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Celebrity grouper dies 知名石斑魚魂歸西天
Friday, Sep 01, 2006,Page 21
A huge grouper who lived at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago has died. The fish became an instant celebrity and inspiration to cancer patients after he became the first fish in history to get chemotherapy and bounce back from cancer.
Shedd officials estimate Bubba the Grouper was 24 when he died near the end of August.
The “super grouper” weighed 69.3kg and came to live at the aquarium after it was abandoned at the Chicago aquarium in 1987; someone left the fish at the reception desk in a bucket. At the time Bubba came to the aquarium, he was a she. Employees at the aquarium nursed the fish back to health and put her in a tank. Bubba changed gender in the mid-1990s, which is not uncommon for certain kinds of fish.
Bubba was diagnosed with cancer in 2001. Two years later, Shedd officials decided to give the fish chemotherapy, a treatment never given to a fish before.
Cancer survivors, particularly children, were inspired by Bubba’s story, and he was a Shedd favorite, officials said.
“Bubba overcame some incredible odds over the years, and that’s what made him so special to us,” said George Parsons, director of the Shedd’s Fish department.
“Every once in a while for the last three years we have been getting phone calls from kids with cancer or from their parents, wondering how he is doing,” Parsons said. “It’s going to be tough now, if I have to tell them he’s no longer with us.’’(AP)
薛德水族館的一條巨型石斑魚魂歸西天了。牠成為史上首隻接受化療並成功抗癌的魚後，立即變成家喻戶曉的名魚，鼓舞癌症病人。
石斑魚「布巴」八月底逝世時，薛德水族館的人員推估牠得年二十四歲。
這條「超級石斑魚」重達六十九點三公斤，一九八七年被人遺棄在這家位於芝加哥的水族館後，在館內恢復生機；有人將布巴裝入水桶放在接待處。布巴來到水族館時，性別還是母的。水族館員工照顧這隻魚恢復健康，把牠放在魚缸裡。布巴在一九九○年代中期變性，這對某些魚類來說並不罕見。
二○○一年，布巴被診斷出癌症。兩年後，薛德水族館的人員決定讓牠接受化療，過去從沒有魚類接受過這類治療。
水族館人員表示，癌症倖存者，特別是孩童，都受到布巴故事的鼓舞，牠也是薛德水族館最受歡迎的生物。
薛德水族館的魚類部主任喬治．派森斯說︰「這麼多年來布巴奇蹟似地戰勝機運，這也是為何牠對我們來說如此特別。」
「過去三年以來，我們不時接到癌症孩童或他們父母打來的電話，想知道布巴近況如何，」派森斯說︰「現在，我必須告訴他們布巴不在我們身邊了，這是很難啟齒的事。」（美聯社/翻譯︰賴美君）
| TODAY'S WORDS 今日單字 |
1. celebrity n.
名人 (ming2 ren2)
例: Whether or not you like him, Tom Cruise is a huge celebrity.
(不管你喜歡湯姆克魯斯與否，他都是個響叮噹的名人。)
2. abandon v.t.
遺棄 (yi2 qi4)
例: My mother would never abandon me.
(我的母親絕對不會遺棄我。)
3. gender n.
性別 (xing4 bie2)
例: In most places, bathrooms are divided by gender.
(在大多數地點，洗手間都以性別劃分。)
4. diagnose v.t.
診斷 (zhen3 duan4)
例: Karl was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 11.
(卡爾十一歲時被診斷出糖尿病。)
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