下载每日英语听力APP，解锁双语字幕及更多学习功能！
Five and a half million square miles of sand.
550万平方英里的沙地。
The size of China.
相当于中国的面积。
The Sahara smothers six percent of the world's land.
撒哈拉沙漠占据了世界上百分之六的土地。
Yet this vast, unforgiving place is home to the world's smallest wild dog, the fennec fox.
然而，在这个广袤无垠的地方却生活着世界上最小的犬科动物——耳廓狐。
Barely the size of a walking boot, this tiny fox goes head-to-head with the desert every day.
这只小狐狸几乎只有一只步行靴那么大，但它每天都要与沙漠正面交锋。
The Sahara is filled with millions upon millions of grains of sand, and every grain acts as a radiator.
撒哈拉沙漠的沙粒数不胜数，而每一粒沙粒都像一个散热器。
Sand absorbs heat, and the hotter it gets, the more heat it radiates.
沙子会吸收热量，温度越高，辐射的热量越多。
The temperature here spirals to over 100 degrees.
沙地的温度可以逐渐升高到100多度。
In such sizzling conditions, the fennec's size matters.
在这种炙热的环境下，狐狸的体型很重要。
A small body can shed heat faster than a large one, and to lose heat even faster, the fennec's ears act like sophisticated air conditioning units.
小的身体比大的身体散热更快，为了更快地散热，狐狸的耳朵就像精密的空调装置。
The network of veins cools the blood to lower the temperature.
血管网可以冷却血液以降低体温。
Despite such capable cooling, not even a fennec can endure the heat of the Saharan Sun.
虽然有这样的降温能力，即使是耳廓狐也无法忍受撒哈拉太阳的热量。
There's no shade.
这里没有树荫。
But fennecs are masters of their environment.
但狐狸是环境的主人。
Moisture concentrates at the foot of the dunes, so the sand here is firm enough to dig a burrow.
水分集中在沙丘的脚下，所以这里的沙子很结实，可以用来挖洞穴。
Home sweet home for a pair of fennecs.
对一对狐狸来说，这里是一个甜蜜的家。
They have shelter from the worst of the heat, but they must eventually leave the safety of their den to find food.
虽然有避暑的地方，但它们还是得离开安全的洞穴去寻找食物。
And this enormous desert is a dangerous place for a tiny, wild dog.
而这片广袤的沙漠对一只小小的耳廓狐来说是个十分危险的地方。
An unwary fennec is small enough to be caught by feral dogs and even eagle owls.
一个不小心，小耳廓狐就会被野狗甚至鹰鸮抓住。
But their camouflaged coats make them less conspicuous.
好在它们的毛色使它们不那么显眼。
In the fading light of dusk, she makes a run for it.
在黄昏的微弱光线中，它朝着目标跑去。
Zig-zagging and jumping, she uses the dunes to mask her location.
之字形跳跃，利用沙丘来掩盖它的位置。
The grains of sand are constantly shifting, but the pads on her feet... are furry for maximum traction.
沙地很容易打滑，但它毛茸茸的脚垫有很强的附着摩擦力。
Few can keep tabs on her whereabouts.
很少有人能注意到它的行踪。
用户评论