书评：《假如我是一只鸟》

江苏 温从秀

大卫·艾伦·西布利的新书《假如我是一只鸟》通过具体、详实的案例改变和丰富了人们对鸟类的认知。

难词探意

1. genuine /'dʒenjuɪn/ adj. 真正的；真诚的

2. marvelously /'mɑːvələsli/ adv. 非凡地；不可思议地

“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（鸟的 胃）. Tundra swans （苔 原 天 鹅） 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 （毛虫） 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.

中外文学作品中“飞鸟”的意象

●在我国，自古以来“飞鸟”就是一种比较常见的古典诗赋意象。 在我国诗歌的源头《诗经》中，诗歌以雎鸠为隐喻，表达青年男子对女子的爱慕；庄子的《逍遥游》中扶摇直上九万里的大鹏， 化身为对自由与理想的渴望与追求；杜甫的 《春望》 中有化身为乱世悲歌的惊心鸟；陶渊明《饮酒》中的飞鸟则是向往自由的田园鸟。

●在民间，乌鸦通常被认为是一种不祥的象征。 但在中国古代文化传统中，乌鸦被认为是一种孝鸟。 古代文学作品用乌鸦私情、乌鸦反哺来比喻为人子的孝思。 在西方文化中，乌鸦是一种聪明的鸟类。

主题应用·语库构建

Ⅰ. 热词积累

1. 动物的名称

emperor penguin 帝企鹅

leopard 豹

dolphin 海豚

whale 鲸

monkey 猴

boar 野猪

crane 鹤

hawk 鹰

salmon 鲑鱼

tuna 金枪鱼

mosquito 蚊子

dragonfly 蜻蜓

butterfly 蝴蝶

beetle 甲虫

wasp 黄蜂

giant Chinese salamander 娃娃鱼

dinosaur 恐龙

starfish 海星

jellyfish 水母

crab 螃蟹

lobster 龙虾

shrimp 虾

octopus 章鱼

squid 鱿鱼

sponge 海绵动物

peacock 雄孔雀

lizard 蜥蜴

cricket 蟋蟀

mandarin duck/an affectionate couple 鸳鸯

2. 动物的特点、行为及其描述

unusual 不同寻常的

hilarious 非常滑稽的；引人捧腹大笑的

creative 创造性的；有创造力的；有创意的

gentle 温和的

fierce 凶猛的

intelligent 聪明的

have good hearing 有良好的听力

have emotions 有情感

feel fear 感觉到害怕

feel empathy 感同身受

have a sense of humor 有幽默感

play a variety of instruments 弹奏不同的乐器

play many different kinds of music 演奏许多不同种类的音乐

make music properly 恰当地创造音乐

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 轮流去海洋寻找食物

use camouflage to make them harder to see 利用保护色使得它们很难被发现

plan ahead 提前计划

be able to communicate over vast distances in the ocean 能够在海洋中越过长距离进行交流

have close relationships with each other 彼此有很亲密的关系

chatty creatures 爱聊天的生物

routinely make complex decisions and experience emotions 例行公事地做复杂的决定和体验情感

live near the sea in large groups 成群结队地住在海边

Ⅱ. 美句背诵

1. Humans may encourage the animals to play instruments, but the elephants make their own songs. 人类可能会鼓励动物演奏乐器，但大象会唱它们自己的歌。

2. Jean Donaldson enjoys yoga, and so does her dog Buffy. 简·唐纳森喜欢瑜伽，她的狗巴菲也喜欢瑜伽。

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. 生活对动物来说是非常生动的。 在许多情况下，它们知道自己是谁。它们知道它们的朋友是谁，它们的对手是谁。

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. 令人难以置信的是，人们仍然在争论动物是否有意识，甚至在争论人类是否能知道动物是有意识的。

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. 猫的伪装取决于它住在哪里和它是如何捕猎的。进化为每个特定的狩猎者创造了最合适的生存模式。

6. Studying the underwater sound environment is really important because it helps to see the world as the whales actually use it. 研究水下声音环境真的很重要，因为它有助于了解鲸鱼使用声音时的真实情境。

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.这场大流行病为科学创造了一个意想不到的机会，这是一生中一次以自然的不受干扰的形式看待鲸鱼交流行为的机会。

8. A bird's experience is far richer, complex, and thoughtful than I'd imagined. 一只鸟的经历比我想象的要丰富得多、 复杂得多，而且深思熟虑得多。

9. His main aim is to arouse appreciation of the varied birds we may encounter in our daily life. 他的主要目的是唤起我们对在日常生活中可能遇到的各种鸟类的欣赏。

10. The book's beauty mirrors the beauty of birds it describes so marvelously. 这本书的美丽极棒地反映了它所描述的鸟类的美丽。

Ⅲ. 主题写作

假定你是李华， 你想给Crazy English写一封信，呼吁人们积极行动起来，保护野生动物。内容要点：

1. 写信目的；

2. 野生动物的生存现状；

3. 你的建议。

注意：

1. 词数100左右；

2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。Dear Crazy English,

Yours,

Li Hua

Ⅳ. 主题测评

见P56“自测园地”