鸵鸟-人与自然-休闲区-轻松英语-洪恩在线

Ostrich

　　Everyone has dreamt of being able to fly, except for the ostrich, which cares less. A long time ago, the ancestors of the ostriches[1] flew. But then the ostrich began getting bigger and bigger and fatter and fatter. The result of the ostrich is now the world's largest bird. It measures up to 2 meters 75 and weighs 150 kilos. So it's given up flying and become a champion sprinter. Since the muscles on the bones of its wings weren't use any more, they atrophied[2]. In other words, they became incapable of lifting the ostrich off the ground. If the ostrich can't fly, it can run and run very fast. Just imagine a cruising speed of 50 kilos an hour, and it can peak 80 kilometers an hour. The ostrich's feathers have also changed a lot. Other birds have rigid feathers which allow them to fly high in the sky, while the ostrich's are soft, completely soft. They look more like a fake down than real plumage. Even if it can't fly, the ostrich has put its wings to other uses. It fans itself when it gets too hot, and shows off for the women or gives shade to its young. By the way, is it true that the ostrich has a cast-iron stomach[3] and can swallow anything? Well, that's not totally wrong, because like many other birds, to facilitate its digestion, the ostrich swallows a lot of pebbles. But it definitely does not swallow alarm clocks. Believe me, one last detail, ostriches do not put their heads in the sands no matter what anyone says[4]. In any case, they are fast enough to run away from any danger.

注释：

1、 ostrich：鸵鸟。看过这篇文章，就能了解到鸵鸟的食欲相当好。如果有人赞叹你have the digestion of an ostrich，你应该感到开心，因为你有鸵鸟那样好的胃口！

2、 atrophied: 它的原形是atrophy，表示“萎缩”。它还能做名词用，“肌肉萎缩”就是muscular atrophy。

3、 cast-iron stomach： cast-iron表示“铸铁的，坚固的，严格的”，鸵鸟有“铸铁般的”胃，当然能吞下大量的砂砾。

4、 “ostriches do not put their heads in the sands no matter what anyone says.” 在西方文化中，爱把头埋在泥沙里的鸵鸟象征回避现实的人。所以此刻这句话（不管别人怎么说，鸵鸟都不会把头埋在泥沙里的）就含有幽默的意味。

鸵鸟

　　任何人都曾经梦想自己能飞，只有鸵鸟才会对此不屑一顾。很久以前鸵鸟的祖先是能飞的。然而随着它们变得越来越肥大，它们不能再飞了。结果是鸵鸟成了目前世界上最大的鸟，它身高可达2公尺75公分体重可达150公斤，所以它已放弃飞行并且变成短跑健将。由于翅膀的肌肉及骨头都不再使用了，它们因而枯萎了。换句话说，它们变得无法把鸵鸟提离地面。尽管鸵鸟不能飞，但是它跑得却很快，想象一下每小时50公里巡航的速度，而鸵鸟的最高时速可达每小时80公里, 鸵鸟的羽毛也有了很大的变化, 其他鸟类有坚硬的羽毛使它们能在高空中飞行。然而鸵鸟的羽毛却很软，完全软化了。看起来更象绒毛而不象真的羽毛。虽然鸵鸟不能飞，但它的翅膀还是有其他作用的。天气热的时候可以用来煽热，向母鸟献殷勤，或是给小鸵鸟遮凉用。顺便提一下，鸵鸟真的有个铁铸般的胃，可吞下任何东西吗？好了，那并不完全错，因为像其他鸟类一样，为了促进消化，鸵鸟会吞下许多小圆石头。请相信我，它可确实无法吞下闹钟。还有最后一点，不管人们怎样说，鸵鸟是不会把头埋进沙里的。任何情况下，它们的速度是足以脱离任何危险的。