書評：《假如我是一只鳥》

江蘇 溫從秀

大衛·艾倫·西布利的新書《假如我是一只鳥》通過具體、詳實的案例改變和豐富了人們對鳥類的認知。

難詞探意

1. genuine /'d?enju?n/ adj. 真正的；真誠的

2. marvelously /'mɑ?v?l?sli/ adv. 非凡地；不可思議地

“A bird's experience is far richer, complex, and ‘thoughtful’than I'd imagined.”

This sentence on the first page of David Allen Sibley's What It's Like to Be a Bird is attractive. Sibley is a top bird expert. When he did research for this new volume, he became convinced of something he had not previously anticipated: Birds routinely make complex decisions and experience emotions.

“And if that was news to me after a lifetime of watching birds,” Sibley writes,“it must be surprising to other people as well.” Wholly engaging,What It's Like to Be a Bird is a feast for the mind.

Emotion may be hard to measure in the field, but Sibley believes that bird mates feel genuine attraction for each other. His main aim is to arouse appreciation of the varied North American birds we may encounter in our backyards and nearby parks. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, right now many of us long for greater connection to nature close to home,so the book's timing couldn't be more perfect.The volume's organization—“each essay focuses on one particular detail of bird biology”—means it's equally rewarding to dip in here or there, or just read straight through.

Sibley packs the text with cool facts. A wild turkey, like all birds, lacks teeth, but can crush whole walnuts in the muscular gizzard（鳥的 胃）. Tundra swans （苔 原 天 鵝） hold the record for the most feathers counted on any bird—25,000. The peregrine falcon （游 隼）makes flight turns at 27 Gs. Parent chickadees（北美山雀） may collect 1,000 caterpillars （毛蟲） in a day to feed their nestlings.

1. How does the author begin his text?

A. By quoting a saying.

B. By raising a question.

C. By narrating his experience.

D. By describing a phenomenon.

2. What is the author's attitude towards the new book?

A. Neutral. B. Indifferent.

C. Praiseful. D. Doubtful.

3. Why does the author mention some birds in Para. 5?

A. To support his opinion.

B. To make a comparison.

C. To offer more information.

D. To introduce more phenomena.

4. Which column is this text probably taken from?

A. Amusement.

B. Fashion.

C. Current news.

D. Publication.

Sibley invites an engaged approach to bird-watching: “You will learn faster if you can be an active observer—draw sketches,take notes, write poetry, or take photos. All of these things make you look a little more carefully and a little longer.”

For every page of What It's Like to Be a Bird, this is what can be seen: The book's beauty mirrors the beauty of birds it describes so marvelously.

Write a summary of the text with about 60 words.

中外文學作品中“飛鳥”的意象

●在我國，自古以來“飛鳥”就是一種比較常見的古典詩賦意象。 在我國詩歌的源頭《詩經》中，詩歌以雎鳩為隱喻，表達青年男子對女子的愛慕；莊子的《逍遙游》中扶搖直上九萬里的大鵬， 化身為對自由與理想的渴望與追求；杜甫的 《春望》 中有化身為亂世悲歌的驚心鳥；陶淵明《飲酒》中的飛鳥則是向往自由的田園鳥。

●在民間，烏鴉通常被認為是一種不祥的象征。 但在中國古代文化傳統中，烏鴉被認為是一種孝鳥。 古代文學作品用烏鴉私情、烏鴉反哺來比喻為人子的孝思。 在西方文化中，烏鴉是一種聰明的鳥類。

主題應用·語庫構建

Ⅰ. 熱詞積累

1. 動物的名稱

emperor penguin 帝企鵝

leopard 豹

dolphin 海豚

whale 鯨

monkey 猴

boar 野豬

crane 鶴

hawk 鷹

salmon 鮭魚

tuna 金槍魚

mosquito 蚊子

dragonfly 蜻蜓

butterfly 蝴蝶

beetle 甲蟲

wasp 黃蜂

giant Chinese salamander 娃娃魚

dinosaur 恐龍

starfish 海星

jellyfish 水母

crab 螃蟹

lobster 龍蝦

shrimp 蝦

octopus 章魚

squid 魷魚

sponge 海綿動物

peacock 雄孔雀

lizard 蜥蜴

cricket 蟋蟀

mandarin duck/an affectionate couple 鴛鴦

2. 動物的特點、行為及其描述

unusual 不同尋常的

hilarious 非常滑稽的；引人捧腹大笑的

creative 創造性的；有創造力的；有創意的

gentle 溫和的

fierce 兇猛的

intelligent 聰明的

have good hearing 有良好的聽力

have emotions 有情感

feel fear 感覺到害怕

feel empathy 感同身受

have a sense of humor 有幽默感

play a variety of instruments 彈奏不同的樂器

play many different kinds of music 演奏許多不同種類的音樂

make music properly 恰當地創造音樂

walk/go back to the ocean to find food 回到海洋找食物

take turns to go to the ocean for food 輪流去海洋尋找食物

use camouflage to make them harder to see 利用保護色使得它們很難被發現

plan ahead 提前計劃

be able to communicate over vast distances in the ocean 能夠在海洋中越過長距離進行交流

have close relationships with each other 彼此有很親密的關系

chatty creatures 愛聊天的生物

routinely make complex decisions and experience emotions 例行公事地做復雜的決定和體驗情感

live near the sea in large groups 成群結隊地住在海邊

Ⅱ. 美句背誦

1. Humans may encourage the animals to play instruments, but the elephants make their own songs. 人類可能會鼓勵動物演奏樂器，但大象會唱它們自己的歌。

2. Jean Donaldson enjoys yoga, and so does her dog Buffy. 簡·唐納森喜歡瑜伽，她的狗巴菲也喜歡瑜伽。

3. Life is very vivid to animals. In many cases they know who they are. They know who their friends are and who their rivals are. 生活對動物來說是非常生動的。 在許多情況下，它們知道自己是誰。它們知道它們的朋友是誰，它們的對手是誰。

4. It is incredible that there is still a debate over whether animals are conscious and even a debate over whether human beings can know animals are conscious. 令人難以置信的是，人們仍然在爭論動物是否有意識，甚至在爭論人類是否能知道動物是有意識的。

5. A cat's camouflage depends on where it lives and how it hunts. Evolution has created the most suitable survival pattern for each particular hunter. 貓的偽裝取決于它住在哪里和它是如何捕獵的。進化為每個特定的狩獵者創造了最合適的生存模式。

6. Studying the underwater sound environment is really important because it helps to see the world as the whales actually use it. 研究水下聲音環境真的很重要，因為它有助于了解鯨魚使用聲音時的真實情境。

7. The pandemic has created this unexpected opportunity for science, kind of a oncein-a-lifetime chance to look at whale communication behavior in its natural undisturbed form.這場大流行病為科學創造了一個意想不到的機會，這是一生中一次以自然的不受干擾的形式看待鯨魚交流行為的機會。

8. A bird's experience is far richer, complex, and thoughtful than I'd imagined. 一只鳥的經歷比我想象的要豐富得多、 復雜得多，而且深思熟慮得多。

9. His main aim is to arouse appreciation of the varied birds we may encounter in our daily life. 他的主要目的是喚起我們對在日常生活中可能遇到的各種鳥類的欣賞。

10. The book's beauty mirrors the beauty of birds it describes so marvelously. 這本書的美麗極棒地反映了它所描述的鳥類的美麗。

Ⅲ. 主題寫作

假定你是李華， 你想給Crazy English寫一封信，呼吁人們積極行動起來，保護野生動物。內容要點：

1. 寫信目的；

2. 野生動物的生存現狀；

3. 你的建議。

注意：

1. 詞數100左右；

2. 可以適當增加細節，以使行文連貫。Dear Crazy English,

Yours,

Li Hua

Ⅳ. 主題測評

見P56“自測園地”