The Earth’s most ancient land animal地球上最古老的陆地动物

吕朗

巨龟乔纳森的生命旅途已经走过了191年，远远超过该物种150年的平均寿命，成为世界上现存寿命最长的陆地动物。

主题语境：动物 篇幅：312词 建议用时：6分钟

1 Jonathan， a tortoise， is regarded as the oldest living land animal in the world，first arriving at its current home on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic in1882 as a gift to the governor of the island， which is a British territory. He was thoughtto be at the age of at least 50 at the time because his species， a Seychelles giant tortoise，reaches full maturity by this age and 120cm?long Jonathan has not grown any bigger sincehis arrival on the island.

2 His age means Jonathan was just a youngster when Queen Victoria， Britains second?longest reigning monarch （执政君主）， took the throne， and he outlived both World Wars.

3 Despite his long life， Jonathan only gained international attention in 2008 when thenewspaper The Independent reported on his then?remarkable age of 176. At that stage， hehad already surpassed the 150 years life expectancy of Seychelles giant tortoises.

4 Jonathan， who is now blind with cataracts （白内障） and lacks a sense of smell， isrecognised by the Guinness World Records as the oldest known living land animal.

5 He has lived most of his life at the governors plantation house， according to the islands website， which added that the tortoise could also be considered a national symbolfor the island. Jonathans image is even on the back side of a Saint Helena five pence coin.

6 Scientists have even studied Jonathan to determine what health benefits they mightgather from his diet and his cells. Because his cells do not change in the same way thathumans cells do， scientists hope he could reveal the secret to fighting cancer in humans.

7 Jonathan shares his home with three other tortoises： Emma， a 54?year?old female，David， a 54?year?old male and Frederika， a 31?year?old tortoise originally called Frederikthat is now thought to be female. The first two arrived in 1969， and Frederika arrived in1991.

Reading Check

Detail

1. What can we know about Jonathan？

A. He is a tortoise which is mature at the age of 50.

B. He has lived at the governors plantation for 190 years.

C. He came to the island as a candidate for the image on the Saint Helena five pence coin.

D. He is regarded as the most influential animal on the island.

Inference

2. What does paragraph 2 intend to tell us？

A. Jonathan has a high status on the island.

B. Jonathan is popular with famous people.

C. Jonathan is a tortoise that has lived long.

D. Jonathan has witnessed important moments.

Vocabulary

3. What does the underlined word“surpassed”in paragraph 3 mean？

A. Come up to.

B. Gone beyond.

C. Hoped for.

D. Got close to.

Detail

4. What do scientists expect of the research on Jonathan？

A. The growing process of him.

B. The benefit of proper diets.

C. The construction of his cells.

D. The secret to fighting cancer.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Text?centered chunks

reach full maturity 达到完全成熟

gain international attention 获得国际关注

lack a sense of smell 失去嗅觉

the secret to fighting cancer 抗击癌症的秘诀

Ⅱ. Discover the useful structure in the text

Jonathan， a tortoise， is regarded as the oldest living land animal in the world， firstarriving at its current home on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic in 1882 as agift to the governor of the island， which is a British territory. 乌龟乔纳森被认为是世界上现存最长寿的陆地动物。1882年，它第一次来到南大西洋的圣赫勒拿岛上的现居住所，当时它是作为礼物送给该岛总督的。该岛是英国的领土。

【点石成金】本句中，first arriving at its current home on the island of Saint Helena inthe South Atlantic in 1882 as a gift to the governor of the island 为伴随状语；which is aBritish territory为定语从句，修饰先行词the island。