【在生活中學習語言】《中英對照讀新聞》The secret life of penguins revealed 揭開企鵝生命的祕密

◎管淑平

Famous for its cuteness and comic gait on land, the penguin also has an enigmatic life at sea. Zoologists have long wondered where the flightless seabird goes during these long spells away from land.

以可愛和陸地行走的滑稽步履聞名，企鵝同時也有個謎樣般的海洋生活。動物學家長久以來一直好奇這種不會飛的海鳥，離開陸地這麼長一段時間內的去向。

French scientists attached monitoring devices to a dozen macaroni penguins on the Kerguelen Islands of Indian Ocean. The tufty-headed penguins headed out to sea at the onset of winter for their annual forage and returned on the following spring to breed.

法國科學家在印度洋凱爾蓋朗群島上12隻長冠企鵝身上裝設監測器材。這群頭上長著一叢毛的企鵝在入冬後就出海展開年度覓食，次年春天回來繁殖。

Once at sea, the birds swiftly swam eastwards into the southern Indian Ocean, the investigators found.

一到海裡，這些鳥迅速朝東游向南印度洋，調查發現。

The birds swam astonishing distances, clocking up 10,430 kilometres on average during their six months away. In the final weeks of the migration, they rushed to get home, covering a massive 1,743 kms in just one month.

這些企鵝游的距離很驚人，出去6個月期間每隻平均共游了1萬0430公里。在遷徙的最後幾週，牠們急著趕回家，一個月內就游了長達1743公里。

Foodwise, the blood test showed that the penguins had gorged on crustaceans during their time at sea. Contrary to expectations, they had not tucked into the Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, which only occurs farther south in colder waters.

在食物方面，驗血顯示，這群企鵝在海裡那段時間吃了許多甲殼類。與預期不同的是，牠們並沒有吃很多只出現在更南邊更冷海域的南極磷蝦。

新聞辭典

forage：動詞。覓食；在包包裡搜尋某物。例句：He was so broke and had to forage around for food on street.（他以前窮到得在街上到處找東西吃。）

gorge on、tuck into：動詞片語，大量地、狼吞虎嚥地吃。例句：There’s a study claimed that gorging on snacks before meal may be helpful to lose weight. （有一份研究宣稱，飯前猛吃零食或許有助減肥。）

foodwise：在食物方面。以wise為字尾的字，意指（了解）前一個字所指涉事務，或沿著某方向。如clockwise：順時鐘方向，streetwise：了解民間疾苦的。

自由時報-980518

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