Extinct Animals
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Hazel’s summer internship began with her signing a ridiculous stack of papers.
海瑟暑期实习开始于她签了一叠可笑的论文.
Out the office window, she could see gates leading into the vast Wyoming compound.
在办公室窗户外,她可以看到通往广阔的怀俄明大院的大门.
A man in a suit sat across from her, explaining the legal ramifications of working at Buckland Rare Animal Research Center.
一个西装男坐在她对面 解释在巴克兰稀有动物研究中心工作的法律后果
“Buckland has to protect its property,” the man explained.
他解释说,“布克兰必须保护其财产”。
“We reserve the right to monitor all communications in and out of the compound, and the agreement you’re signing now extends beyond the grounds of Buckland.
“我们保留监视院内和院外所有通信的权利,你们现在签署的协议超越了巴克兰。
The consequences for violating said agreement are.
违反上述协议的后果是。
severe.”
严重。 “
“I guess I’ d better learn to keep a secret,” Hazel said.
“我想我最好学会保守秘密。”
In reply, the man forced a smile.
作为回应,这名男子强迫微笑.
The website had made the place look like a fairly normal research zoo.
网站让这个地方看起来像一个相当正常的研究动物园。
True, it had the world’s largest collection of endangered species, and it did say they were doing cutting-edge genetic research.
确实,它拥有世界上最大的濒危物种, 而且它确实说它们正在进行尖端的基因研究。
Still, what secrets could they really have?
他们到底有什么秘密?
Two hours later, Hazel thought she understood.
两小时后 海泽尔以为她能理解
She was standing in front of a real woolly mammoth.
她当时站在一头真正的羊毛猛毛面前.
Its tusks sliced through the air, and its trunk snaked toward Hazel’s face.
树干向海泽尔的脸部走去。
She yelped and stumbled back.
她喊了又摔倒回来
“Don’t worry,” said Jim, the head animal keeper and Hazel’s new boss.
「别担心,
“Eve is just curious.”
“Eve只是好奇。 “
“Eve,” Hazel whispered to herself, just to be sure she wasn’t dreaming.
Hazel自言自语,
Jim reached through the bars and scratched the huge creature on the cheek.
吉姆穿过了栏杆,抓了脸颊上巨大的生物.
It rumbled like a giant cat.
它像只大猫一样响起
Eve’s fur was longer and thicker than Hazel would ever have thought, forming a fluttering skirt below the mammoth’s belly.
夏娃的皮毛比海泽尔想象的要长又厚,
It smelled healthy and good, like a dog that’s been jumping in leaves.
闻起来健康好,
“How did you.
“你怎么样?
” Hazel began.
“海泽尔开始了。
“Where did she.
“她在哪里?
“Siberia, I think,” Jim said.
“我认为,西伯利亚”吉姆说。
“Her genes came from there, at least.
“她的基因至少来自那里。
It took many years and more money than you or I could ever dream of, but our scientists finally found a way to bring the species back—at least a couple specimens.
花了很多年的时间 并且比我想象的还要多 但我们的科学家终于找到了一种方法 将物种带回来 至少还有几个样本
The male is out having a checkup.
雄性出去检查了
I’m sure you can guess his name.”
我肯定你能猜出他的名字。 “
“She’s beautiful,” Hazel whispered as Eve’s trunk brushed over her sneakers.
海瑟悄悄地说,
Jim smiled.
吉姆笑了起来。
“She’s just the first stop.”
" 她只是第一站。 “
Hazel spent the rest of the day in a state of wonder as Jim took her throughout the complex to each of the extinct animals’ enclosures.
Hazel将她带到每个已灭绝的动物的封口,
The Megatheriums had their own stand of trees to rest in, beside a pond.
巨ther有他们自己的树站 休息在池塘旁
Jim explained how the Thylacinus habitat tried to mimic a particular area in Tasmania.
吉姆解释了Thylacinus栖息地如何试图模仿塔斯马尼亚的某个特定地区.
At the moa habitat, the other intern joined them.
在沼泽地,另一个实习生加入了他们。
Malcolm kept his hands in his pockets and jumped up and down with excitement as he squeaked over and over, trying to make the twelve-foot birds’ calls.
Malcolm把双手放在口袋里,
He was weird.
他很诡异。
Hazel liked him already.
海瑟已经喜欢他了
That night, Malcolm joined her in the common area of the staff dormitory.
当晚,马尔科姆与她一起进入了员工宿舍的共同区域.
“So what’s your theory?”
“那么你的理论是什么? “
Malcolm casually folded his arms on the table and knocked a stack of papers to the floor.
马尔科姆轻而易举地把手臂叠到桌子上,把一叠纸敲倒地上.
Hazel tried not to laugh.
海泽尔试图不笑。
“On what?”
“关于什么? “
“They’re reviving extinct animals,” he said.
他说:「他们正在复活已灭绝的动物。
“We’re talking Nobel Prizes, faces on magazine covers—the works.
我们谈论的是诺贝尔奖,
Why is Buckland keeping it so secret?”
为什么巴克兰会保密? “
The question had crossed Hazel’s mind, too.
Hazel也曾想过这个问题。
“Someone must know,” she said, “because someone’s paying for this place.
" 一定有人知道, " 她说, " 因为有人为这个地方付费。
It must cost a fortune to run.”
它必须花费一大笔钱才能运行。”
Malcolm pointed a finger at Hazel.
马尔科姆用手指指着海泽尔.
“You’ve hit the nail on the board, or the head of the nail, or something.
“你撞上指甲了,
I guess I messed up that metaphor, but it doesn’t matter—something fishy is going on here,” he said.
我想是我把这个比喻弄糟了,
Hazel laughed.
海泽尔笑了
Malcolm seemed like a guy with a busy brain.
Malcolm看起来像一个大脑繁忙的家伙
He shrugged.
他发抖了。
“Whatever it is, a lifetime of keeping my mouth shut seems worth it.
“无论是什么,我一辈子闭口不谈似乎都值得。
Certainly easier to handle than the student loans I’ d have to take out if I want to get a doctorate—and I do.
如果我想获得博士学位, 我不得不拿出学生贷款,
You know what I’m saying?”
你知道我在说什么吗? “
Hazel thought she did know.
海瑟以为她知道
Like Malcolm, she was counting on this internship to help fund her future education.
和马尔科姆一样,她依靠这个实习来帮助资助她未来的教育.
The next few weeks were hard work.
接下来的几周是艰苦的工作。
As the interns, Hazel and Malcolm were given every job anyone else didn’t want to do.
Hazel和Malcolm得到了其他人不想做的每活。
They shoveled poop and cleaned enclosures.
他们铲了大便并清理了围巾.
They fetched equipment for different people.
他们为不同的人取取了设备.
Some of the staff even started referring to them as “gophers” because they were always being asked to “go for” one thing or another.
有些工作人员甚至开始把他们称为“走狗”,因为他们总是被要求“为”这种或那种事情而去。
Still, Hazel was thrilled.
海瑟还是很激动
She loved working around these amazing animals and seeing how they behaved.
她喜欢在这些神奇的动物周围工作 并看到他们的行为。
She especially loved visiting Eve, who would reach out her trunk and inspect Hazel’s pockets for treats, rumbling gently.
她特别喜欢拜访夏娃, 她会伸出她的后车厢,
Hazel sometimes discovered an animal missing from an enclosure during her rounds.
海泽尔有时在巡航中发现一头动物从一个被封口上失踪.
When she pointed it out to Jim, he checked a small tablet and explained that the animal had been moved to one of the other compounds for observation, or that it was being treated for some illness.
当她指给吉姆时,他检查了一块小平板,并解释说这只动物被移到其他一个化合物观察,或者正在治疗一些疾病.
Sometimes the animal came back, but sometimes it didn’t.
有时动物会回来,
One day, while Hazel and Malcolm ate their cafeteria lunch in a grassy area beside one of the warehouses, they saw Jim and another keeper loading an Entelodont into a transport.
一天,当海泽尔和马尔科姆在一处仓库旁的草地上吃食堂午餐时,他们看到吉姆和另一个保管人将一具Entelodont装入了运输工具.
The creature was the size of a buffalo.
这个生物是野牛的大小
“Doesn’t look too happy,” Malcolm remarked as the beast bellowed and crashed into the side of the cage.
Malcolm评论说, 野兽在笼子边被撞倒。
“People call them ‘terror pigs,’ but they’re really more like hippos.”
人们称它们为"恐怖猪", “
“Wonder where they’re taking it,” Hazel said.
Hazel说,
“Seems pretty healthy to me.”
“在我看来相当健康。 “
Just then, a large white SUV with dark windows pulled up.
刚刚,一辆装有暗窗的大白色SUV被拉起.
Out popped a small man with white hair and dark sunglasses.
弹出一个小男人 有白发和黑墨镜。
He was dressed as if he were going on a safari—not looking at research animals in Wyoming.
他穿得好像在野外旅行一样,
As they watched, the man walked around the transport, examining the Entelodont with great interest.
当他们观看时,那人走来走去,以极大的兴趣检查了Entelodont.
His broad smile showed strangely white teeth.
他的宽阔笑容呈现出奇怪的白牙.
He said something that they couldn’t hear, and Jim forced a smile in return.
他说了一些他们听不见的话,
After a few minutes, the two of them climbed into the vehicle and drove off.
几分钟后,两人爬入了车辆并开走了.
“That was odd,” Malcolm said.
Malcolm说:“这很奇怪。”
“Who was that guy?”
“那个人是谁? “
Hazel shook her head.
海瑟摇头了
That evening, Hazel watched a movie on her computer for a while, but the smiling man’s face kept forcing its way into her mind.
当晚,海泽尔在电脑上看了一出电影一阵子,但笑容男子的相貌却不断迫使电影进入她的脑海.
His smile, with its too-white teeth, had a quality that made her uneasy.
他的笑容,带着太白了的牙齿,具有让她不安的品质.
She had seen the same look on some of the predators at feeding time.
她看到一些捕食者在进食时的表情
She decided to take a walk and let the cool night air clear her head.
她决定走走 让清凉的夜晚清凉她的头
She stuck her hands in her pockets and set off in no particular direction.
她把手插在口袋里 朝任何方向飞去
The dark night sky let her see the stars that filled it—more stars than she’ d ever seen before.
黑暗的夜空让她看到充满了星星的星星——比她以前见过的多。
Before she knew it, Hazel had walked to Eve’s enclosure.
在她知道之前,Hazel走进了Eve的封口。
The keepers had returned Adam not long after Hazel arrived, and she could hear the pair snoring behind the locked door.
守门员在海泽尔到来不久后就把亚当送回来,她能听到对子在被锁入的门后打呼噜.
She smiled at the sound.
她笑出声音来
In the distance, she saw a pair of lights bouncing down the dirt road that led between the compounds.
在远处,她看到一对灯光从通往化合物之间的泥道上弹出.
As the lights drew closer, she could tell it wasn’t one of the jeeps people usually took.
灯光渐近时, 她会说这不是人们通常乘坐的吉普车之一。
This one sounded more like a transport vehicle, maybe bringing a new species, or a baby.
这个听起来更像是运输车, 可能带来一个新的物种,或者婴儿。
She decided to wait around.
她决定四处等
The transport came through the gates and pulled up to what the staff called the “feeding station,” one of the small buildings where the animals’ food was prepared.
运输经过大门,拉到工作人员称之为 " 供餐站 " 的地方,这是准备动物食物的小建筑之一。
Jim hopped out with two other keepers and pulled the back doors open, but it was difficult to see with so little light.
吉姆与另外两个守门员一起出走并拉开后门,但光线这么小很难看到.
She heard the keepers reach into the transport and pull out something wrapped in a large tarp.
她听到守护者们伸入运输工具 拿出了被大油布包裹的东西
It made a dull thump as it hit the ground.
撞到地上时,它会很闷
They reached in and pulled out three more tarps.
他们又拉出三道柏油
Thump.
咚。
Thump.
咚。
Thump.
咚。
Hazel wanted to turn away, but she couldn’t.
Hazel想转身,
One by one, the keepers lifted the tarps and pulled them toward the large door, into the light.
一个接一个地,守门者把柏油抬起,拉向了大门,走入了光明.
They dropped the first one, and Hazel could make out what looked like part of an animal.
他们放下了第一个,海泽尔可以找出什么看起来像动物的一部分。
The second one was larger, and when they set it down, she could just make out the shoulder of the same kind of animal.
第二个是更大的, 当他们放下它, 她可以只是做出 同类动物的肩膀。
It had a few small holes in it, almost like bullet holes.
里面有一些小孔,几乎像子弹孔一样.
Then they dropped the third tarp, and she saw the head of the Entelodont, its huge tongue hanging sickly out the side of its open mouth.
然后他们放下了第三个油布,她看见了Entelodont的头部,它巨大的舌头被病倒地吊出它的开口的一面.
Hazel covered her gasp with her hand and slid back into the shadows, not sure what to do.
海瑟用手遮住她的口水并滑回了阴影中,不知该怎么办.
Maybe it wasn’t what it looked like.
也许不是它看起来的样子。
Maybe the animal had tried to attack someone.
也许动物想攻击某人
Maybe it was too sick and they had to put it down, though she couldn’t imagine why the keepers would shoot it rather than do something more humane.
她无法想象为什么看守会开枪,
She made her way back to the dormitory, questions tumbling through her brain.
她回到了宿舍 问她脑海中的问题
Had the man with the white teeth hunted the creature?
白牙的人有没有猎杀过这个生物?
Did the researchers know about it?
研究人员知道吗?
And of all the buildings to drag a dead animal to.
在所有的建筑中 拖着一头死去的动物去。
why the feeding station?
为什么是喂食站?
Hazel climbed the stairs to her room and locked the door behind her.
海瑟爬上楼梯去她的房间,把门锁在她身后.
The next morning, Hazel was still in shock.
第二天早上,海泽尔仍然处于休克状态.
She had barely slept, and the image of the dead Entelodont kept repeating whenever she closed her eyes.
她几乎睡不着,死去的Entelodont一闭上眼睛就不断重复。
She didn’t know the whole story yet, though.
她还不知道整个故事。
She needed to talk to Jim.
她需要和吉姆谈谈。
After the morning meeting, Hazel asked Jim if she could talk to him in private.
上午会议后,海瑟问吉姆是否可以私下和他谈谈.
“Sure,” he said, smiling.
" 当然, " 他说,微笑。
“Please, step into my office.”
“请到我办公室来。 “
He opened the doors to his jeep, and they both climbed in.
他打开了吉普车的门 他们都爬进来了
When the doors were closed, Hazel described what she’ d seen the previous night.
当门被关上时,Hazel描述了她前一天晚上看到的情况。
Jim looked out at the complex and nodded.
吉姆看着这个复杂和点头。
“When they first offered me this position, I found the idea of letting billionaires hunt extinct animals for sport disgusting.
“当我第一次提出这个职位时,我发现让亿万富翁为运动而猎取已灭绝动物的想法令人厌恶。
I had cared for animals in zoos since I was your age,” he said.
我从你这个年纪起就关心动物园里的动物,
“I couldn’t bring myself to do it—so I refused.”
我无法自首, “
Jim turned to look at Hazel.
吉姆转身看着海泽尔。
“Then they explained the good we could do.
“然后,他们解释了我们能够做的好事。
These people pay huge amounts of money for us to raise these animals so they can hunt and, in some cases, eat them.”
这些人花一大笔钱来抚养这些动物,以便他们可以猎取,在某些情况下,可以吃它们. “
Jim sighed, and went on.
吉姆叹了口气,继续
“While we raise these creatures, we learn about them—how they behave, raise young, survive.
" 当我们养育这些生物的时候,我们了解它们--它们的行为,幼稚地养育,生存。
“The money has also allowed us to bring back recently extinct animals.
“这笔钱还使我们能够把最近灭绝的动物带回来。
The golden toad and the Zanzibar leopard, for example, were both killed off because of humans.
例如金蛤蟆和桑给巴尔豹都是被人类杀死的.
Now we’re working toward releasing these creatures back into the wild.
我们正在努力释放这些生物回到野外。
They have a chance of surviving because the money has allowed us to ramp up conservation efforts around the globe.
他们有生存的机会,因为这笔钱使我们能够在全球加强保护工作。
“Last year alone, the organization bought and saved miles of rainforest and wetlands in Florida, India, and South America.
“仅去年一年,该组织就购买并拯救了佛罗里达、印度和南美洲几英里长的雨林和湿地。
It funded captive breeding programs for endangered animals in zoos throughout the United States and Europe.
它资助了美国和欧洲各地动物园濒危动物的捕获繁殖方案。
We funded research trips into the most remote regions on Earth to discover new species.
我们资助了对地球上最偏远地区的研究旅行,以发现新物种。
“Most of that could never have been done if it weren’t for the money raised here from the legal hunting of twenty-seven animals.
如果不是从合法猎取27只动物中筹集的钱,
And keep in mind,” Jim added, “most of the animals here have been extinct so long, their natural habitats no longer exist.”
Jim补充说,“这里的大部分动物已经灭绝了这么久,其自然栖息地已经不复存在。 “
Jim’s arguments made sense, but what about Eve?
但夏娃怎么办?
Hazel couldn’t accept the thought of her running from some rich guy with a big gun while he hunted her for the most expensive dinner of his life.
Hazel无法接受她从一个有钱人身上跑来,
“Look,” Jim said, placing his hand on her shoulder.
“看,”吉姆说,把手放在她肩上。
“We’re doing good work here— important work—and sometimes that means making difficult choices.
" 我们在这里做得很好——重要的工作,有时这意味着作出困难的选择。
You have to do what’s right for you, and I can’t tell you what that is.
你必须做你该做的事, 我不能告诉你那是什么。
You’re a great worker, and I’ d be happy to keep you on.
你是一个伟大的工人,我很乐意让你继续工作。
You can also make the choice to end your internship.
也可以选择结束实习.
It’s completely up to you.”
这完全取决于你。 “
Hazel took a deep breath.
海泽尔深呼吸了
“Thanks for the talk, Jim.
“谢谢你的谈话,吉姆。
I have some things to think about,” she said.
我有一些事情要考虑,“她说。
“Sounds like it,” he said.
他说,“听起来是这样的”。
“Could you think about it while you clean up the mammoth enclosure?”
“你可以考虑一下吗? “
Hazel nodded and climbed out of the truck.
海瑟点头后爬出卡车
Hazel spent more time than usual cleaning Eve and Adam’s enclosure.
海泽尔花费的时间比平常要多,
In her eyes, the mammoths were wild animals with as much right to live as any other.
在她眼中,长毛象是野生动物,与其它动物一样有生存的权利.
In the eyes of the organization, they were property, like cattle or pigs, except these two animals could save thousands.
在组织眼中,它们是财产,就像牛或猪一样,但这两种动物可以拯救上千只.
She stopped at the Zanzibar leopards’ area to watch a young cat batting around a coconut.
她停在桑给巴尔豹区,
The coat that had caused humans to hunt them to extinction was just starting to come in.
导致人类猎杀的外衣 刚刚开始出现
Someday, could this one be released back into the wild?
总有一天,这个能放回野外吗?
That night at dinner, Malcolm said, “Okay, enough already.
当晚晚餐时,马尔科姆说,“好了,够了。
You’ve been bummed out all day.
你一整天都心烦意乱。
Don’t leave me in the dark.”
不要把我留在黑暗中。 “
Hazel sighed and explained everything.
海瑟叹息并解释了一切
“Wow,” he said when she finished.
"哇哇",她说,当她结束。
“This might be the first of my theories that’s proven true.
“这可能是我第一个被证明真实的理论。
My mind is blown.”
我的脑子被吹了 “
“That’s it?”
" 就这样? “
Hazel snapped.
黑泽尔崩溃了。
“That’s all you can say about this?”
“你只能说这些吗? “
Malcolm shrugged.
马尔科姆发抖。
“What can we do about it?
“我们能做些什么呢?
We leave here in some sort of quiet protest, and we lose our college funding, but we get to keep the moral high ground.”
我们离开这里是一场静悄悄的抗议, 我们失去了我们的大学资助, 但是我们得到了保持道德高地。 “
Hazel looked at her feet—like Malcolm, she really needed the funding to afford school.
海泽尔看着她的脚 就像马尔科姆 她真的需要资金来支付学费
“I guess you could leave and tell the press,” he continued.
他接着说,“我想你可以离开,告诉新闻界,”
“The program would likely be shut down, and Buckland Wildlife would be killed in the media.
“节目可能会被关闭,Buckland野生生物也会被媒体杀害。
Buckland would likely come after you and your family with the ‘severe’ consequences that lawyer guy talked about.”
Buckland很可能会以律师所谈论的 " 严重 " 后果来追捕你和你的家人。 “
Hazel’s eyes burned as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Hazel的眼睛被泪从脸颊上滚下而烧了。
After a while, people started leaving the cafeteria and heading back to work.
一段时间后,人们开始离开食堂并去上班.
Malcolm finished his sandwich before he spoke again.
马尔科姆在说话前完成了他的三明治.
“Or you could do what I’m going to do,” he said quietly.
“或者你可以做我要做的事,”他悄悄地说。
“ Accept a less than perfect situation for the greater good of all.”
“...... 接受一个不尽人意的情况,为所有人谋取更大的利益。 “
“Not all,” Hazel said.
Hazel说,“并非全部”。
“Not all,” Malcolm agreed, “but when has anything ever been for the good of all?”
“并非全部,”马尔科姆同意,“但是,什么时候有什么事情是有利于所有人的? “
Hazel didn’t know.
Hazel不知道,
She only knew that she faced a choice, and no matter what she chose, someone—man, beast, or both—was going to get hurt.
她只知道自己面临一个选择,不管她选择什么,有人——男人、野兽或两者——都会受到伤害。