英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

◎俞智敏    2011/09/04

Many animals at the National Zoo in Washington sensed the rare 5.8 magnitude earthquake that shook the US east coast before it struck and began to behave strangely, zoo officials said.

華盛頓國家動物園內的許多動物，在撼動美國東岸罕見規模5.8地震發生前，就已察覺到地震，而且開始舉止怪異，園方官員表示。

The epicenter of the surprise quake was located in a small Virginia town 134 kilometers southwest of the US capital. Despite the distance, the zoo’s red-ruffed lemurs "sounded an alarm call about 15 minutes before the quake and then again just after it occurred," the zoo said in a recent statement.

此次意外地震的震央位於華府西南方134公里處的維吉尼亞州小鎮。但儘管距離遙遠，動物園內的紅頸狐猴「在地震前15分鐘就開始發出警告叫聲，地震結束後，又再叫了一次，」園方最近在一份聲明中指出。

About five to ten seconds before the quake, many of the zoo’s apes, including an orangutan and a gorilla, "abandoned their food and climbed to the top of the tree-like structure in the exhibit."

地震發生的5到10秒前，園內的許多猩猩，包括一隻紅毛猩猩及一隻大猩猩，「 突然丟下食物，爬到展示區內一座樹狀架子的頂端。」

Three seconds before the quake a female gorilla shrieked, collected her baby and also climbed the structure, while another orangutan "began ’belch vocalizing’ -- an unhappy/upset noise normally reserved for extreme irritation -- before the quake and continued this vocalization following the quake."

就在地震發生3秒前，一隻雌大猩猩突然尖叫，一把抓起牠的寶寶，也開始爬上架子，另一隻紅毛猩猩則在地震發生前「開始發出『隆隆吼叫聲』，這是一種表達不高興或生氣的聲音，通常猩猩只有在遭到極端激怒的情況下，才會發出這種聲音，地震結束後，牠仍持續吼叫。」

Of all the zoo animals, the giant pandas remained apparently oblivious. "According to keepers, the giant pandas did not appear to respond to the earthquake," the zoo said.

在園內所有動物中，唯有大熊貓始終表現得無動於衷。「根據保育員指出，大熊貓對地震似乎毫無反應，」園方表示。

新聞辭典

sound the alarm：指發出聲響警告他人，例句︰Quick, sound the alarm - there’s a fire in the machine room!（趕快，按響警鈴，機房起火了。）sound在此處做動詞，指發出聲音。

collect：動詞，指到某地把某人或某物帶離開，接走，例句︰I’ll collect you from the station. （我會到車站接你。）

oblivious：形容詞，指不注意的，不留心的，沒有意識到，例句︰The party appeared oblivious to （or of） the mounting pressures for political reform. （該黨似乎完全沒有體認到要求政治改革的壓力不斷增加。）