Serengeti National Park of Tanzania is undoubtedly the best-known wildlife sanctuary in the world, unequalled for its natural beauty and scientific value. With more than two million wildebeest, half a million Thomson's gazelles, and a quarter of a million zebras, it has the greatest concentration of plains game in Africa. The wildebeest and zebra moreover form the star cast of a unique spectacular -- the annual Serengeti migration.

The name "Serengeti" comes from the Maasai language and appropriately means an "extended place". The National Park, with an area of 12,950 square kilometers, is as big as Northern Ireland, but its ecosystem, which includes the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Maswa Game Reserve and the Maasai Mara Game Reserve (in Kenya), is roughly the size of Kuwait. It lies between the shores of Lake Victoria in the west, Lake Eyasi in the south, and the Great Rift Valley to the east. As such, it offers the most complex and least disturbed ecosystem on earth.

A unique combination of diverse habitats enables it to support more than 30 species of large herbivores and nearly 500 species of birds. Its landscape, originally formed by volcanic activity, has been sculptured by the concerted action of wind, rain and sun. It now varies from open grass plains in the south, savannah with scattered acacia trees in the centre, hilly, wooded grassland in the north, to extensive woodland and black clay plains to the west. Small rivers, lakes and swamps are scattered throughout. In the southeast rise the great volcanic massifs and craters of the Ngorongoro Highlands. Each area has its own particular atmosphere and wildlife.

毫无疑问，坦桑尼亚塞伦盖蒂国家公园是世界上最负盛名的野生动物的圣地。它的自然美景和科学价值都是举世无双的。它拥有超过2,000,000只牛羚，500,000只汤姆森瞪羚以及250,000匹斑马，这使得该公园成为非洲最大的草原野生动物富集地。此外，牛羚和斑马的阵容形成了草原上独一无二的壮观景象，即一年一度的塞伦盖蒂动物大迁徙。

塞伦盖蒂这个名字源自马赛语，意思是“无边的平地”。占地12,950平方公里的塞伦盖蒂国家公园，与北爱尔兰的面积一般大，但它的生态系统，包括恩戈罗恩戈罗自然保护区、马苏瓦狩猎保护区和马赛马拉野生动物保护区（在肯尼亚），其规模大致与科威特相当。塞伦盖蒂国家公园位于东非大裂谷以西，向西伸入埃维多利亚湖，向南伸入埃亚西湖。就其本身而言，它为世界提供了最为错综复杂但又最不受干扰的生态系统。

塞伦盖蒂国家公园有着独特多样的混合地理条件，为园中30多种大型食草动物和近500种鸟类提供了栖息地。塞伦盖蒂的地貌，最初是由火山活动造成的，后来在风吹日晒和雨淋的协同作用下雕刻成形。它的南部是开阔的大草原，中部是稀树草原，草原中央零星地点缀着洋槐树，北部是起伏的植被茂密的草地，西部则是广阔的林地和黑土平原。公园里随处可见河流、湖泊和沼泽。在其东南部的恩戈罗恩戈罗高地，还可见到火山的山体和火山口。它的每个区域都有自己独有的自然氛围和野生物种。

concentration n. 集中

ecosystem n. 生态系统

volcanic adj. 火山的

migration n. 迁徙

combination n. 结合，联合

swamp n. 沼泽

May 正在教室里看书， Clive从她身边走过时拿着的书里有一幅很漂亮的画，May立刻就被那幅画给吸引住了。

M = May 美 = 阿美 C = Clive 克 = 克莱夫

M: What's this? So many animals!

C: It's Serengeti National Park of Tanzania, the best-known wildlife sanctuary in the world.

M: Why do all these animals congregate? They seem to head in the same direction.

C: This is one of the great wonders of the world: the Serengeti annual migration. Towards the end of May when the grass becomes dry and exhausted, millions of wildebeests, Thomson's gazelles and Burchell's zebras congregate, beginning their trek in a column several miles long to the permanent waters in the north of the park. You can imagine how spectacular it is.

M: Are there many travelers to see these wild animals?

C: Yes. But travelers are not the only ones who now flock to see the animals and birds of the Serengeti. It has also become an important centre of scientific research. In the late 1950's, Dr. Bernhard Grzimek and his late son Michael did a pioneering work in surveys of wildlife. It resulted in this best-selling classic Serengeti Shall Not Die.

M: I see. Can you lend this book to me? I want to know more about it.

C: OK.

美：这是什么？好多动物啊！

克：这是坦桑尼亚塞伦盖蒂国家公园，世界上最负盛名的野生动物的圣地。

美：为什么这些动物都聚集在一起了呢？它们好像在朝着同一个方向前进。

克：这是世界上最大的奇观之一：一年一度的塞伦盖蒂动物大迁徙。在五月末，当草地都干枯殆尽时，数百万只牛羚、汤姆森瞪羚和斑马就聚集在一起，开始踏上它们到公园北部寻找固定水源的旅途，这支迁徙的队伍要绵延几英里。你可以想象那有多么壮观。

美：有很多游客去观看这些野生动物吗？

克：是啊。但并不是只有游客涌向塞伦盖蒂国家公园去看这些动物和鸟类，它还成为了一个重要的科学研究中心。在20世纪50年代末，伯恩哈德.格茨美克教授和他那现在已故的儿子迈克尔对这些野生动物进行了开创性的调查，这才有了这本畅销的名著《塞伦盖蒂不会灭亡》。

美：原来是这样。你可以把这本书借给我看看吗？我想多了解一些。

克：好的。

congregate vi. 聚集

wildebeest n. 牛羚

zebra n. 斑马

pioneering adj. 开创性的

exhausted adj. 耗尽的

gazelle n. 羚羊

flock vi. 聚集

假设你刚看了影片《塞伦盖蒂不会灭亡》，有外国朋友让你给他介绍一下塞伦盖蒂国家公园，你该如何介绍呢？试着完成下面的对话。

1. 外国朋友：What kind of park is the Serengeti?

你：____________________________________________

2. 外国朋友：What is the most spectacular scene in the park?

你：____________________________________________

3. 外国朋友：Who write this book Serengeti Shall Not Die?

你：____________________________________________

1. It's the best-known wildlife sanctuary in the world.

2. The Serengeti annual migration.

3. Dr. Bernhard Grzimek and his late son Michael.

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