英语听力文摘 English Digest 511、斑马能驯化吗？

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　　After all, domesticating¹ zebras is nothing new. It's not? No. In fact, people have been trying to domesticate² zebras for about a hundred years. So the zebra market has already been cornered? Not exactly. There is no zebra market, because zebras can’t be domesticated³.

 

　　Why not? Compared to horses, zebras are pretty unpredictable. They can be very aggressive and even vicious as they get older. Plus, their body shape doesn’t take a saddle very well. Trying to train and ride a zebra is pretty dangerous.

 

　　So it's impossible?

 

　　Not impossible. Over the years, some zebras have been successfully trained, but as a group they just don’t lend themselves to domestication⁴. Some animal trainers and breeders have created zebra hybrids⁵, such as the “zorse,” a cross between a zebra and a horse, and the “zonkey”, which is what you get when you cross a zebra and a donkey.

 

　　That sounds likes creepy.

 

　　Yeah. So far there’s no specific purpose to creating zebra hybrids; they’re not stronger or more useful than regular horses and donkeys.

 

　　毕竟，驯化斑马并不是什么新奇事。不是吗？是的。事实上，近100年来，人们都试图驯化斑马。所以斑马市场一直处于窘境中？也不是。根本没有斑马市场，因为斑马驯化不了。

 

　　为什么？和普通马比起来，斑马相当难捉摸。他们可能十分具有攻击性，当他们变老时甚至变得凶猛。而且，他们的体型也不适合把鞍具装好。试图驯骑斑马很危险。

 

　　所以驯化他们是不可能的了？

 

　　也不是不可能。多年以来，一些斑马也被成功的驯化了。但是作为一个群种，他们不会让自己被驯化。一些驯兽师和饲养员已经成功的创造了混血斑马，比如斑马马——斑马和马和混血儿；斑驴——当你将斑马和驴杂交就可以得到它。

 

　　听起来让人毛骨悚然。

 

　　是啊，迄今为止，还没有特定目的要去创造混血斑马。斑马并不比普通的马和驴健壮或更有用。

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