吃人的巨型生物——水蟒

      Before Jennifer Lopez became J. Lo, she was an up and coming actress. Perhaps her worst movie was"Anaconda," about a giant snake that terrorizes a documentary film crew in the Amazon rain forest. 在大家称珍妮弗.洛佩兹为J. Lo之前，她是个前途一片光明的女演员。也许她拍的最糟糕的电影就是《狂蟒之灾》了，这是一部关于一条使整个在亚马逊热带雨林地区拍摄纪录片的摄制组都感到恐怖的巨蟒。

      Hollywood's version of the snake was pure fantasy—a 100 foot long giant with an appetite for B-movie actors. Although real anacondas are not nearly as large and rarely eat people, they are impressive creatures nonetheless. 好莱坞关于这条蟒蛇的版本纯粹是一种幻想——它是一条想吃掉这些B级电影演员的长100英尺的水蟒。虽然现实生活中的巨蟒没有这样庞大，而且也不吃人，然而它们确实是让人印象深刻的巨型生物。

      Anacondas are a type of constrictor—snakes that squeeze their prey to death with powerful muscles. Although widely regarded as the largest existing snakes, they are not the longest. That distinction goes to the Asiatic reticulated python, the longest-known specimen measured at thirty-three feet. The largest known anaconda was "only" twenty-eight feet long, but measured forty-four inches around. 水蟒是莽蛇的一种——是那种可以用巨大的肌肉力量把猎物挤压死的大蛇。尽管它们被看作是现存得最大的蛇，但它们却不是最长的。这使得它们与亚洲网纹蟒蛇区分开来。这是一种大家知道得最早的有33英尺长的标本。而大家知道的最长的水蟒“仅”有28英尺长，但却被测量出有44英寸宽。

      How did anacondas get so big? Their habitat has a lot to do with it. Living mainly in South American rivers that feed the Amazon, Anacondas spend most of their time in the water. 水蟒是怎样变得如此巨大的呢？这与它们栖息的地方有很大关系。水蟒主要栖息在滋润亚马逊地区的南美众多河流中，这使得它们生命中的大多时间都生活在水里。

      Unlike snakes that live in trees or on the ground, the anaconda doesn't have to worry about climbing or chasing prey over rough terrain. Since their body weight is supported by the water, even the largest, heaviest anacondas are still effective predators. 水蟒不像普通的蛇那样生活在树上或陆地上，它们不用担心爬树或在粗糙的地面上追逐猎物。因为它们的身体重量由水来支撑，所以即使是最大的最重的水蟒也可以是战斗力超强的食肉动物。

      Anacondas eat virtually anything unfortunate enough to get caught in their grip, including other snakes, fish, deer, and even small jaguars. Prey is first squeezed to death and than swallowed whole. The anaconda's ability to unhinge its jaw allows it to swallow even bulky morsels. 事实上水蟒会吃掉任何足够倒霉的被它逮到的猎物。包括其他的蛇类，鱼，鹿子，甚至是小型的美洲虎。猎物首先会被挤压死，然后再整个一口吞下肚。水蟒能把它的颚分离开来，所以它可以吞下超大量的小块食物。

      Some people even keep the snakes as pets, but we wouldn't recommend it. Anacondas are fierce predators with small brains not above strangling and swallowing dogs, cats, and even small children. 许多人甚至将蟒蛇作为宠物饲养，但我们并不推崇这点。水蟒是凶猛的低智商的食肉动物，它们会勒死和吃掉狗和猫，甚至是小孩子。

生词注释：

anaconda n. 蟒蛇
constrictor n. 括约肌
squeeze v. 挤，挤压
predators n. 食肉动物
reticulated adj. 网状的
virtually adv. 实际上，事实上
morsel n. 一口，一小片，少量

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