2012年高考英语浙江卷 - 阅读理解A

Easter is still a great day for worship, candy in baskets and running around the yard finding eggs, but every year it gets quite a bit worse for bunnies.
复活节仍然是做礼拜的重要日子，篮子里装着糖果，在院子里跑来跑去寻找鸡蛋，但每年对兔子来说都会变得更糟。

And no, not because the kids like to pull their ears. The culprit is climate change, and some researchers found that rising temperatures are having harmful effects on at least five species of rabbit in the US.
不，不是因为孩子们喜欢扯它们的耳朵。罪魁祸首是气候变化，一些研究人员发现，气温上升至少对美国五种兔子产生了有害影响。

Take the Lower Keys Marsh rabbit, for instance. An endangered species that lives in the Lower Florida Keys, this species of cottontail is a great swimmer -- it lives on the islands! -- but it is already severely affected by development and now by rising sea levels. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, an ocean level rise of only 0.6 meters will send these guys jumping to higher ground and a 0.9-meter rise would wipe out their habitat completely.
以Lower Keys沼泽兔为例，作为一种生活在下佛罗里达群岛的濒危物种，这种棉尾兔是游泳好手——它生活在岛上！——但它已经受到开发和海平面上升的严重影响。根据生物多样性中心的说法，海平面上升0.6米将使这些家伙跳至更高的地面，上升0.9米将彻底摧毁它们的栖息地。

The snowshoe hare, on the other hand, has a color issue. Most of these rabbits change their fur color from white in the wintertime to brown in the summer, each designed to give them better cover from predators. As the number of days with snow decreases all across the country, however, more and more bunnies are being left in white fur during brown dirt days of both fall and spring, making them an easier mark for predators. Researchers know that the color change is controlled by the number of hours of sunlight, but whether the rabbit will be able to adapt quick enough to survive is a big question. The National Wildlife Federation has reported that hunters have noticed their numbers are already markedly down.
另一方面，雪鞋兔有颜色问题。这些兔子中的大多数皮毛会变色，冬季为白色，夏季为棕色，每种颜色都是为了更好地躲避捕食者。然而，随着全国各地降雪天数的减少，越来越多的兔子在秋季和春季的棕土色会留在白色皮毛中，这使它们更容易成为捕食者的目标。研究人员知道，颜色的变化是由阳光照射的小时数控制的，但兔子是否能够足够快地适应以生存是一个大问题。美国国家野生动物联合会报告称，猎人们注意到它们的数量已经明显下降。

American pikas or rock rabbits, a relative of rabbits and hares, might be the first of these species to go extinct due to climate change. About 7-8 inches long, pikas live high in the cool, damp mountains west of the Rocky Mountains. As global temperatures rise, they would naturally migrate to higher ground -- but they already occupy the mountaintops. They can’t go any higher. The National Wildlife Federation reports that they might not be able to stand the new temperatures as their habitat heats up.
美国鼠兔或岩兔，是兔子和野兔的近亲，可能是这些物种中第一个因气候变化而灭绝的物种。鼠兔大约7-8英寸长，生活在落基山脉以西凉爽，潮湿的山脉高处。随着全球气温的升高，它们会自然地迁移到更高的地面——但它们已经占据了山顶，不能再高了。美国国家野生动物联合会报告称，随着栖息地的升温，它们可能无法忍受新的温度。

The volcano rabbit has the same problem. These rabbits live on the slopes of volcanoes in Mexico, and recent studies have shown that the lower range of their habitat has already shifted upward about 700 meters, but there are not suitable plants for them to move higher, so they are stuck in the middle. Scientists are concerned about their populations.
火山兔也有同样的问题。这些兔子生活在墨西哥火山的斜坡上，最近的研究表明，它们栖息地的较低范围已经向上移动了约700米，但没有适合它们向上移动的植物，因此它们被困在在中间。科学家们对它们的种群数量感到担忧。

Native to the US, pygmy rabbits weigh less than 1 pound and live in the American West. They are believed to be the smallest rabbits in the world. Their habitats have been destroyed by development. Several populations, such as the Columbia Basin pygmy, almost went extinct and were saved by zoo breeding programs. Pygmy rabbits also rely on winter cover by digging tunnels through the snow to escape predators, but lesser snowfall is leaving them exposed.
原产于美国的侏儒兔体重不到1磅，生活在美国西部。它们被认为是世界上最小的兔子。它们的栖息地已经被开发破坏了。一些种群，如哥伦比亚盆地侏儒兔，几乎灭绝，通过动物园繁殖计划得以拯救。侏儒兔也依靠冬天的掩护，在雪地里挖隧道来躲避捕食者，但降雪量较小，它们暴露在外。

All of this gives new meaning to dressing up in a giant bunny costume this Easter.
所有这些都给今年复活节穿上大兔子的服装赋予了新的意义。