巨蟒秘闻之一-环宇时空-休闲英语-轻松英语-洪恩在线

巨蟒是一种喜欢孤栖的生灵，神秘的原始沼泽和湖泊是它不容侵犯的王国。它究竟过着怎样与众不同的生活呢？它有吃人的习惯吗？下面我们将带着您领略"巨蟒秘闻"之一____巨蟒的神秘生活。

The Secret Life of an Anaconda

Anacondas[1] in the wild are arboreal, semi-aquatic[2] creatures, which means they spend most of their time hanging out in rivers (aquatic) and trees (arboreal = trees). They are solitary[3] creatures that are somewhat shy and not many of them are easily seen. There are some historical reports of early European explorers of the South American jungles seeing giant anacondas up to 100 feet long! Some of the native peoples of the South American jungle have reported seeing anacondas up to 80 feet long. No one has caught and measured an anaconda anywhere near that size, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there.

1. Anaconda：森蚺。蟒科蚺属爬行动物，或称大水蟒。体呈深绿色，间有椭圆形黑斑。体长超过10米。分布在南美亚马逊河流域的沼泽和河湖之内。以鱼类和小鳄鱼为食，有时也捕食鹿、野猪和水边的鸟类。
2. arboreal, semi-aquatic：树栖的、半水栖的。Semi这个词根有"半，不完全"的意思。比如semifinal半决赛。为什么说水蟒是arboreal, semi-aquatic呢？后面文章就讲到了原因：因为它大部分时间不是盘蜷在河流中，就是缠绕在树上。
3. solitary：在这里是动物学术语，指"（动物）孤栖的"。当然它在日常生活中运用得更多。武打小说中经常会描写到这样一幕：A solitary rider was seen in the distance. 远处有个孤零零的骑马人。

Anacondas like to hang out in rivers so it would be difficult to estimate the length of one seen swimming, without seeing the entire snake. It's the anaconda's ability to remain partly hidden in the water that makes it difficult to accurately find (and document) a specimen that exceeds the current world's record.（28feet long） (Would you want to jump in the water after a giant anaconda to try and measure a snake big enough to swallow[4] ten men whole?)

4．swallow：这里用的是原意"吞"。它还可表示"囫囵吞枣地相信"。恋爱中的男女都变得智商极低。比如下面这句话就是昏醉在爱情中的男士说的话：I swallow any story she told me. 我相信她告诉我的任何事。

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Anacondas are members of the boa constrictor[5] family of snakes. That means that they kill their prey by coiling their large, powerful bodies around their victims and squeezing until their prey suffocates[6]. Then the snake unhinges[7] its jaw and swallows the victim whole. Although they are big and strong enough to eat people, they seldom do (but they have been known to). Anacondas are much more likely to eat jungle animals and aquatic creatures. Some of the more common food items on the menu include: caimans (a type of small alligator), other snakes, deer, and even jaguars. Anacondas are rather slow-moving snakes, so they have to rely on stealth[8] and the element of surprise to catch their unsuspecting prey. If you were visiting South America and were to see an anaconda, you could easily run from it.

5．boa constrictor：王蛇。这是一类巨蟒。
6．suffocates：使窒息，使不能呼吸。比如某些城市污染十分严重，就会出现这样的情况：The smoke and fumes almost suffocates the old. 烟雾几乎要把老人给呛死了。
7. unhinges："张开"，在这儿形容巨蟒张开双颌吞下食物的动作。它能指"使……精神错乱"，通常用于被动。比如一对爱侣中有一位身患绝症，离开人世，另一位：Unhinged by her death, he fell ill.
8．stealth：秘密行动。由于巨蟒身体太肥胖，只能缓缓地移动，所以它不能靠速度取胜，只能趁猎物放松警惕性时，进行偷袭。