字神帝國英語天地

今日主題：Frigate Bird Flights Last Months / 研究人員發現軍艦鳥的連續飛行時間可以長達兩個月

洪欣老師推薦：托福聽力最好的課外教材：60-Second Science
康康精選托福會考的主題，堅持每天精聽一定會進步的哦!!

建議方法：
1. 先聽兩三遍 (不看文稿)
2. 再一句一句聽寫 (每句都要聽寫數遍，直到寫出85%以上的字)
3. 最後check文稿，看哪聽不出來，單字沒背過，還是發音不熟。
4. 堅持天天聽，就能每天進步哦。

MP3音檔 (按右鍵可下載聽)：喜歡的同學，幫忙推或按讚哦~~
http://online1.tingclass.net/voaspe/2016/20160727sa_tech.mp3

只有音檔怎夠，聽不懂地方，不用怕，康康幫你準備好中英文稿了：

中英文稿：
Great frigate birds are extraordinary creatures. They’re seabirds with six-foot wingspans, yet they weigh only about three pounds. Their preferred food: flying fish—which they pluck out of the air above the water’s surface. Frigate birds’ feathers aren’t waterproof, so landing on the water to fish is a no-go.
大型軍艦鳥是一種特別的生物。它們屬於海鳥，擁有長達6英尺的翼展，但它們的重量只有三磅。它們偏愛的食物是：飛魚，當這些飛魚露出海面呼吸空氣時。軍艦鳥的羽毛並不防水，因此在水面上降落捕魚是不可能的。

Now, scientists have discovered that great frigate birds do something else amazing: they can fly for up to two months at a time without landing.
現在，科學家已經發現，軍艦鳥令人震驚的能力：它們能可空中連續飛行兩個月不著陸。

Researchers already knew that these birds took extended trips over the Indian and Pacific Oceans to feed. But in a new study, scientists used tracking devices to follow the movement and vital signs of birds from the island of Europa, near Madagascar. They discovered that the birds have a highly specialized strategy for staying aloft.
研究人員已經發現居住在印度洋和太平洋的大型軍艦鳥在長途跋涉中覓食。但在一項新的研究中，科學家使用追蹤設備對馬達加斯加附近歐羅巴島上的軍艦鳥進行跟蹤，追蹤其運動軌跡和生命體征。他們發現軍艦鳥的飛行狀態有一個高度專業化的策略。

“When they are traveling, most of the time, they flap very infrequently their wings.
“在飛行時，大多數時候，它們很少拍打翅膀。

Henri Weimerskirch, an ecologist at the National Center for Scientific Research in France.
Henri Weimerskirch，是法國國家科學研究中心的一名生態學家。

“In fact, what they are doing, they are doing sort of a roller coaster flight where they take altitude. Even they can climb up to 3,000 or 4,000 meters, and when they climb, they do not flap their wings at all.”
“事實上，它們所做的就是--它們所飛行的高度像雲霄飛車一樣飛行。它們甚至可以爬升到 3,000或 4,000米的高度。當它們爬升時，根本不需要拍打翅膀。”

Weimerskirch and his colleagues found that the birds climb currents of rising air associated with cumulus clouds, circling upwards the way hawks and vultures do over land. Then they glide back down again, hardly flapping. By using atmospheric conditions to their advantage, the birds covered an average of 420 kilometers a day almost effortlessly. The study is in the journal Science. [Henri Weimerskirch et al., Frigate birds track atmospheric conditions over months-long transoceanic flights]
Weimerskirch和他的研究團隊發現，這些軍艦鳥借助上升氣流盤旋爬升，就像老鷹與禿鷲一樣，然後滑翔回落，幾乎不需要拍打翅膀。利用對它們有利的大氣條件，軍艦鳥每天可以毫不費力地平均飛行420公里，該項研究結果發表在《科學》雜誌上。

The researchers also discovered that the birds endure some harrowing conditions on their voyage, including some thrills and chills.
研究人員還發現，軍艦鳥可以忍受一些惡劣的航行條件，包括在一些特別刺激和寒冷的條件。

“When you enter into the clouds, there’s a lot of turbulence. After, when you see from the recording on the logger of the bird, when they are at 4,000 meters, the temperatures are negative. It’s a tropical bird. It’s a bird that has no specific down like geese that are operating in the Arctic. So they are encountering sort of a polar temperature, but it’s a typical tropical bird.”
“當進入雲層時，氣流造成動盪。查看軍艦鳥記錄器上的記錄時發現，當它們在4000米的高度飛行，溫度呈陰性。軍艦鳥是一種熱帶鳥，就像在北極的鵝一樣，軍艦鳥的活動也沒有確切的時間，因此它們會遇到極低溫度，但軍艦鳥是典型的熱帶鳥。

Of course, the birds have to eat during their journey. The researchers found that diving down to the sea surface to snatch a meal consumed most of the birds’ energy, even though it only occupied about 10 percent of their time.
當然，軍艦鳥在旅行途中覓食。研究人員們還發現，軍艦鳥俯衝到海面，掠奪其他海鳥捕獲的食物，將消耗其大部分能量。儘管這僅佔據全部出海時間的10%左右。

“When they are climbing, they have a period where there is no movement at all during several minutes. And so, during this time is probably the time when they are sleeping.”
在爬升時，軍艦鳥有一段時間不用揮動翅膀，時間可持續幾分鐘。因此，這段時間可能是它們休息的時候。

That’s right—like many others who make long-distance flights, great frigate birds catch a little shut-eye along the way.
沒錯——像許多其他人乘坐長途航班時一樣，軍艦鳥它們很可能長途跋涉時在空中睡覺。