The Training of Wild Animals
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CHAPTER X

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AN ANIMAL SHOW AT NIGHT

To those who are the least timid or not accustomed to it, an animal show at night has a gruesome and somewhat terrifying aspect.

The general impression is, that when the trainer has made his final bow and the band has given a gentle suggestion to those departing by playing “Say ‘Au revoir,’ and not good-by,” everything is over and finished for the day.

But to the chief trainers, the day—or night—is only just beginning. For it is at night, when the majority of people are in bed and asleep, that the principal work of animal training begins. There are various reasons for this.

All carnivora are nocturnal animals, and167 although after many years in captivity1 they get into the habit of sleeping part of the night, they are generally more or less alert and wakeful. During the day they are lazy, sleepy, and somewhat stupid, but as night draws near they begin to be restless, and it has been found far less difficult to attract their attention in the night time than either in the early morning or during the day.

Also, there are no workers or loiterers round the place to take off their attention when being taught new tricks,—the least thing will attract an animal’s attention,—and there are also more time and opportunity for arranging the hoists2, or cranes, with which some animals are taught to understand what is wanted of them. These are used chiefly for teaching elephants to stand on their hind3 legs, to lift up a fore4 leg and walk on the remaining three, or to lie down.

In teaching him to stand up on his hind legs, the ropes are attached to each of his fore legs, and at certain words of command they are gently hoisted5 into the air, leaving the elephant supporting himself on his hind legs.168 This has to be done sometimes as often as fifteen or sixteen times before he understands what he is wanted to do, but after a while, simply from force of habit, he begins to raise himself at the signal, and although the ropes are still kept round his legs, he will gradually get into the way of doing the whole thing himself, seemingly unconsciously.

Much the same sort of thing is done in teaching him to lie down, only in this case a rope with a slip
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1 captivity qrJzv     
n.囚禁；被俘；束缚
参考例句：
  • A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
  • He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。
2 hoists eb06914c09f60e5d4a3d4bf9750ccb64     
把…吊起，升起( hoist的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
  • Mine hoists are usually operated by the counterbalance of an ascending and a descending car. 矿井升降机通常用一个升车一个落车互相平衡的方法进行操作。
  • Sam understands tacitly. He hoists his cup saying. 山姆心领神会，举起酒杯。
3 hind Cyoya     
adj.后面的，后部的
参考例句：
  • The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
  • Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。
4 fore ri8xw     
adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部
参考例句：
  • Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
  • I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。
5 hoisted d1dcc88c76ae7d9811db29181a2303df     
把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
  • The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。
6 noose 65Zzd     
n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑
参考例句：
  • They tied a noose round her neck.他们在她脖子上系了一个活扣。
  • A hangman's noose had already been placed around his neck.一个绞刑的绳圈已经套在他的脖子上。
7 arena Yv4zd     
n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台
参考例句：
  • She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
  • He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。
8 soothing soothing     
adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的
参考例句：
  • Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
  • His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。
9 abruptly iINyJ     
adv.突然地，出其不意地
参考例句：
  • He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
  • I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。
10 cylinder rngza     
n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸
参考例句：
  • What's the volume of this cylinder?这个圆筒的体积有多少？
  • The cylinder is getting too much gas and not enough air.汽缸里汽油太多而空气不足。
11 plank p2CzA     
n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目
参考例句：
  • The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
  • They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。
12 expended 39b2ea06557590ef53e0148a487bc107     
v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽
参考例句：
  • She expended all her efforts on the care of home and children. 她把所有精力都花在料理家务和照顾孩子上。
  • The enemy had expended all their ammunition. 敌人已耗尽所有的弹药。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 appreciable KNWz7     
adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的
参考例句：
  • There is no appreciable distinction between the twins.在这对孪生子之间看不出有什么明显的差别。
  • We bought an appreciable piece of property.我们买下的资产有增值的潜力。
14 exertion F7Fyi     
n.尽力，努力
参考例句：
  • We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture.我们搬动家具大费气力，累得大汗淋漓。
  • She was hot and breathless from the exertion of cycling uphill.由于用力骑车爬坡，她浑身发热。
15 incapable w9ZxK     
adj.无能力的，不能做某事的
参考例句：
  • He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
  • Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。
16 rebellious CtbyI     
adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的
参考例句：
  • They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
  • Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。
17 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过
参考例句：
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
18 intervals f46c9d8b430e8c86dea610ec56b7cbef     
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息
参考例句：
  • The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
  • Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。
19 persuasions 7acb1d2602a56439ada9ab1a54954d31     
n.劝说，说服（力）( persuasion的名词复数 )；信仰
参考例句：
  • To obtain more advertisting it needed readers of all political persuasions. 为获得更多的广告，它需要迎合各种政治见解的读者。 来自辞典例句
  • She lingered, and resisted my persuasions to departure a tiresome while. 她踌躇不去，我好说歹说地劝她走，她就是不听。 来自辞典例句
20 growls 6ffc5e073aa0722568674220be53a9ea     
v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说
参考例句：
  • The dog growls at me. 狗向我狂吠。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • The loudest growls have echoed around emerging markets and commodities. 熊嚎之声响彻新兴的市场与商品。 来自互联网
21 growl VeHzE     
v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣
参考例句：
  • The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
  • The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。
22 promptly LRMxm     
adv.及时地，敏捷地
参考例句：
  • He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
  • She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。
23 specially Hviwq     
adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地
参考例句：
  • They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
  • The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。
24 peculiar cinyo     
adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的
参考例句：
  • He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
  • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
25 gasping gasping     
adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词
参考例句：
  • He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
  • "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗？”“我巴不得能喝点！”
26 jaguars bfbd1a0f0e813aff8928cf4c7a6394d1     
n.（中、南美洲的）美洲虎( jaguar的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • Jaguars are largely nocturnal creatures. 美洲虎基本上是夜行动物。 来自辞典例句
  • Jaguars (Panthera onca) once ranged from southern South America to theUnited States. 美洲虎曾经分布在北美洲南部和美洲南部。 来自互联网
27 leopards 5b82300b95cf3e47ad28dae49f1824d1     
n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移
参考例句：
  • Lions, tigers and leopards are all cats. 狮、虎和豹都是猫科动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • For example, airlines never ship leopards and canaries on the same flight. 例如，飞机上从来不会同时运送豹和金丝雀。 来自英语晨读30分（初三）
28 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前；向外，往外
参考例句：
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
29 shrill EEize     
adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫
参考例句：
  • Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
  • The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。
30 trumpeting 68cf4dbd1f99442d072d18975013a14d     
大声说出或宣告（trumpet的现在分词形式）
参考例句：
  • She is always trumpeting her son. 她总是吹嘘她儿子。
  • The wind is trumpeting, a bugle calling to charge! 风在掌号。冲锋号！ 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
31 hyena k47yz     
n.土狼，鬣狗
参考例句：
  • African hyena noted for its distinctive howl.非洲鬣狗，以其特别的嚎叫而闻名。
  • The hyena's public image is not aided by its ridiculous appearance.鬣狗滑稽的外表无助于改善它在公众心中的形象。
32 hysterical 7qUzmE     
adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的
参考例句：
  • He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
  • His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。
33 monotonous FwQyJ     
adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的
参考例句：
  • She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。
  • His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律，一个调调儿。
34 weird bghw8     
adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的
参考例句：
  • From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
  • His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。
35 disastrous 2ujx0     
adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的
参考例句：
  • The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
  • Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。
36 scuttling 56f5e8b899fd87fbaf9db14c025dd776     
n.船底穿孔，打开通海阀（沉船用）v.使船沉没( scuttle的现在分词 )；快跑，急走
参考例句：
  • I could hear an animal scuttling about in the undergrowth. 我可以听到一只动物在矮树丛中跑来跑去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • First of all, scuttling Yu Lung (this yuncheng Hejin) , flood discharge. 大禹首先凿开龙门（今运城河津市），分洪下泄。 来自互联网
37 leisurely 51Txb     
adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的
参考例句：
  • We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着，看遍所有的橱窗。
  • He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐，高兴的开车去工作。
38 astonishment VvjzR     
n.惊奇，惊异
参考例句：
  • They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
  • I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。
39 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地
参考例句：
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
40 socket jw9wm     
n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口
参考例句：
  • He put the electric plug into the socket.他把电插头插入插座。
  • The battery charger plugs into any mains socket.这个电池充电器可以插入任何类型的电源插座。

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