新闻出处：新唐人英语新闻

London Zoo Animals Weigh in and Measure up
伦敦动物园帮动物量测身高体重

【新闻关键字】
1. Cut out: ph. 安排
2. Monumental: adj. [͵mɑnjəˋmɛnt!] 巨大而重要的
3. Golden lion headed tamarin: ph. 金毛狮狨
4. Tamarin :n. [ˋtæmərɪn] 狨猴
5. Scale: n. [skel] 秤
6. Tamandua: n. [tə͵mændəˋwɑ] 小食蚁兽
7. Lumber :v. [ˋlʌmbɚ] 笨重地移动
8. Fuss :n. [fʌs] 忙乱；大惊小怪
9. Treat :n. [trit] 请客

How tall or short, fat or thin? London Zoo keepers had their work cut out on Thursday conducting the annual weight and height measurements of all their animals.
多高？多矮？多胖？多瘦？伦敦动物园的管理员们周四安排了一项工作，要帮所有的动物进行年度测量身高和体重。

It’s a monumental task to weigh and measure more than 750 different species, including lions, tigers, penguins and snakes.
要帮750种不同的物种测量及秤重是一件巨大而重要的工作，这些物种包括狮子、老虎、企鹅和蛇。

First up were the cheeky golden lion headed tamarins, who needed no encouragement to jump all over the specially adapted scales.
首先亮相的是厚脸皮的金毛狮狨，不需别人鼓舞就直接跳上特殊改装的磅秤上。

Cuddly Tammy the tamandua, or tree ant eater, lumbered along to see what all the fuss was about and happily spent a long time on the scales in front of photographers.
可爱的小食蚁兽塔米，或叫树蚁食者，则是笨重地沿路爬行，想看看是什么好大惊小怪的，然后开心地在磅秤上和摄影师面前花上一段长时间。

She weighed in at around 19 pounds.
她秤约有19磅重。

[Nicky Jargo, Senior Keeper, London Zoo]:
“She’s probably a little bit heavy this morning following all that banana that she had as a treat on the scales, but she’s a good healthy weight at the moment.”
伦敦动物园资深管理员妮基贾歌说：“她今天早上可能有一点点重，因为她在磅秤上吃了不少我们请她的香蕉，不过她现在的体重很健康。”
【新闻关键字】

1. Tortoise :n. [ˋtɔrtəs] 陆龟；乌龟
2. Tarantula : n. [təˋræntʃələ] 狼蛛；鸟蛛
3. Stick insect : ph. 竹节虫
4. Milk snake : ph. 奶蛇
5. Meticulous :adj. [məˋtɪkjələs] 严密的；细致的
6. Poorly :adj. [ˋpʊrlɪ] 身体不佳的
7. Indication : n. [͵ɪndəˋkeʃən] 征兆；指示
8. Pregnancy : n. [ˋprɛgnənsɪ] 怀孕
9. statistics :ph. 统计资料

The heavyweight of the tortoise world, the giant Galapagos tortoise, “Dirk” weighed in as a respectable 371 pounds.
在重量级的乌龟世界，巨型加拉巴戈象龟“德克”，量出了一个可敬的371磅。

A carrot was all that was needed to get Dirk onto the scales, but some creatures are far more difficult to deal with.
胡萝卜是所有能够让德克爬上磅秤的原因，但有些动物则更加难以处理。

[Nicky Jargo, Senior Keeper, London Zoo]:
“Some of the harder ones are some of the flighty animals, so for example some of the smaller birds who don’t like to sit still for too long.”
伦敦动物园资深管理员妮基贾歌说：“比较难的是一些会飞的动物，例如一些比较小的鸟类，它们不喜欢坐着不动太长时间。”

The insects are measured rather than weighed.
昆虫则是测量身长而非秤重。

Jacqueline the tarantula was 4 inches.
狼蛛贾桂琳有4吋长。

The stick insect came in at around 12 inches – the length of the keeper’s ruler.
竹节虫则是大约12吋 – 和管理员尺的长度一样。

Once keepers managed to straighten out Stripey the milk snake, they discovered he was 39 inches long.
当管理员们设法把奶蛇史翠皮撑长时，他们发现他有39吋长。

The meticulous recording of heights and weights helps the zoo monitor the animals’ health and general well-being.
这些严谨的长度和重量记录，能帮助动物园监视动物的健康和一般福利。

[Nicky Jargo, Senior Keeper, London Zoo]:
“Obviously the animals can’t tell us if they are poorly, so we do have to keep a very good visual eye on them and weight change, sudden weight change, is a really good indication of any health problems there might be. And also monitoring any possible pregnancies as well.”
伦敦动物园资深管理员妮基贾歌说：“很明显地，动物身体状况不好时，他们不能告诉我们，所以我们确实需要用眼睛好好地注视他们。体重的变化、体重的突变，是任何可能的健康问题，一个非常好的征兆。此外我们也监控任何可能的怀孕。”

The information is shared with other zoos to help better understand each species.
这些资讯也会和其它动物园共享，以帮助更加了解各类物种。

The logs of vital statistics help with field conservation projects where wild animals are monitored to better understand behavior, health and even an animal’s age.
这些重要的统计资料纪录，能帮助实地保育计划中进行的野生动物监测，以便更好地理解动物的行为、健康，甚至动物年龄。
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责任编辑：黎薇