Sun, Sep 17, 2006 page14

• The amazing talking elephant 大象說話 令人驚奇

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  He's no Dumbo the Flying Elephant, but with his ability to “speak,” he is perhaps as close to the Disney cartoon character as a real-life elephant can get.

  The Everland amusement park has said its 16-year-old male Asian elephant, named Kosik, can make sounds imitating up to eight Korean words, including “sit,” “no,” “yes” and “lie down.”

  The elephant makes human-like sounds by putting his trunk in his mouth and shaking it while breathing out — similar to how people whistle with their fingers. But the park said it's unclear if Kosik knows the meaning of the sounds he makes.

  

  Kosik the elephant puts his trunk in his mouth to make sounds at the Everland Amusement Park in Yongin, Korea.南韓龍仁的愛寶樂園裡，大象柯西克把長鼻子放進嘴裡發出聲音。 (照片：美聯社)

  PHOTO: AP

  Kim Jong-gap, who has been taking care of Kosik for 10 years, said he first heard the elephant speak two years ago.

  “It was hard to believe myself at first,” Kim said. “As I watched Kosik say something ... I realized he was imitating my words.”

  There have been studies that suggest elephants can imitate sounds, but the park claims that Kosik displays the ability to imitate a human voice.

  Kwon Su-wan, head of the park's zoo, said he thinks that Kosik learned to speak by spending long periods of time with his caretaker.

  Kosik showcased his ability to the public at the park in Yongin, some 50km south of Seoul.(AP)

  牠不是小飛象，卻會「說話」，牠或許是現實生活中最接近迪士尼這個卡通角色的大象。

  愛寶樂園表示，園內一隻名叫柯希克的十六歲亞洲公象會發出八種極似韓語單字的聲音，包括「坐下」、「不要」、「是的」和「躺下」。

  柯希克學人講話的時候，會把長長的鼻子放進嘴裡，一邊呼氣一邊搖晃鼻子，就跟人類把手指放在嘴裡吹口哨一樣。但樂園方面表示，他們並不確定柯希克是否明白牠說的這些單字的意思。

  已經照顧柯希克十年的動物管理員金中甲（譯音）說，他兩年前第一次聽到柯希克說話。

  金說：「起初我還不太相信，但當我親眼目睹柯希克說話，我才了解牠是在模仿我講話。」

  已有研究證實，大象能模仿自然界的聲音，但愛寶樂園表示，柯希克展現的是模仿人類說話的能力。

  愛寶樂園動物園園長權書王（譯音）表示，他認為柯希克是因為長期與照顧牠的管理員相處，才會學人類說話的。

  柯希克已在龍仁（首爾南方五十公里處）這家樂園內，公開向遊客展示這項才能。（美聯社／翻譯：林倩如）

  Publication Notes

  Today's Words 今天單字

  1. amusement n. 娛樂 (yu2 le4) ，消遣 (xiao1 qian3) 例: Louise reads books for amusement instead of watching TV. (路易斯的消遣方式是讀書而非看電視。) 2. imitate v.t. 模仿 (mo2 fang3) 例: Phoebe imitated my mother so well on the phone, I really believed she was my mother until Pheobe began to laugh. (芙比學我媽講電話唯妙唯肖，在她開始大笑前，我真以為她就是我媽。) 3. realize v.i./v.t. 了解 (liao2 jie3) 例: Scott didn't realize he was hungry until he heard his stomach growl. (聽到肚子咕嚕咕嚕叫後，史考特才發現自己已經飢腸轆轆。) 4. period n. 期間 (qi2 jian1) 例:There was a period when she was 19 that Lynn refused to speak. (琳十九歲時曾有一段時間拒絕開口說話。)
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