賴世雄高級(jí)05課
Hi, everybody, welcome again to Radio English on Sunday. This is Bruce,
/ And this is Peter.
/ Join us on page thirty four of your book today, we'll be taking a look at unit five, which is the first of several units in your book, which will feature unusual, interesting, if not beautiful animals throughout the world, and the first animal we are going to showcase for you is, Hot Animals around the World, Chameleons.
/ You don't have to go far to look at chameleons, because right here in this small studio there is one by the name of Peter.
/ Uh-mm, yes, actually chameleon means "lion on the ground." , and if you've ever seen Peter, he looks something like a lion. ..a very fascinating animal. Let's get started with our lesson, I'll read the first paragraph. Remember, we read on paragraph in your text, then we go back to explain it, helping you by pointing out vocabulary or special expressions. So, listen carefully.
Every few months this program will feature an animal which has caught the eye of the world public to become a favourite or hot animal. In the first of this unusual series, we will look at the chameleon, one of nature's strangest creatures.
As I said at the introduction of this program, hot animals around the world is a very short series. We have three or four animals to share with you in this book, which we found to be irresistible. There's so cute or strange or fascinating that we want to show more about them with you. We'll start with the chameleon.
irresistible,
Her charm is irresistible. 不可抗拒的，無(wú)法抗拒的，
to catch the eye of somebody, to catch somebody's eye, 注意這時(shí)的eye要用單數(shù)。
That pretty girl at beach caught Poll's eye.
So "eye" here means "attention.", not your two eyes on your face.
Ok, let's go ahead to the next much longer paragraph. This is a background paragraph to tell us more scientific information about the chameleon.
Perhaps no other group of animals has caught mankind's imagination like reptiles. Among the several subclasses or orders in biology, of reptiles are snakes and lizards, turtles and tortoises, crocodiles and alligators, and the tuatara, a marine lizard in New Zealand. The dinosaurs, too, belong to the class of reptiles. Was is a snake, lizard or crocodile that caught the fancy of some Chinese in times gone by to create the dragon?
4:30
A perennial theme, reptiles have been featured over the past ten year in box office hits and bombs alike as dinosaurs ( Jurassic park and The Lost World ) , crocodiles, and snakes, Anaconda. Though not nearly as large as these mighty reptiles, the lowly chameleon nonetheless has amazed countless generations with its special talents and skills.
/ I think I have to cut in for a while because in this paragraph we do have a lot of terms, but, don't you have to worry about them because we have a very beautiful translation following this, so when it comes to terms, all you have to do is just to understand the meaning and that's all. What you have to understand this chapter or some of the key words we have to give us?
/ If you are very interested in biology and especially in reptiles, as you can see there're plenty of special words here for you, but for the general reader, it's enough to just be able to read and and know that, oh, alligator is a kind of reptile or really strange (toatawa) is a kind of reptile, you don't memorize the word if you are not going to use them.
/ Right.
/ There are two pronunciations here for the word "reptile".
Ok, the interesting thing here I think is the Chinese dragon, the model for this dragon seems to have been a reptile, so reptiles are also important in Chinese imagery.
/What does the word "fancy" mean?
/ Well, this "fancy" does not mean expensive like "we ate in a fancy restaurant last night." Here "fancy" has the idea --imagination, or creativity.
/ Mmm-humm, to catch the fancy of somebody, in other words, it's to...
/ To attract someone's attention so that they start to think about something or create something.
/ 也就是一樣的吸引人某人的注意力，但使得某人開(kāi)始幻想，想事情了。
take a fancy to something,
/ Right. Or just say "fancy"---I fancy that suit in the window. 很喜歡的意思。
/ I really take fancy to that music.
Ok, let's go ahead now and finish page thirty four and go to the next page.
What is a chameleon? It's unusual name fits this unusual animal perfectly, for it translates from the ancient Greek as Lion on the ground. This is unexpected, since chameleons spend most of their time in trees. as for looking like a lion, a chameleon looks like a..well, a chameleon. No other animal in Nature's zoo looks quite as bizarre as they do. Where do they live? True chameleons are found only in the tropical forests and jungles of the old world, and nearly half of its species live on the African Island of (Medagasga 即所謂的馬拉加斯加什么的).
Again, we have more biological or scientific information here, the word "chameleon" means "lion on the ground", but, actually chameleons live mostly in trees. (請(qǐng)注意這里用的是in, 不是 on trees). We'll describle what they look like to you in a moment, but we also learn that they live in the Old world, this means Asia, Africa and Europe.
/ What does "bizarre" mean? It simply means "weird". ---Do I look bizarre?
/ Do you have to ask? :P
/ live on 在課文中是“住在。。。地方(島上)”的意思。它還有另外一個(gè)重要用法，靠...為生。10：05 Most Chinese live on rice, 吃米飯過(guò)活什么的。
What's so special about the chameleon? Plenty! From its tongue to its tail, the chameleon offers a storehouse of specialities. The tongue of this modern day dinosaur look-alike can be extended more than twice the length of its body. This type of tongue, also present in frogs and toads, is called an extensile tongue. The eyes of the chameleon are even more remarkable. Its eyes are turreted, and can be moved independently so that it can view two different objects simultaneously. This comes in especially handy as it is tree dwelling. The chameleon can keep one eye on its prey and the other on its footing. Its head is often helmet shaped and some species have horn like structures growing out of this scaly helmet.
/ Good! haha
/ You really have to like reptiles ..this guy? He has a long tongue like a frog, his eyes are, maybe the only eye in all of nature, which can move independently. It can look at, maybe something to eat, and it can then with the other eye look at the ground. It is very useful because it lives in trees. It also seems to be covered with scales like fish. So, unless you really love animals, you might have trouble loving the chameleons.
/ Well, this particular paragraph really sounds a little bit gross. (這里這個(gè)gross是很口語(yǔ)的用法，很討厭的。) _______That's gross!
to offer a storehouse of specialities, ---storehouse?
/ Well, it simply means a large collection of things like a warehouse or like a department store. ---multitude, 其實(shí)就是表示很多。。
/ This word "specialities" is really special because we can also say "specialties", right?
/ Right. "specialties" would be without the middle "i". They are pretty much the same meaning.
/ What specialties, or what specialities does this restaurant offer? 特色菜。招牌菜，
/ This comes in especially handy ...-------to come in handy, 隨時(shí)可以派上用場(chǎng)，
要下雨了，雨隨時(shí)都會(huì)有，你應(yīng)該帶上雨傘，隨時(shí)都會(huì)用到。
An umbrella always comes in handy in summer.
==come in useful.
simultaneously, 同時(shí)地，
This event was almost simultaneous with that one.
這件事幾乎是與那件事同時(shí)發(fā)生的。
上面的prey指的是獵物，不可數(shù)。注意pray是祈禱，完全不一樣的。
be [become, fall] a prey to
成了...的受害者[犧牲品], 受...的折磨
easy prey
容易捕獲的獵物; 容易上鉤者; 頭腦簡(jiǎn)單的人
(猛獸等)捕食, 攫食(on, upon)
掠奪, 搶奪; 詐取(on, upon)
(疾病等)折磨; 使苦惱; 損害; 消耗(on, upon)
Cats prey upon mice.
貓捕鼠。
Remorse preyed upon his mind.
悔恨使他內(nèi)心痛苦。
to prey on somebody, to prey on something,
/ Oh, this means, as a noun, it means the food, if it is animal food, that another animal eats. To prey on could be, for example, (lake lions) prey on animals in Africa, but sometimes we use it for people, too. ---Criminals prey on innocent people.
The feet and tail of the chameleon are also special. Both are prehensile, that is, 15:35
they are both perfectly adapted to their sylvan environment. The toes of the chameleon's feet are bunched into inside and outside groups of two or three to enable this reptile to grasp tree branches tightly. The chameleon can thus climb extraordinarily well while using its tail to grab objects for further balance.
So in this paragraph, we again describe the chameleon's specialities. Its feet and tail are prehensile, they can grasp or grab things very very tightly, which allows the chameleon to climb trees especially well.
/ to adapt to, to be adapted to, ---He has already adapted to country life.
/ Oh, let's continue. We're going to the next page now.
The above inventory of natural selections specializations would be remarkable enough, but what really separates the chameleon from its fellow reptiles is the fact that its scales contain the ability to change color. Though many people think the chameleon can change its color at will, and that it can blend into any color. These are misconceptions. In fact, chameleons can blend into many natural colors and even patterns, but they cannot they this at will. Instead, this happens naturally according to the temperature, emotional state of the animal, and the triggering of certain hormones within its body.
Well, if you thought the chameleon was special enough, you were wrong. Because the most famous thing about the chameleon is this ability to change color. But we are told here that it cannot decide to change color; this happens naturally. So it may turn green in the tree but brown on the ground.
/ Man proposes but heaven, or God, disposes. 即謀事在人，成事在天。
It is hard to imagine an animal more interesting than a chameleon, with its weird appearance and special abilities. We should all remember, however, that these animals require their native habitat flourish in, not zoos or individual's terrariums. If you want your grandchildren to see this gift of nature, do not collect it as a pet. These natural treasures evolved over millions of years without mankind's help; they will continue to survive better if left alone.
So our final paragraph reminds us that, we need to concern nature. We have to help nature and the best way to help nature is by leaving it alone. Don't go into natural areas and take out the wild lives.
/ Many animals today are on the verge of extinction. (verge: extreme edge, )
我們要愛(ài)護(hù)動(dòng)物 we should learn to love nature, to leave it as it is.
/That's right. It was given to us this way and that's the way we should leave it.
________________Pan. 2003. 4.
****************************************************************************************
Hot Animals around the World : Chameleons
Every few months this program will feature an animal which has caught the eye of the world's public to become a favorite or 揾ot?animal. In the first of this unusual series, we will look at the chameleon, one of nature's strangest creatures.
Perhaps no other group of animals has caught mankind's imagination like reptiles. Among the several subclasses ( or 搊rders?in biology ) of reptiles are snakes and lizards, turtles and tortoises, crocodiles and alligators, and the tuatara, a marine lizard in New Zealand. The dinosaurs, too, belonged to the class of reptile. Was it a snake, lizard, or crocodile that caught the fancy of some Chinese in times gone by to create the dragon? A perennial theme, reptiles have been featured over the past ten year in box office hits and bombs alike as dinosaurs ( Jurassic park and The Lost World ) , crocodiles, and snakes ( Anaconda ) . Though not nearly as large as these mighty reptiles, the lowly chameleon nonetheless has amazed countless generations with its special talents and skills.
What is a chameleon? Its unusual name fits this unusual animal perfectly, for it translates from the ancient Greek as 搇ion on the ground.?This is unexpected, since chameleons spend most of their time in trees, and as for looking like a lion, a chameleon looks like a … well , a chameleon! No other animal in Nature's zoo looks quite as bizarre as they do. Where do they live? True chameleons are found only in the tropical forests and jungles of the Old World, and nearly half of its species live on the African island of Madagascar.
What's so special about the chameleons? Plenty! From its tongue to its tail the chameleon offers a storehouse of specialities. The tongue of this modern-day dinosaur look-alike can be extended more than twice the length of its body. This type of tongue, also present in frogs and toads, is called an extensile tongue. The eyes of the chameleon are even more remarkable. Its eyes are turreted and can be moved independently so that it can view two different objects simultaneously! This comes in especially handy as it is tree dwelling. The chameleon can keep one eye on its prey and the other on its footing. Its head is often helmet-shaped, and some species have horn-like structures growing out of this scaly helmet.
The feet and tail of the chameleon are also special. Both are prehensile; that is , they are both perfectly adapted to their sylvan environment. The toes of the chameleon's feet are bunched into inside and outside groups of two or three to enable this reptile to grasp tree branches tightly. The chameleon can thus climb extraordinarily well while using its tail to grab objects for further balance.
The above inventory of natural selection specializations would be remarkable enough, but what really separates the chameleon from its fellow reptiles is the fact that its scales contain the ability to change color, though many people think the chameleon can change its color at will and that it can blend into any color, these are misconceptions. In fact, chameleons can blend into many natural colors and even patterns , but they cannot do this at will. Instead, this happens naturally according to temperature, emotional state of the animal, and the triggering of certain hormones within its body.
It is hard to imagine an animal more interesting than the chameleon, with its weird appearance and special abilities. We should always remember, however, that these animals require their native habitat to flourish in, not zoos or individuals' terrariums. If you want your grandchildren to see this gift of nature, do not collect it as a pet. These natural treasures evolved over millions of years without mankind's help; they will continue to survive better if left alone.
/ If they (are) left alone, 這個(gè)they are被省略了。
at will, do something at will,
Hey, you've got to behave yourself, in this public place, you cannot do things at will.
trigger, [i], v, n,
The lever pressed by the finger to discharge a firearm.
扳機(jī)用手指扳動(dòng)即能釋放子彈的擊鐵或撞針的械桿
A similar device used to release or activate a mechanism.
起動(dòng)裝置，扳柄類似扳機(jī)的裝置。用來(lái)使機(jī)械裝置運(yùn)作
An event that precipitates other events.
引發(fā)其他事件的一件事
v.tr.
trig.gered; trig.ger.ing; trig.gers;
To set off; initiate:
引發(fā)，觸發(fā)：
a high-level meeting that triggered bitter bureaucratic debates.
一個(gè)引發(fā)了激烈的官僚政治論爭(zhēng)的高級(jí)會(huì)議
To fire or explode (a weapon or an explosive charge).
發(fā)射或使爆炸（武器或爆炸性彈藥）
His stupid remark triggered a conflict. 觸發(fā)，引發(fā)，touch off, 也是一樣的用法。
/The volcano triggered an earthquake.
Right, well, that's about it for today's lesson. Remember next week on Sunday we'll, of course, change the topic quite differently, we won't be talking about animals and ..referring to Peter at the dinning table. And we'll teach you how to eat in Anglo America.
Hi, everybody, welcome again to Radio English on Sunday. This is Bruce,
/ And this is Peter.
/ Join us on page thirty four of your book today, we'll be taking a look at unit five, which is the first of several units in your book, which will feature unusual, interesting, if not beautiful animals throughout the world, and the first animal we are going to showcase for you is, Hot Animals around the World, Chameleons.
/ You don't have to go far to look at chameleons, because right here in this small studio there is one by the name of Peter.
/ Uh-mm, yes, actually chameleon means "lion on the ground." , and if you've ever seen Peter, he looks something like a lion. ..a very fascinating animal. Let's get started with our lesson, I'll read the first paragraph. Remember, we read on paragraph in your text, then we go back to explain it, helping you by pointing out vocabulary or special expressions. So, listen carefully.
Every few months this program will feature an animal which has caught the eye of the world public to become a favourite or hot animal. In the first of this unusual series, we will look at the chameleon, one of nature's strangest creatures.
As I said at the introduction of this program, hot animals around the world is a very short series. We have three or four animals to share with you in this book, which we found to be irresistible. There's so cute or strange or fascinating that we want to show more about them with you. We'll start with the chameleon.
irresistible,
Her charm is irresistible. 不可抗拒的，無(wú)法抗拒的，
to catch the eye of somebody, to catch somebody's eye, 注意這時(shí)的eye要用單數(shù)。
That pretty girl at beach caught Poll's eye.
So "eye" here means "attention.", not your two eyes on your face.
Ok, let's go ahead to the next much longer paragraph. This is a background paragraph to tell us more scientific information about the chameleon.
Perhaps no other group of animals has caught mankind's imagination like reptiles. Among the several subclasses or orders in biology, of reptiles are snakes and lizards, turtles and tortoises, crocodiles and alligators, and the tuatara, a marine lizard in New Zealand. The dinosaurs, too, belong to the class of reptiles. Was is a snake, lizard or crocodile that caught the fancy of some Chinese in times gone by to create the dragon?
4:30
A perennial theme, reptiles have been featured over the past ten year in box office hits and bombs alike as dinosaurs ( Jurassic park and The Lost World ) , crocodiles, and snakes, Anaconda. Though not nearly as large as these mighty reptiles, the lowly chameleon nonetheless has amazed countless generations with its special talents and skills.
/ I think I have to cut in for a while because in this paragraph we do have a lot of terms, but, don't you have to worry about them because we have a very beautiful translation following this, so when it comes to terms, all you have to do is just to understand the meaning and that's all. What you have to understand this chapter or some of the key words we have to give us?
/ If you are very interested in biology and especially in reptiles, as you can see there're plenty of special words here for you, but for the general reader, it's enough to just be able to read and and know that, oh, alligator is a kind of reptile or really strange (toatawa) is a kind of reptile, you don't memorize the word if you are not going to use them.
/ Right.
/ There are two pronunciations here for the word "reptile".
Ok, the interesting thing here I think is the Chinese dragon, the model for this dragon seems to have been a reptile, so reptiles are also important in Chinese imagery.
/What does the word "fancy" mean?
/ Well, this "fancy" does not mean expensive like "we ate in a fancy restaurant last night." Here "fancy" has the idea --imagination, or creativity.
/ Mmm-humm, to catch the fancy of somebody, in other words, it's to...
/ To attract someone's attention so that they start to think about something or create something.
/ 也就是一樣的吸引人某人的注意力，但使得某人開(kāi)始幻想，想事情了。
take a fancy to something,
/ Right. Or just say "fancy"---I fancy that suit in the window. 很喜歡的意思。
/ I really take fancy to that music.
Ok, let's go ahead now and finish page thirty four and go to the next page.
What is a chameleon? It's unusual name fits this unusual animal perfectly, for it translates from the ancient Greek as Lion on the ground. This is unexpected, since chameleons spend most of their time in trees. as for looking like a lion, a chameleon looks like a..well, a chameleon. No other animal in Nature's zoo looks quite as bizarre as they do. Where do they live? True chameleons are found only in the tropical forests and jungles of the old world, and nearly half of its species live on the African Island of (Medagasga 即所謂的馬拉加斯加什么的).
Again, we have more biological or scientific information here, the word "chameleon" means "lion on the ground", but, actually chameleons live mostly in trees. (請(qǐng)注意這里用的是in, 不是 on trees). We'll describle what they look like to you in a moment, but we also learn that they live in the Old world, this means Asia, Africa and Europe.
/ What does "bizarre" mean? It simply means "weird". ---Do I look bizarre?
/ Do you have to ask? :P
/ live on 在課文中是“住在。。。地方(島上)”的意思。它還有另外一個(gè)重要用法，靠...為生。10：05 Most Chinese live on rice, 吃米飯過(guò)活什么的。
What's so special about the chameleon? Plenty! From its tongue to its tail, the chameleon offers a storehouse of specialities. The tongue of this modern day dinosaur look-alike can be extended more than twice the length of its body. This type of tongue, also present in frogs and toads, is called an extensile tongue. The eyes of the chameleon are even more remarkable. Its eyes are turreted, and can be moved independently so that it can view two different objects simultaneously. This comes in especially handy as it is tree dwelling. The chameleon can keep one eye on its prey and the other on its footing. Its head is often helmet shaped and some species have horn like structures growing out of this scaly helmet.
/ Good! haha
/ You really have to like reptiles ..this guy? He has a long tongue like a frog, his eyes are, maybe the only eye in all of nature, which can move independently. It can look at, maybe something to eat, and it can then with the other eye look at the ground. It is very useful because it lives in trees. It also seems to be covered with scales like fish. So, unless you really love animals, you might have trouble loving the chameleons.
/ Well, this particular paragraph really sounds a little bit gross. (這里這個(gè)gross是很口語(yǔ)的用法，很討厭的。) _______That's gross!
to offer a storehouse of specialities, ---storehouse?
/ Well, it simply means a large collection of things like a warehouse or like a department store. ---multitude, 其實(shí)就是表示很多。。
/ This word "specialities" is really special because we can also say "specialties", right?
/ Right. "specialties" would be without the middle "i". They are pretty much the same meaning.
/ What specialties, or what specialities does this restaurant offer? 特色菜。招牌菜，
/ This comes in especially handy ...-------to come in handy, 隨時(shí)可以派上用場(chǎng)，
要下雨了，雨隨時(shí)都會(huì)有，你應(yīng)該帶上雨傘，隨時(shí)都會(huì)用到。
An umbrella always comes in handy in summer.
==come in useful.
simultaneously, 同時(shí)地，
This event was almost simultaneous with that one.
這件事幾乎是與那件事同時(shí)發(fā)生的。
上面的prey指的是獵物，不可數(shù)。注意pray是祈禱，完全不一樣的。
be [become, fall] a prey to
成了...的受害者[犧牲品], 受...的折磨
easy prey
容易捕獲的獵物; 容易上鉤者; 頭腦簡(jiǎn)單的人
(猛獸等)捕食, 攫食(on, upon)
掠奪, 搶奪; 詐取(on, upon)
(疾病等)折磨; 使苦惱; 損害; 消耗(on, upon)
Cats prey upon mice.
貓捕鼠。
Remorse preyed upon his mind.
悔恨使他內(nèi)心痛苦。
to prey on somebody, to prey on something,
/ Oh, this means, as a noun, it means the food, if it is animal food, that another animal eats. To prey on could be, for example, (lake lions) prey on animals in Africa, but sometimes we use it for people, too. ---Criminals prey on innocent people.
The feet and tail of the chameleon are also special. Both are prehensile, that is, 15:35
they are both perfectly adapted to their sylvan environment. The toes of the chameleon's feet are bunched into inside and outside groups of two or three to enable this reptile to grasp tree branches tightly. The chameleon can thus climb extraordinarily well while using its tail to grab objects for further balance.
So in this paragraph, we again describe the chameleon's specialities. Its feet and tail are prehensile, they can grasp or grab things very very tightly, which allows the chameleon to climb trees especially well.
/ to adapt to, to be adapted to, ---He has already adapted to country life.
/ Oh, let's continue. We're going to the next page now.
The above inventory of natural selections specializations would be remarkable enough, but what really separates the chameleon from its fellow reptiles is the fact that its scales contain the ability to change color. Though many people think the chameleon can change its color at will, and that it can blend into any color. These are misconceptions. In fact, chameleons can blend into many natural colors and even patterns, but they cannot they this at will. Instead, this happens naturally according to the temperature, emotional state of the animal, and the triggering of certain hormones within its body.
Well, if you thought the chameleon was special enough, you were wrong. Because the most famous thing about the chameleon is this ability to change color. But we are told here that it cannot decide to change color; this happens naturally. So it may turn green in the tree but brown on the ground.
/ Man proposes but heaven, or God, disposes. 即謀事在人，成事在天。
It is hard to imagine an animal more interesting than a chameleon, with its weird appearance and special abilities. We should all remember, however, that these animals require their native habitat flourish in, not zoos or individual's terrariums. If you want your grandchildren to see this gift of nature, do not collect it as a pet. These natural treasures evolved over millions of years without mankind's help; they will continue to survive better if left alone.
So our final paragraph reminds us that, we need to concern nature. We have to help nature and the best way to help nature is by leaving it alone. Don't go into natural areas and take out the wild lives.
/ Many animals today are on the verge of extinction. (verge: extreme edge, )
我們要愛(ài)護(hù)動(dòng)物 we should learn to love nature, to leave it as it is.
/That's right. It was given to us this way and that's the way we should leave it.
________________Pan. 2003. 4.
****************************************************************************************
Hot Animals around the World : Chameleons
Every few months this program will feature an animal which has caught the eye of the world's public to become a favorite or 揾ot?animal. In the first of this unusual series, we will look at the chameleon, one of nature's strangest creatures.
Perhaps no other group of animals has caught mankind's imagination like reptiles. Among the several subclasses ( or 搊rders?in biology ) of reptiles are snakes and lizards, turtles and tortoises, crocodiles and alligators, and the tuatara, a marine lizard in New Zealand. The dinosaurs, too, belonged to the class of reptile. Was it a snake, lizard, or crocodile that caught the fancy of some Chinese in times gone by to create the dragon? A perennial theme, reptiles have been featured over the past ten year in box office hits and bombs alike as dinosaurs ( Jurassic park and The Lost World ) , crocodiles, and snakes ( Anaconda ) . Though not nearly as large as these mighty reptiles, the lowly chameleon nonetheless has amazed countless generations with its special talents and skills.
What is a chameleon? Its unusual name fits this unusual animal perfectly, for it translates from the ancient Greek as 搇ion on the ground.?This is unexpected, since chameleons spend most of their time in trees, and as for looking like a lion, a chameleon looks like a … well , a chameleon! No other animal in Nature's zoo looks quite as bizarre as they do. Where do they live? True chameleons are found only in the tropical forests and jungles of the Old World, and nearly half of its species live on the African island of Madagascar.
What's so special about the chameleons? Plenty! From its tongue to its tail the chameleon offers a storehouse of specialities. The tongue of this modern-day dinosaur look-alike can be extended more than twice the length of its body. This type of tongue, also present in frogs and toads, is called an extensile tongue. The eyes of the chameleon are even more remarkable. Its eyes are turreted and can be moved independently so that it can view two different objects simultaneously! This comes in especially handy as it is tree dwelling. The chameleon can keep one eye on its prey and the other on its footing. Its head is often helmet-shaped, and some species have horn-like structures growing out of this scaly helmet.
The feet and tail of the chameleon are also special. Both are prehensile; that is , they are both perfectly adapted to their sylvan environment. The toes of the chameleon's feet are bunched into inside and outside groups of two or three to enable this reptile to grasp tree branches tightly. The chameleon can thus climb extraordinarily well while using its tail to grab objects for further balance.
The above inventory of natural selection specializations would be remarkable enough, but what really separates the chameleon from its fellow reptiles is the fact that its scales contain the ability to change color, though many people think the chameleon can change its color at will and that it can blend into any color, these are misconceptions. In fact, chameleons can blend into many natural colors and even patterns , but they cannot do this at will. Instead, this happens naturally according to temperature, emotional state of the animal, and the triggering of certain hormones within its body.
It is hard to imagine an animal more interesting than the chameleon, with its weird appearance and special abilities. We should always remember, however, that these animals require their native habitat to flourish in, not zoos or individuals' terrariums. If you want your grandchildren to see this gift of nature, do not collect it as a pet. These natural treasures evolved over millions of years without mankind's help; they will continue to survive better if left alone.
/ If they (are) left alone, 這個(gè)they are被省略了。
at will, do something at will,
Hey, you've got to behave yourself, in this public place, you cannot do things at will.
trigger, [i], v, n,
The lever pressed by the finger to discharge a firearm.
扳機(jī)用手指扳動(dòng)即能釋放子彈的擊鐵或撞針的械桿
A similar device used to release or activate a mechanism.
起動(dòng)裝置，扳柄類似扳機(jī)的裝置。用來(lái)使機(jī)械裝置運(yùn)作
An event that precipitates other events.
引發(fā)其他事件的一件事
v.tr.
trig.gered; trig.ger.ing; trig.gers;
To set off; initiate:
引發(fā)，觸發(fā)：
a high-level meeting that triggered bitter bureaucratic debates.
一個(gè)引發(fā)了激烈的官僚政治論爭(zhēng)的高級(jí)會(huì)議
To fire or explode (a weapon or an explosive charge).
發(fā)射或使爆炸（武器或爆炸性彈藥）
His stupid remark triggered a conflict. 觸發(fā)，引發(fā)，touch off, 也是一樣的用法。
/The volcano triggered an earthquake.
Right, well, that's about it for today's lesson. Remember next week on Sunday we'll, of course, change the topic quite differently, we won't be talking about animals and ..referring to Peter at the dinning table. And we'll teach you how to eat in Anglo America.