Going Bananas for Gorillas|预备，起！　伦敦『大猩猩街头开跑』来啰

by Marcus Maurice

Running seven kilometers in a gorilla suit is fun and helps out an endangered species.

People visiting London on September 24, 2011 might come across 1,000 gorillas running down the street. No, they are not escaping from a local zoo. Instead, 1,000 people will pay a fee of a little more than US$130 for gorilla suits and donations to charity before they run wild on a seven-kilometer course through the heart of London. Participants in the Great Gorilla Run must also pledge to raise nearly US$700 from friends or sponsors for the Gorilla Organization.

While this might sound a bit absurd, the Great Gorilla Run has been drawing attention to the plight of the gorillas in West and Central Africa since 2003. As a matter of fact, if 1,000 people showed up for the Great Gorilla Run this year, that would be nearly 300 more than the total population of mountain gorillas left in Africa.

The Gorilla Organization helps gorillas survive by teaching the local people how to leave the forests alone. This can be done in many ways. For example, local students used to spend half their days gathering water from the forest where the gorillas live. The money from the Great Gorilla Run was used to buy water tanks. Now those students don't deplete the gorillas' natural habitat. Instead, they can get water from a tap and spend more time on their studies.

All the participants in the Great Gorilla Run get to have fun while running, keep their suits afterwards, and attend a party following the race. Most importantly, they know they are helping animals that are having a hard time helping themselves.

1.  According to the article, why are people running in London on September 24, 2011?

(A) They are attending a masquerade ball.

(B) They are chasing after gorillas that ran away from a zoo.

(C) They are putting on gorilla suits and running for charity.

(D) They are trying to get people to donate money to a local zoo.

2.  What is the population of mountain gorillas left in Africa?

(A) Around 300. (B) Around 700. (C) Around 1,000.   (D) Around 1,300.

3.  Before the donation from the Gorilla Organization, the students in Africa _____.

(A) hunted gorillas for a living    (B) spent half of their class time collecting water

(C) studied full-time at school (D) tried to learn about gorilla behavior in their natural habitat

预备，起！　伦敦『大猩猩街头开跑』来啰

穿着大猩猩造型的服装跑 7 公里是件很有趣的事，而且还能帮助濒临灭绝的动物。

2011 年 9月 24 日到伦敦游玩的人，可能会看到 1 千只大猩猩在街上奔跑。安啦，牠们并不是从当地动物园偷跑出来的。这 1 千人自付 130 多块美金，换取 1 套大猩猩造型的服装以及捐助慈善团体，然后在伦敦市中心狂奔 7 公里。参加『大猩猩街头开跑』活动的人也必须保证能从朋友或赞助者当中，募得将近 700 美金的善款给大猩猩保护组织。

　　虽然这听起来有点荒谬，但自 2003 年起，『大猩猩街头开跑』已经成功让世人关注到西非和中非一带大猩猩所面临的困境。事实上，要是真有 1 千人参加今年的『大猩猩街头开跑』，这数目就比非洲的山地大猩猩总数多出将近 300 只。

　　大猩猩保护组织藉由教导非洲当地居民如何不侵扰森林，帮助大猩猩继续生存。协助的方式有很多种，例如当地学生以前常常得花上半天的时间，在大猩猩的森林栖地中取水。『大猩猩街头开跑』的善款拿来采购大水槽后，现在这些学生已经用不着去剥削大猩猩的自然栖地。相反的，他们现在有自来水可用，还可以花更多时间在课业上。

　　所有参与『大猩猩街头开跑』的人在奔跑的同时玩得很尽兴，路跑完后可以保留这套大猩猩造型的服装，而且还可以参加路跑后所举办的派对。最重要的是，他们知道自己正在帮助那些无法自救的动物。

答案：1. (C)2. (B)3. (B)

有只生在旧金山动物园并懂得手语的雌性大猩猩可可（Koko），牠从 1 岁开始跟史丹佛大学帕特森教授学手语，目前已经学了超过 1 千条手语单字。此外，可可也有属于自己的宠物，牠养了几只小猫。（数据源：维基百科）