雅思听力对话：听力材料-渡渡鸟的灭绝02
雅思听力在考试中占据着重要的地位，时常用听力材料来磨耳朵可以不断巩固大脑的英语语言能力。以下是雅思听力材料，您可以结合MP3和下方的原文及翻译进行听力学习。
听力原文及翻译
In fact, one 17th century sailor wrote that he found the birds hard to catch. It's true that the dodo's small wings wouldn't have allowed it to leave the ground, but scientists suggest that these were probably employed for balance while going over uneven ground. Another group of scientists carried out an analysis of the dodo's skull. They found that the reports of the lack of intelligence of the dodo were not borne out by their research, which suggested the bird's brain was not small but average in size.
事实上，一位 17 世纪的水手写道，他发现这种鸟很难捕捉。渡渡鸟的小翅膀确实无法让它离开地面，但科学家们认为，这些翅膀可能是用来在崎岖不平的地面上行走时保持平衡的。另一组科学家对渡渡鸟的头骨进行了分析。他们发现，关于渡渡鸟智力低下的报道并没有得到他们的研究证实，他们的研究结果表明，渡渡鸟的大脑并不小，而是中等大小。
In fact, in relation to its body size, it was similar to that of the pigeon, which is known to be a highly intelligent bird. The researchers also found that the structure of the bird's skull suggested that one sense which was particularly well developed was that of smell. So, the dodo may also have been particularly good at locating ripe fruit and other food in the island's thick vegetation.
事实上，就其体型而言，它与鸽子相似，而鸽子是一种众所周知的高智商鸟类。研究人员还发现，渡渡鸟头骨的结构表明，一种特别发达的感觉是嗅觉。因此，渡渡鸟可能还特别擅长在岛上茂密的植被中找到成熟的水果和其他食物。
So, it looks as if the dodo was better able to survive and defend itself than was originally believed. Yet, less than 200 years after Europeans first arrived on the island, they had become extinct. So, what was the reason for this? For a long time, it was believed that the dodos were hunted to extinction, but scientists now believe the situation was more complicated than this.
因此，看起来渡渡鸟的生存和自卫能力似乎比最初认为的要好。然而，在欧洲人首次抵达该岛后不到 200 年，渡渡鸟就灭绝了。那么，这到底是什么原因造成的呢？长期以来，人们认为渡渡鸟是被猎杀而灭绝的，但现在科学家认为情况比这更复杂。
Another factor may have been the new species brought to the island by the sailors. These included dogs, which would have been a threat to the dodos, and also monkeys, which ate the fruit that was the main part of the dodos' diet. These were brought to the island deliberately, but the ships also brought another type of creature: rats, which came to land from the ships and rapidly overran the island. These upset the ecology of the island, not just the dodos but other species too.
另一个因素可能是水手们带到岛上的新物种。其中包括对渡渡鸟构成威胁的狗，还有猴子，它们以水果为食，而水果是渡渡鸟的主要食物。这些是故意带到岛上的，但船只还带来了另一种生物：老鼠，它们从船上登陆并迅速占领了整个岛屿。这些破坏了岛上的生态环境，不仅是渡渡鸟，还有其他物种。
However, they were a particular danger to the dodos because they consumed their eggs, and since each dodo only laid one at a time, this probably had a devastating effect on populations. However, we now think that probably the main cause of the bird's extinction was not the introduction of non-native species, but the introduction of agriculture.
然而，它们对渡渡鸟来说尤其危险，因为它们会吃掉渡渡鸟的蛋，而每只渡渡鸟一次只产一个蛋，这可能对种群造成毁灭性的影响。然而，我们现在认为，渡渡鸟灭绝的主要原因可能不是外来物种的引入，而是农业的引入。
This meant that the forest, that had once covered all the island and that had provided a perfect home for the dodo, was cut down so that crops such as sugar could be grown. So, although the dodo had survived for thousands of years, suddenly it was gone.
这意味着曾经覆盖整个岛屿并为渡渡鸟提供完美家园的森林被砍伐，以便种植甘蔗等作物。因此，尽管渡渡鸟已经存活了数千年，但突然间它就消失了。
以上就是本期的雅思听力练习，希望对您的听力水平有所帮助。您也可以访问网站主页，获取最新的英语学习资料，全方位提升英语能力。
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