Hi，大家好，欢迎可可英语的网友们做客“布朗尼加分”口语课堂。相信很多网友们都看过电影“金刚”，也一定对那个长相凶恶，但心有柔情的大家伙记忆深刻。今天，我们来认识另一位金刚。

      Binti is a fierce-looking gorilla who lives at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. One day, she was sitting in the gorilla habitat eating bananas. A little boy and his mother were watching the gorillas. All at once, the child climbed over the stone wall. "Look out!" someone shouted. But it was too late. The child fell 24 feet onto the cement floor of the gorilla habitat and was knocked out cold.

      With her own baby on her back, Binti-Jua picked up the young boy. "The gorilla's got my baby!" cried the boy's mother. Onlookers were scared out of their wits. "I feared the worst," said one paramedic. "I thought she was going to treat him like a toy." But Binti-Jua was cool as a cucumber as she took care of the boy. She rocked him in her arms and kept the other gorillas away. Then she carried him to the gate where zoo officials were waiting. "I can't believe how gentle she was! We're proud of her. She's the apple of our eye," said a zoo director. The little boy is safe and sound, and Binti-Jua is a hero.

       Binti是一只fierce-looking gorilla，长相凶狠的母猩猩。一天，她正在吃香蕉的时候，一个小男孩儿爬过石墙，摔在了大猩猩笼子里的水泥地上，并且was knocked out cold。Be knocked out cold意思是become unconscious from a blow to the head。因为头部受到重击而失去意识。小男孩儿摔得不轻，意外发生的时候，Binti身后还背着自己的孩子，当Binti走过去抱起小男孩儿的时候，所有的onlookers，围观者，都were scared out of their wits. Wits，智力，智慧。短语意思就是 “吓得脑袋都不运转了，吓得不知所措，灵魂出窍”。有些恐怖电影，或者恐怖城就会用Scared out of your wits“下破你的胆”来做宣传语。
 
      上面的人乱作一团，孩子的妈妈甚至认为Binti打算吃了她的孩子，唯独Binti自己cool as a cucumber。镇定自若。As cool as a cucumber相当于，very calm and relaxed. 非常放松，非常冷静。再比如：Not everyone can keep as cool as a cucumber in an emergency. 在紧急情况下，并不是每个人都能保持冷静的。 Confronted with such a vital question of life and death, he looked as cool as a cucumber. 面对着这样重大的生死问题，他的神态却异常冷静。

       Binti rocked the boy in her arms，抱在怀里摇动着孩子，还kept the other gorillas away，还不让其他猩猩靠近。这样的举动真是太富于母爱了。难怪动物管理员都惊诧地说不敢相信自己的眼睛。不过，Binti的表现的确是足以让动物管理员们feel proud感到骄傲，并且将她视为是管理员们的the apple of eye，珍爱之物。这个用法相信在初中阶段老师就介绍过了。再比如：The little girl is the apple of her father’s eye. 这个小女孩是他爸爸的掌上明珠。
 
      小故事以happy ending结束，小男孩儿safe and sound, Binti也成了英雄。sound在这里可不是“声音”或者“听起来”的意思。它等同于healthy，表示“健康的，健全的”。再比如：She is sound in body and mind. 她身心健康。
   
      听过这个故事一下想起孔令东描述大学时期同寝室里一个长得很凶悍，但却偏好琼瑶小说，内心也非常柔软的北方汉子。恩，看来不管是人还是其他动物，我们都不能轻易以貌取之。好了，期待下期和您再见。