剑桥雅思17Test3Passage1阅读原文翻译 The thylacine 袋狼
剑桥雅思17阅读第三套题目第一篇文章的主题为袋狼。作者介绍了袋狼的外观特征，分布地域，饮食习惯，行为模式，灭绝原因与灭绝过程。虽然文章结构不算复杂，但生词很多，读起来有些拗口。下面是具体每一段的翻译。
点击查看这篇雅思阅读中出现的常考词汇与对应的答案解析：
雅思阅读真题词汇 剑桥雅思17 Test 3 Passage 1 袋狼
剑桥雅思17Test3Passage1阅读答案解析 The thylacine 袋狼
剑桥雅思17 Test3 Passage1阅读原文翻译
老烤鸭原创翻译，请勿抄袭转载
第1段
The extinct thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger, was a marsupial that bore a superficial resemblance to a dog. Its most distinguishing feature was the 13–19 dark brown stripes over its back, beginning at the rear of the body and extending onto the tail. The thylacine’s average nose-to-tail length for adult males was 162.6 cm, compared to 153.7 cm for females.
业已灭绝的袋狼，也被称为塔斯马尼亚虎，是一种有袋目哺乳动物，外观看起来有些像狗。它最与众不同的特征是背上有13到19道深棕色条纹，从臀部一直延伸到尾巴。成年雄性袋狼从鼻子到尾巴的平均长度为162.6厘米，雌性袋狼则为153.7厘米。
第2段
The thylacine appeared to occupy most types of terrain except dense rainforest, with open eucalyptus forest thought to be its prime habitat. In terms of feeding, it was exclusively carnivorous, and its stomach was muscular with an ability to distend so that it could eat large amounts of food at one time, probably an adaptation to compensate for long periods when hunting was unsuccessful and food scarce. The thylacine was not a fast runner and probably caught its prey by exhausting it during a long pursuit. During long-distance chases, thylacines were likely to have relied more on scent than any other sense. They emerged to hunt during the evening, night and early morning and tended to retreat to the hills and forest for shelter during the day. Despite the common name ‘tiger’, the thylacine had a shy, nervous temperament. Although mainly nocturnal, it was sighted moving during the day and some individuals were even recorded basking in the sun.
袋狼似乎分布于除了茂密雨林之外的大部分地域。而开阔的桉树林被认为是其最主要的栖息地。至于饮食方面，它是纯粹的食肉动物。胃部肌肉发达，能够大幅膨胀，从而使它可以一次吃下大量的食物。这或许是为了适应捕猎失败或者食物稀缺时长时间的饥饿而进行的进化。袋狼跑的不快，可能通过长途追逐，耗尽猎物体力来捕猎。在远距离的追捕中，袋狼可能更加依赖气味而非其他感官。它们在傍晚、夜间和清晨时现身捕猎，在白天则会退回到山区和森林进行躲避。尽管被称为“虎”，袋狼性格腼腆，容易紧张。虽然其主要是种夜行动物，但也有人在白天见到过它，一些人甚至看到过它晒太阳的样子。
第3段
The thylacine had an extended breeding season from winter to spring, with indications that some breeding took place throughout the year. The thylacine, like all marsupials, was tiny and hairless when born. Newborns crawled into the pouch on the belly of their mother, and attached themselves to one of the four teats, remaining there for up to three months. When old enough to leave the pouch, the young stayed in a lair such as a deep rocky cave, well-hidden nest or hollow log, whilst the mother hunted.
袋狼的繁殖季节很长，从冬天一直到春天。还有证据表明一些繁殖行为终年可见。袋狼，像所有的有袋目哺乳动物一样，出生时体型细小，没有毛发。新生儿会爬进妈妈腹部的袋子里，牢牢叼住四个乳头之一，在那里最长待三个月。当幼崽长到足以离开育儿袋时，它们会在妈妈出去捕猎时待在巢穴里，如岩洞深处，隐藏的很好的窝，或者空心的原木。
第4段
Approximately 4,000 years ago, the thylacine was widespread throughout New Guinea and most of mainland Australia, as well as the island of Tasmania. The most recent, well-dated occurrence of a thylacine on the mainland is a carbon-dated fossil from Murray Cave in Western Australia, this article is from laokoaya website, which is around 3,100 years old. Its extinction coincided closely with the arrival of wild dogs called dingoes in Australia and a similar predator in New Guinea. Dingoes never reached Tasmania, and most scientists see this as the main reason for the thylacine’s survival there.
大约4000年前，袋狼广泛分布于新几内亚，澳洲大陆的大部分地区，以及塔斯马尼亚岛。大路上距今最近、时间最为明确的袋狼存在的证据，来自澳大利亚西部Murray洞穴中一块碳测定的化石。其历史大约有3100年左右。袋狼的灭绝与一种名为dingoes的野狗来到澳大利亚的时间和一种相似捕食者来到新几内亚的时间恰好吻合。Dingoes从未到过塔斯马尼亚。而大部分科学家认为这是袋狼得以在那里存活下来的主要原因。
第5段
The dramatic decline of the thylacine in Tasmania, which began in the 1830s and continued for a century, is generally attributed to the relentless efforts of sheep farmers and bounty hunters with shotguns. While this determined campaign undoubtedly played a large part, it is likely that various other factors also contributed to the decline and eventual extinction of the species. These include competition with wild dogs introduced by European settlers, loss of habitat along with the disappearance of prey species, and a distemper-like disease which may also have affected the thylacine.
塔斯马尼亚岛上袋狼数量的急剧下降开始于19世纪30年代，并且持续了一个世纪。这一现象普遍被归因于牧羊人和带有猎枪的赏金猎人孜孜不倦的捕杀。虽然这场坚决的运动毫无疑问扮演了主要角色，但其他因素也可能造成这一物种的数量下降，并最终灭绝。它们包括与欧洲殖民者所带来的野狗展开的竞争，栖息地的减少，以及随之而来的猎物的消失。此外，一种类似于犬瘟热的疾病也可能影响了袋狼。
第6段
There was only one successful attempt to breed a thylacine in captivity, at Melbourne Zoo in1899. This was despite the large numbers that went through some zoos, particularly London Zoo and Tasmania’s Hobart Zoo. The famous naturalist John Gould foresaw the thylacine’s demise when he published his Mammals of Australia between 1848 and 1863, writing, ‘The numbers of this singular animal will speedily diminish, extermination will have its full sway, and it will then, like the wolf of England and Scotland, be recorded as an animal of the past.’
圈养状态下，唯一一次成功的袋狼繁殖发生于1899年的墨尔本动物园。尽管袋狼曾大量存在于一些动物园，尤其是伦敦动物园和塔斯马尼亚的霍巴特动物园。著名的博物学家John Gould曾在其发表于1848年和1863年之间的《澳大利亚哺乳动物》中预见了袋狼的灭绝。他写到：“这种独特动物的数量会快速下降，灭绝终将到来。那时，它将像英格兰和苏格兰狼那样，作为一种过去的动物被记载下来”。
第7段
However, there seems to have been little public pressure to preserve the thylacine, nor was much concern expressed by scientists at the decline of this species in the decades that followed. A notable exception was T.T. Flynn, Professor of Biology at the University of Tasmania. In 1914, he was sufficiently concerned about the scarcity of the thylacine to suggest that some should be captured and placed on a small island. But it was not until 1929, with the species on the very edge of extinction, that Tasmania’s Animals and Birds Protection Board passed a motion protecting thylacines only for the month of December, which was thought to be their prime breeding season. The last known wild thylacine to be killed was shot by a farmer in the north-east of Tasmania in 1930, leaving just captive specimens. Official protection of the species by the Tasmanian government was introduced in July 1936, 59 days before the last known individual died in Hobart Zoo on 7th September, 1936.
然而，对于保护袋狼似乎没有什么公众舆论压力，在其数量下降的几十年里，也没有科学家表示太多的关心。塔斯马尼亚大学的生物学教授T.T Flynn是个引人注目的例外。1914年，他对袋狼的稀少文章来自老烤鸭雅思表示出足够的关心，建议应该将其中一些捕捉起来，并放在小岛上。但直到1929年，当这一物种已经处于灭绝的边缘时，塔斯马尼亚动物与鸟类保护委员会才通过一项提案，还只是在十二月这一个月里对袋狼进行保护。最后一头已知的野生袋狼于1930年在塔斯马尼亚东北部被一位农民射杀。从此世界上只剩下圈养的几只。1936年7月，塔斯马尼亚政府正式宣布要保护该物种。59天后，即1936年9月7日，最后一只已知的袋狼在霍巴特动物园死去。
第8段
There have been numerous expeditions and searches for the thylacine over the years, none of which has produced definitive evidence that thylacines still exist. The species was declared extinct by the Tasmanian government in 1986.
过去数年里曾有许多次探索搜寻袋狼的行为。但没有一次得到过袋狼仍然存在的明确证据。1986年，塔斯马尼亚政府宣布该物种灭绝。
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