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轉自蘋果派生活英語
Man Eating Super Snake食人蟒出沒

●閱讀英文
Florida, a land of surf, sand and sun, is America’s sub-tropical paradise. But beneath the palm trees and clear skies, a 1)terrifying crisis is brewing. The Sunshine State is under attack from a new invasive 2)species. This time, they’re man-eaters: African rock pythons. These lethal constrictors are one of nature’s largest snakes. As exotic pets or in the wild, they have attacked and killed humans. Now on the loose in Florida, people, native animals and the ecosystem aren’t safe. Currently limited to an area west of Miami, if these predators make it to the Everglades and interbreed with another invasive giant—the Burmese python—they could give birth to a terrifying hybrid man-eating super snake. Authorities are battling to stop these 12)ferocious killers, but are they too late?

●中譯
佛羅里達州，海浪、沙灘與陽光之境，是美國的亞熱帶天堂，但在棕櫚樹和蔚藍天空下，一場恐怖的危機正在蘊釀。陽光之州正遭受一種新的入侵物種攻擊。這一次是食人動物：非洲岩蟒。這種致命的巨蟒是自然界體型最大的蛇類之一。無論是外來寵物或野外的非洲岩蟒，都有攻擊、殺害人類的紀錄。現在，牠們在佛州四處流竄，民眾、當地動物和生態系統都備受威脅。這種肉食性動物目前的活動範圍限於邁阿密以西地區，一旦牠們進入佛州大沼澤地，並且與另一種入侵巨獸─緬甸蟒─雜交，可能會生出一種駭人的混種超級食人蛇。有關當局正奮力阻止這些兇猛的殺手，但來得及嗎？

●英檢字彙 Vocabulary Bank
1)terrifying (a.) 可怕的，恐怖的 Getting attacked by a shark was a terrifying experience.
2)species (n.) 物種
There are thousands of different species of ants.
3)ferocious (a.) 兇猛的，殘暴的 The boy was bitten by a ferocious dog.

●EZ 好用句型Tongue-tied No More
under attack 遭受攻擊
attack（攻擊）可當名詞也可當動詞，在此是當名詞。under attack 表示受到身體或是言語上的攻擊或威脅。
Activists claim that freedom of speech is under attack. 社運人士表示言論自由正遭受威脅。

轉自蘋果派生活英語
Man Eating Super Snake食人蟒出沒

●閱讀英文
The African rock python is native to sub-Saharan Africa, and the Burmese python to Southeast Asia. So what are these giant constrictors doing so far from home? Americans first began keeping imported pythons as pets in the 1970s, and they became increasingly popular as prices fell with the 1)expansion of international trade. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, roughly 10,000 Burmese pythons and 1,000 African rock pythons per year were imported into the country from 1998 to 2007. Lower prices also encourage purchase by 2)inexperienced owners, who find that the snakes quickly become too big to handle and too expensive to feed. When this happens, some of these owners either allow them to escape or release them into the wild.

●中譯
非洲岩蟒原生於非洲撒哈拉沙漠以南地區，緬甸蟒則來自東南亞，那麼，這些巨蟒離鄉背井到這麼遠的地方做什麼？從一九七0年代起，美國人開始進口蟒蛇當寵物，隨著價格因國際貿易擴張而下跌，牠們愈來愈受歡迎。根據美國魚類暨野生動物管理局的資料，從一九九八年至二00七年，每年平均有大約一萬條緬甸蟒和一千條非洲岩蟒輸入美國。價格降低也鼓勵了缺乏經驗的飼主購買，他們養了之後才發現這些蟒蛇很快就長大到讓他們無法處理，飼料費用也貴得令他們吃不消。當這種事發生，有些飼主乾脆讓牠們逃走，或帶到野外放生。

●英檢字彙 Vocabulary Bank
1)expansion (n.) 擴展，擴大
The company has plans for overseas expansion.
2)inexperienced (a.) 缺乏經驗的(a.) experienced 有經驗的，熟練的
Inexperienced drivers are more likely to be involved in accidents.

●英語通 Language Guide
python蟒蛇
世界紀錄上體型最大的蛇類就屬 python （東南亞的網紋蟒），大蟒蛇之所以被稱為 constrictor ，是源於這種蛇的獵食習性。constrictor 原意為「有壓縮作用的東西」，因大蟒蛇會將獵物纏緊擠壓到窒息，因而得名。

轉自蘋果派生活英語
Man Eating Super Snake食人蟒出沒

●閱讀英文
Burmese and African rock pythons are 1)ambush hunters. They use their 2)keen sense of smell (their forked tongues allow them to smell in stereo) to locate a game trail, and then lie there waiting for 3)prey to approach. They also have infrared vision (heat sensitive nerves in the face connect to the brain through the optical nerve), so they can see their prey coming in the dark. When their victim is near enough, they strike with their needle-sharp teeth, 4)coil around it and squeeze until it’s dead. The pythons then open their jaws 140 degrees and swallow their prey whole. Both pythons have been known to eat cats, dogs, deer and even alligators, but for the more aggressive African rock python, something else is on the menu—humans.

●中譯
緬甸蟒和非洲岩蟒都是埋伏型的狩獵高手。牠們會運用敏銳的嗅覺（分叉的舌尖讓牠們的嗅覺有立體效果）找出獵物的出沒路徑，然後守在那裡等獵物接近。牠們還有紅外線視覺（臉上的熱感神經透過視神經連結到大腦），因此能在黑暗中看見獵物過來。當受難者靠得夠近，牠們會以尖牙攻擊，纏繞對方，勒緊到對方斷氣為止，然後蟒蛇會將血盆大口張開一百四十度，將獵物整隻吞入。 這兩種蟒蛇皆已知會獵食貓、狗、鹿，甚至鱷魚，但對於攻擊性更強的非洲岩蟒來說，菜單上還有另一樣料理─人。

●英檢字彙 Vocabulary Bank
1)ambush (n./v.) 伏擊，埋伏 The bank robber was caught in a police ambush. 2)keen (a.) 敏銳的，靈敏的 Owls have keen eyesight.
3)prey (n.) 獵物，被捕食的動物 Spiders catch their prey by building webs.
4)coil (v./n.) 盤繞；（一）捲，（一）圈 The sailor coiled the rope on the deck.