly invinable harpy is vulnerable for anotherreason. A mating pair is thought to produce only one eaglet every two years. Harpy eggs takeup to 60 days to hatch and chicks take a further 60 days before they learn to fly. What ismore, the youngster is fed by the parents for many months after it has learned to fly. Annualbreeding then is impossible.
和它的菲律賓同伴一樣，熱帶大雕把巢筑在最大的樹(shù)頂上。因此，它的繁殖需要一個(gè)保持完好的森林環(huán)境。似乎不可戰(zhàn)勝的熱帶大雕易受傷害還有一個(gè)原因。據(jù)信，一對(duì)交配的大雕每?jī)赡瓴拍苌乱粋€(gè)雛雕。雕蛋的孵化需要60天，雛雕學(xué)飛之前還需60天。而且，雛雕學(xué)會(huì)飛行之后還需父母喂養(yǎng)多月。因而，大雕不可能每年繁殖。
Folklore has long held that the harpy eagle preys on human babies as well as forest animals. Tothe ancient Mayans of CentralAmerica the bird was Moan,a bird of ill omen and death. The harpyfrom which the eagle derives its name was a mythical wreaker of vengeance. Yet there is noevidence, according to British naturalist Leslie Brown, that children have ever been taken bythe harpy.
民間傳說(shuō)里，一直認(rèn)為熱帶大雕既捕食森林動(dòng)物，也捕食嬰兒。對(duì)中美洲的古代瑪雅人來(lái)說(shuō)，熱帶大雕就是Moan，一種帶來(lái)不祥和死亡的鳥(niǎo)。鷹的名字來(lái)自哈比( Harpy)，神話(huà)中的一個(gè)復(fù)仇者。然而，按照英國(guó)博物學(xué)家萊斯利·布朗的說(shuō)法，還沒(méi)有證據(jù)表明大雕曾經(jīng)掠走過(guò)小孩。
But the Anglia Television Company fflm crew from England that compiled a televisiondocumentary titled Fury of the Forest can vouch for the harpy's ferociousness when its nest isthreatened. One camera team was attacked when filming a pair of harpys mating and nesting.
但制作電視紀(jì)錄片《森林的憤怒》的英國(guó)英吉利電視公司的拍攝人員可以證明：熱帶大雕，在它的巢穴受到威脅時(shí)，是無(wú)比兇暴的。一個(gè)攝制組在拍攝一對(duì)大雕交配和筑巢時(shí)受到了它們的襲擊。
The harpy eagle does not face the same immediate threat as its Filipino cousin. But if thedestruction of its forest habitat continues at its present rate, the largest of avian predators,too, could join those birds already on the endangered species list. Leslie Brown wrote in 1976that nearly half of the 59 species of eagle were under threat. Those who appreciate naturewill be hoping that the harpy can surmount this threat, to soar on over the forests of SouthAmerica.
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