Into the Dragon's Den 进入龙穴
[audio]http://www.24en.com/bbc/dl_mp3/bbc_komodo_dragon79.mp3[/audio][color=#3f3f3f][font=Verdana, 宋体, helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=12px]What does the word dragon make you think of?
[p=21, 2, left]The chances are, if you are thinking of a Chinese dragon or 'long', you will think of a long [b]serpent-like mythical creature[/b] which is [b]benevolent[/b], wise and lucky.[/p][p=21, 2, left]In a Western cultural context, what people call dragons are quite different;[b]fearsome[/b], [b]fire-breathing[/b] creatures which look like dinosaurs, live in caves and guard piles of treasure.[/p][p=21, 2, left]But for three British [b]divers[/b] who found themselves [b]washed up[/b] on a remote Indonesian island last week, there was little time to worry about the [b]symbolic significance[/b] of dragons.[/p][p=21, 2, left]Instead they found themselves having to [b]fight off[/b] a real "man-eating" Komodo dragon.[/p][p=21, 2, left][b]Dehydrated[/b] and exhausted after [b]treacherous currents[/b] had carried them for 12 hours through [b]shark-infested[/b] waters, the divers' relief at reaching dry land must have been [b]short-lived[/b] when they found themselves face-to-face with a Komodo dragon.[/p][p=21, 2, left]Komodo dragons are the largest living lizards in the world, can grow to over two metres long, and are very dangerous.[/p][p=21, 2, left]The animals have sharp teeth, long [b]muscular[/b] tails and [b]toxic saliva[/b], which contains over 80 kinds of [b]bacteria[/b]. Their [b]prey[/b], which includes large mammals such as goats, deer, and very occasionally humans, become infected with this [b]lethal cocktail[/b] of bacteria and die within a couple of days of being bitten.[/p][p=21, 2, left]In this case, the frightened divers pelted the animal with sticks and rocks until it [b]slithered[/b] away into the island. They then survived by eating shellfish until they were rescued.[/p][p=21, 2, left]So are these lizards, of which only 4,000 survive [b]in the wild[/b], as scary as they sound? Ian Stephen, who looks after two Komodos in London Zoo says the animals are actually very intelligent and love playing.[/p][p=21, 2, left]Just be careful which games you play with them.[/p][/size][/font][/color]
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