简短的动物英语小故事

The bird whisperer

Steve Nichols has a way with birds.

The founder of the UK's National Parrot Sanctuary connects with them in a way few people can understand.

Strolling through the centre at Friskney, in Lincolnshire, he can individually name most of the 414 parrots under his care.

And like a horse whisperer who can "break" troublesome equines, Mr Nichols has the ability to bond with the worst behaved birds.

He says: "I have got a natural affinity with parrots... they actually relate to me."

"When a wild creature will jump off the tree and come walking over to you, and when it has been someone's bad pet, then I think I just feel so special."

The majority of birds at the sanctuary are "problem pets" which overwhelmed their owners.

Mr Nichols said increasing numbers of owners were finding their parrots too much to handle and were surrendering them to the sanctuary.

At the current rate, he expects the sanctuary's stock to go up to more than 1,000 birds within two years.

The influx can be put down to the rising number of parrots being imported into the UK and the fact that the animals get more difficult to manage as they get older.

It is noise and aggression which usually drives most people to give up their birds.

When BBC News Online visited the sanctuary, one woman phoned Mr Nichols about giving away her bird after owning it for just nine days - despite paying ￡900 for it.

The bird had started attacking family members.

Mr Nichols says: "Most people just don't realize what they are getting themselves into when they buy parrots.... they are still wild animals and can be very difficult.

Mr Nichols changes his mobile phone ring tone every couple of days to stop his parrots mimicking it.
"It's not like dogs which are domesticated and have been living with humans for thousands of years."

史蒂夫·尼科尔斯是养鸟高手。

这位英国国家鹦鹉保护区的创始人用很少有人能够理解的方式来和鸟儿沟通。

漫步在林肯郡Friskney的保护区，他能够逐一叫出大多数在他照看下的鹦鹉的名字，共414只。

就像马语者能够驯服倔强的烈马一样，尼科尔斯先生能够和最不规矩的鸟儿做朋友。

他说：“我对鹦鹉有一种天生的吸引力，他们确实和我很有默契。”

“当一只野鹦鹉从树上跳下来走向你，当它曾是某人顽皮的宠物时，我想我就会感到很特别。”

动物保护区内大部分的鸟都是“问题宠物”，它们让主人无计可施。

尼科尔斯先生说越来越多的主人发现他们管不住自己的鹦鹉，所以他们只能将鹦鹉送到保护区来。

以目前的增长速度，他预计在两年之内保护区收容的鸟将超过1000只。

大量的鹦鹉涌入保护区是因为从国外进口到英国的鹦鹉不断增多，而且鸟儿年纪越大越难养。

鸟类发出的噪声和它们对人类的攻击往往使大多数人放弃养鸟。

当英国广播电台在线新闻采访鹦鹉保护区的时候，有一名妇女给尼科尔斯先生打电话，准备放弃她养了仅仅九天的鸟--尽管她为这只鸟花了900英镑。

这只鸟已经开始攻击她的家人。

尼科尔斯先生说：“大多数买鹦鹉的时候根本没有意识他们将陷入怎样的境地……鹦鹉仍然是野生动物，它们很难伺候的。”

尼科尔斯先生每隔几天就更换一次手机铃声，防止他的鹦鹉们模仿铃声。

“鹦鹉不像狗那样容易驯养，狗已经和人类一起生活几千年了。”

最近几个星期，尼科尔斯先生把他的保护区向公众开放，收取门票，主要是希望能够为他不断扩大的业务筹集资金。他还向遇到困难的主人们提供24小时热线电话服务。

“保护区里的鸟越多，花费就越大。”

“所以我们想到这个主意：如果我们告诉人们我们所做的事，他们通过出钱参观保护区做一点贡献，我们就有希望保障鹦鹉的寿命了。”

In recent weeks, Mr Nichols has opened his sanctuary to paying customers, mainly in the hope of raising money for his expanding operation, which also includes a 24-hour helpline for worried owners.

"As more birds come into the sanctuary the more it is going to cost.

"So we came up with the idea that if we show people what we do, and they contribute by paying to come in, hopefully we can secure the longevity of the parrots."

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原发布者:小学教育交流13
123456789、101112、1314、151617181920、21露茜的家住在动物街64号，旁边就是动物园。所以，露茜每天晚上都可以……假装躺下睡觉，让妈妈放心。然后呢……然后，露茜就从长颈鹿乔治娜的长脖子滑下去，来到动物园。动物园的好朋友们都在等着露茜。因为，每天晚上，他们都会给露茜讲一个非常好听得故事。今天晚上，乔治娜要给大家讲一个关于大象纳尔逊小时候的事情。看上去，纳尔逊有点紧张哦。乔治娜讲的故事是什么呢？5.这个故事发生在很久以前，那个时候纳尔逊还很小呢。当时他住在非洲。纳尔逊每天早晨都是从一个大哈欠开始他一天的生活。6.紧接着，他会在猴面包树上使劲地蹭痒痒。7.然后是早餐。纳尔逊的早餐是猴面包树叶子。他喜欢这些叶子是因为它们有好多的叶子汁儿。不过，这些叶子都很小。所以，他要吃很多叶子才能填饱他的大象肚子。8.但是，纳尔逊吃过早餐后，他就想不起来到底还有什么事情可做。9.我真想知道我从这里跳下去会发生什么。好吧，总要有人来发现的。一，二，三。10.太棒了！蹦啊，跳啊，我太喜欢了。11.纳尔逊觉得玩“蹦啊跳啊”游戏非常愉快，不过，他蹦跳的声音却打搅了其他动物。狮子雷金纳德、鸵鸟奥德丽和羚羊娜莎丽要去看看到底这个噪音是从哪里传来的。12.如果我们不好好睡个午觉，我们就会变得异常烦躁。你知道吗，我们当中有人遇到了很大的困难。我们当中有的腿长的太精致了。13.你不允许我跳？可我比你大。实事上，我比你

The Dog And The Shadow 狗和它的影子
A DOG, crossing a bridge over a stream with a piece of flesh in his mouth, saw his own shadow in the water, and took it for that of another Dog, with a piece of meat double his own in size. He therefore let go his own, and fiercely attacked the other Dog, to get his larger piece from him. He thus lost both: that which he grasped at in the water, because it was a shadow; and his own, because the stream swept it away.
一条狗嘴里叼块肉,来到一座桥上.它看见水里有自己的影子, 以为是另一条嘴里也叼着一块比自己那块肉大一倍的狗.它忙丢下自己嘴里的那块肉,猛力地攻击水里的狗.试图去抢它的肉.结果,它两块肉都得不到. 因为那只是一个影子,它自己的影子而已.真正的肉已被水冲走了.

Aesops Fables

The
Dog
and
the
Shadow（狗和影子）
It
happened
that
a
Dog
had
got
a
piece
of
meat
and
was
carrying
it
home
in
his
mouth
to
eat
it
in
peace.
Now,
on
his
way
home
he
had
to
cross
a
plank
lying
across
a
running
brook.
As
he
crossed,
he
looked
down
and
saw
his
own
shadow
reflected
in
the
water
beneath.
Thinking
it
was
another
dog
with
another
piece
of
meat,
he
made
up
his
mind
to
have
that
also.
So
he
made
a
snap
at
the
shadow
in
the
water,
but
as
he
opened
his
mouth
the
piece
of
meat
fell
out,
dropped
into
the
water
and
was
never
seen
more.
一只狗嘴里衔着一块肉，走过一条河上面的桥，看见他自己在水里的影子，以为是另一只狗，那时狗衔着的肉，比他自己的还要大一倍。因此他仍掉自己的那一块，狠狠地扑向那只狗，想夺到那一块较大的肉。结果两头都落了空，因为他想要抓取在水中的那一块，只不过是一个影子，而原来的那一块，也被水冲走了。
Beware
lest
you
lose
the
substance
by
grasping
at
the
shadow.
谨记，切莫因追逐幻影而丢失已有的东西。
这个是伊索寓言

Two birds

Teacher: Here are two birds, one is a swallow, the other is sparrow. Now who can tell us which is which?
Student: I cannot point out but I know the answer. Teacher: Please tell us.
Student: The swallow is beside the sparrow and the sparrow is beside the swallow.