Why are New York’s squirrels ‘splooting’?

 

紐約的松鼠為何「splooting」？

【摘要2023-01-06五.自由】◎張沛元

People strolling through New York City’s parks may be stopped in their tracks this summer by a squirrel sprawled out, face down, limbs outstretched and lying still. Don’t be alarmed, says the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation. They’re just “splooting.”

民眾今夏漫步穿梭於（美國）紐約市的公園時，可能會因為（看到）松鼠懶散癱趴、面朝下、四肢伸展靜止不動而駐足。別緊張，該市公園休憩局說，牠們只是在「splooting」。

A tweet by the parks agency earlier this week went viral online, confusing and delighting people in equal measure, after it advised: “If you see a squirrel lying down like this, don’t worry; it’s just fine...on hot days, squirrels keep cool by splooting (stretching out) on cool surfaces to reduce body heat.”

該局本週稍早一篇在網路上瘋傳的推文，既令人困惑又覺得有趣，因為該文建議：「若你看到松鼠像這樣趴著，別擔心，沒事的…松鼠在大熱天為保持涼爽，會在涼爽表面splooting（伸展四肢）以降低體溫。」

That sparked a rush of queries about what splooting means. But the word, of unknown origin, has been swirling around the internet for some time, popular among pet owners delighted at the sight of their dog or cat stretching out their hind legs in an amusing posture.

該推文引發一股詢問splooting是什麼意思的熱潮。但此起源不明的字在網路上已流傳一段時間，是樂見愛犬或愛貓以逗趣姿勢伸展後肢的寵物飼主間的流行語。

新聞辭典

sprawl out：片語，1)四肢伸展地躺或臥；2) 雜亂無章地四散。例句：Her husband had been sprawled out in front of the television all day long.（她老公一整天都癱在電視機前。）

in equal measure：片語，指兩件事有同等作用或重要性；等量，相同程度。

swirl around：慣用語，1)繞轉；2)在特定群體間流傳。例句：The candidate argued that scandals swirling around her are all baseless.（候選人辯稱，有關她的醜聞全都毫無根據。）

 

Wonder: A Story about Empathy

奇蹟男孩

【摘要2023-01-06五.壹蘋】

R.J. Palacio was inspired to write Wonder after she had an experience involving a girl with a facial deformity like Auggie' s. She was with her young son, who began to cry after seeing the girl' s face. Worried that her son would create a scene, she quickly removed him from the area. Palacio realized later that, even though she was trying to be helpful, her actions could have hurt the young girl' s feelings even more.

R.J. 帕拉西奧在一次遇見一位同奧吉有顏面殘缺的女孩後得到撰寫《奇蹟男孩》的靈感。帕拉西奧當時與她年幼的兒子在一起，她兒子見到那位女孩的臉後就哭了起來。帕拉西奧擔心她兒子會大吵大鬧，所以迅速帶著兒子離開。帕拉西奧後來認知到雖然她當時是想要幫忙，但她的行為可能會使那位女孩感到更難過。

生活必備字詞：
inspire vt. 鼓舞；啟發
My grandfather inspired me to follow my dreams and become a pilot.
involve vt. 涉及，牽涉；包含
create a scene 當眾大吵大鬧（以致丟人現眼或出醜）
My mom won' t punish me in public because she doesn' t want to create a scene.

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