| 原文 | 译文 | |
| TWO weeks ago, Beijing launched a new earthquake monitoring station at Beijing Wildlife Park in the outer Daxing District in southwest Beijing. The station will use animals instead of machines as earthquake sensors. | 两周前，一项新的地震监控台于北京大兴的北京野生动物园启动了。在这里，野生动物将取代地震预测仪器为人们预测地震。 | |
| Beijing Wildlife Park, with more 2,400,000 square meters of land, has about 10,000 birds and animals living there. The station will use more than 50 horses, donkeys, peacocks, snakes, turtles, frogs, deer and other animals. | 北京野生动物园占地240万平方米，拥有近万只动物。地震监控台将利用50多匹马、驴、蛇、鹿等动物来预测地震。 | |
| "Seven observation points will be set up in the park. Each will be headed by a senior zoo keeper who will record animals ' daily behavior, said Liu Xinchen, manager of the park. |
"园中将设有7个观察点儿，每个观察点儿都有高级管理人员看守并记录动物们的日常行为 " ，野生动物园园长刘昕晨说。 | |
| "The park is located along a fracture in the earth 's crust and is an ideal place to monitor earthquakes, " said Deng Baoyin, director of the Daxing District Seismological Bureau. | "此野生动物园座落于地壳断裂带上，是个很理想的地震监控场所 " ，大兴地震局局长邓宝银说。 | |
| Scientists say strange behaviors can be seen in many wild animals before an earthquake: hibernating animals wake up and run away from their caves, and aquatic animals leap from the water. |
科学家表示地震来临前多数野生动物会表现怪异。冬眠的动物从睡梦中醒来跑离洞穴，水栖动物会跃出水面。 | |
| An earthquake measuring 5.1 degrees happened in Wen 'an county in Hebei Province last July and was felt clearly in Beijing and Tianjin. | 去年7月，河北省文安县发生5.1级地震，北京及天津地区亦能清晰地感觉到地面的震动。 | |
| Liu said that before and during the quake, zoo workers at the park noticed that parrots were abnormally fidgety. | 刘昕晨回忆道：从地震发生前到结束，园中工作人员发现鹦鹉表现异常烦躁。 | |
| Could animals predict earthquakes? | 动物们能预测地震么？ | |
| The belief that animals can sense earthquakes has been around for centuries. In 373 BC, historians recorded that animals, including rats and snakes, left the Greek city of Helice in groups just days before a quake destroyed the city. | 动物能预测地震的说法已经存在好几个世纪了。早在公元前373年就有历史学家记录：包括蛇和老鼠在内的动物在地震来临并摧毁整座城市前成群结队地离开了希腊Helice。 | |
| Similar animal anticipations of earthquakes have been observed since then. Fish moving violently, chickens that stop laying eggs and bees leaving their home in a panic have been reported. A lot of pet owners have said that they have seen their cats and dogs acting strangely before the ground shook—barking or whining for no apparent reason. | 自此，人们开始关注类似动物预测地震的情况。鱼类疯狂游动，母鸡停止产蛋，蜜蜂惊慌失措逃离蜂巢等举动都曾被报导过。许多宠物饲养者表示他们的猫和狗会在地震来临前毫无预兆地哀鸣或狂吠。 | |
| But what animals really sense, if they feel anything at all, is a mystery. One theory is that animals feel the Earth vibrate before humans. Other ideas suggest they detect changes in the air or gas released from the Earth. | 然而动物们究竟感觉到了什么（如果他们真的能感觉到的话）却仍是个未知数。有人认为动物们比人类先感觉到地震。还有人认为它们能通过空气或地壳所散发出来的气体的变化而感觉到震动。 | |
| Earthquakes are a sudden phenomenon. About 500,000 quakes happen in the world each year. Of those, 100,000 can be felt by humans, and 100 cause damage. | 地震通常是突然发生的。世界上大约每年发生50万次地震，而其中只有10万能被人类所感觉到。每年约100个地震给人们带来损失。 |
(from page 6, 21st Century Teens Senior 2 Edition Issue No.278)
