听力文本

This show of strength finally gets her attention.
这段展示最终引起了雌鸟的关注
The best-dressed Goldie gets the girl.
羽毛最美的戈氏天堂鸟找到了伴侣
But while his feathers may have secured him a mate,
天堂鸟的羽毛虽然可以吸引异性
they're not strong enough to carry him off the island
却不足以飞离小岛
and further east across the South Pacific.
更无法从遥远的东方穿越南太平洋
Birds of paradise sacrificed flight efficiency for flights of fancy
它们卖力飞行，只是为了华丽的表演

So who did manage to colonise the South Pacific?
是谁成功开拓进南太平洋?
New Guinea's enormous landscape is carved up into thousands of isolated valleys.
新几内亚广袤的陆地由数千座独立的山谷构成
Each shelters huge numbers of potential colonisers.
每座山谷都庇护着数量庞大的开拓者
Amazingly, one in twenty of the world's insect species may live here.
令人惊讶的是，这里的昆虫种类占地球上所有种类的1/20
As well as almost 300 species of mammal, like the bizarre, egg-laying, long-nosed echidna.
同时还有近300种哺乳动物，例如奇异的卵生长鼻针鼹
There are even kangaroos that have taken to the trees.
甚至还有喜欢依树而居的树袋鼠。

视频及简介

在南太平洋并没有荒岛这一回事。它们也许是地球上最偏僻，但2万余个岛屿个个都被开拓了，从新几内亚，天堂鸟的家园，部落野蛮的成人仪式将年轻的战士变成鳄鱼人，到斐济，法属玻利尼西和夏威夷。这是最后漂流者的故事，从咸水鳄和巨鳗到冠鬣蜥和怪蛙，为了成功不顾一切到达数千哩远的岛屿。这些旅程是很好的功绩。据估计每6万年才有一个物种到达夏威夷。难以相信，这么多的开拓者到达这些受到大自然像龙卷风和海啸接二连三粗暴打击的岛屿。南太平洋首次人类，玻利尼西亚人的航行，难以忘怀。这些旅程的确是最伟大的探索行动，甚至可以断言，他们永远地改变了南太平洋的大自然。