高一英語 課外知識擴讀 旅美 “國寶”生日宴會唱主角 （中英

1、旅美 "國寶"生日宴會唱主角National Zoo Holds Panda Party Mei Xiang, the female panda enjoys a bucket of ice and fruit during a birthday celebration at the National Zoo in Washington Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002. The National Zoo held a panda party for its most prominent residents Thursday, celebrating

2、the birthdays of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian. Mei Xiang, the female, turned 4 on July 22, and Tian Tian will turn 5 on Aug 27. The zoo picked a date in between to celebrate their birthday. "Today we're really celebrating all giant panda birthdays," zoo director Lucy Spelman said. &quo

3、t;Today is about our giant pandas here and what we've learned about them in the past year and a half, what we will continue to learn about them and how it applies to the wild giant panda population." As thousands of guests ate slices of a cake decorated with bamboo and replicas of the

4、pandas, Mei Xiang lapped at a block of ice with fruit in the middle. Tian Tian took a nap in his air conditioned grotto and was to have his frozen treat after he awoke, Spelman said. Both pandas were born at a China research and conservation center dedicated to studying the Giant Panda. They ca

5、me to the U.S. in December 2000 and are on loan for 10 years to the zoo, which will pay the Chinese government million in return. They are the zoo's second pair of pandas, replacing Ling-Ling, who died in 1992 and Hsing-Hsing, who died in 1999. The pandas lived together at first but were se

6、parated following their first breeding season in May. The 262-pound Tian Tian had become too aggressive in his play with the 217-pound Mei Xiang, and zoo officials feared he might hurt her. They were kept apart while curators studied the pandas' behavior, although they could see and smell e

7、ach other. They were reunited on July 25, when it became apparent that the two wanted to be together and could play acceptably. "They are much more calm and adult like in their play, right now," Spelman said. "It's not the chirping, rambunctious play that they did when they f

8、irst arrived." Scientists hope that their second mating season will be more successful than the first. "Both of them are going through puberty right now and are just reaching maturity," panda curator Lisa Stevens said. There's a good chance the two will mate next ye

9、ar, Spelman said. However, scientists realize successful reproduction would be a long shot. No giant panda cub born at the National Zoo has ever survived longer than a few hours. "We're not in a particular rush. They're still young," Spelman said.8月1日，美國國家動物園里舉行了一場別開生面的生日派對，派對

10、的主角是動物園里兩位最為尊貴的成員，他們就是來自中國的大熊貓"梅香"和"天天"。梅香是一只雌性大熊貓，到7月22日已經(jīng)滿四歲了，她的同伴天天是一只雄性熊貓，到8月27日就要滿5歲了。動物園的工作人員挑選了他們生日的一個中間日子-8月1日，在這一天為他們慶祝生日。動物園園長露西?斯佩爾曼說："今天我們在這里為所有的大熊貓慶祝生日。今天是屬于梅香和天天的好日子。在過去的一年半時間里，我們已經(jīng)對他們有所了解，今后還將繼續(xù)增進對他們的了解，以此致力于對野生大熊貓家族的研究。"斯佩爾曼介紹說，在生日宴會當天，數(shù)千名游客共同分享了一塊巨型蛋糕，蛋

11、糕上面不僅有竹子點綴，還有栩栩如生的熊貓造型呢。梅香喜滋滋地舔食著一塊中間放有水果的冰塊?？墒翘焯靺s躲在裝有空調(diào)的房間里美美地睡午覺去了，睡醒之后自然也會有一頓冰鎮(zhèn)地美味佳肴等著他。梅香和天天都出生在中國大熊貓研究保護中心，該中心一直致力于對大熊貓的研究工作。2000年12月他們遠渡重洋來到美國，根據(jù)中美雙方達成的租借協(xié)議，他們將在國家動物園度過為期十年的"旅美生活"，同時美方還將為此向中國政府支付1000萬美元。梅香和天天是第二對旅居該動物園的大熊貓，在此之前，另外一對來自中國的大熊貓"玲玲"和"星星"不幸分別于1992年和1999年死去。到來之初，兩只熊貓同居一室。不過，體重262磅的天天在和只有217磅重的梅香玩耍時總是表現(xiàn)的過于"蠻橫無理"，于是出于對梅香的安全考慮，五月份他們的首次交配期一結(jié)束，工作人員讓他們"分居"了。即使館長為研究工作而來，他們依舊要分居兩室，當然，他們看得到彼此，也能聞到對方的氣味。不過，他們終于在7月25號團聚了，看得出他們都愿意廝守一處，能夠融洽相處。據(jù)斯佩爾曼介紹說："現(xiàn)在兩只熊貓玩耍時比以前平和了，行為舉止也成熟了許多。他們現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)不像剛開始見面那會兒，總是沖著對方亂叫，或者在玩耍時動作