背景导学
大自然给人类提供了生命赖以生存的水、空气、阳光、雨露、山川、海洋以及让人类走向文明的各种矿藏资源。看!萨默兰海滩企鹅归巢的景象……
Phillip Island is a small island and nature reserve off the coast of South Australia, about 140 km from Melbourne. On the island you can see koalas, kangaroos and the main attraction, the Penguin Parade(归巢)on the Summerland Beach.
As dusk was approaching, we made our way down to the beach, as everyone else did. On the beach was a stone grandstand, rather cold on the behind, so bring a coat or blanket to sit on. As it got darker, people talked less, keeping an eye out on the beach to see the arrival of that first penguin.
Suddenly there was movement at the edge of the surf and all heads turned as one. There, standing by the edge of the water was the smallest penguin we had ever seen. He looked left, then right, as if he were considering crossing a busy road and then he ran quickly across to the sand dunes and the penguin holes.
He must have been the scout(侦察员), because after him, there came groups of penguins. Some consisted of two or three penguins, and some had about ten or fifteen, but they all made the same mad dash across the sand into the holes, as if they couldn't get there fast enough. The groups started to lessen and finally no more penguins emerged from the sea.
We sat on the grandstand for a while, not talking, just feeling awed(敬畏的) by what we'd just seen. Neither of us had ever seen penguins in the wild before, only in zoos and it was an amazing feeling.
You could see the penguins here every morning and evening, but they weren't in cages or in small pools. The sea was their playground and it is a sight we would definitely recommend to anyone.
You weren't allowed to take flash photographs as it would scare them. After the penguins had gone to their holes, you could walk along boardwalks and see them there. That's got to be worth a look.
