3 Crocs and Gators

CHAPTER 1 Alligators and Crocodiles: True or False? THERE ARE A LOT OF STORIES ABOUT THESE ANIMALS. WHICH ARE TRUE? 1. Crocodiles cry. People often say that crocodiles (or crocs) cry. Is that right? 2. Alligators live under the streets of New York. There is a story that there are a lot of very big alligators (or gators) in the sewers under the streets of New York. True? 3. Alligators are only fast in the water. Many people think that alligators are slow when they aren't swimming. Are they? 4. You can easily stop a crocodile from opening its jaws. Can a person do that? 1. True. Crocodiles cry, but not because they're unhappy. Water comes from their eyes when they eat! 2. False. Gators need the sun. It's too dark in sewers. And too cold in the winter. 3. False. Alligators can run at 17 kilometers an hour! But only for a short time. 4. True. A crocodile's jaws are very strong when it closes them but not when it opens them. So, it cannot open its mouth if you put your hands around its jaws. But you have to be very careful! Crocs are dangerous!

第一章短吻鳄和鳄鱼：对还是错？ 关于这些动物有很多故事。 哪一个是正确的？1. 鳄鱼哭。 人们常说鳄鱼会哭。 对吗？2. 短吻鳄生活在纽约的街道下面。 有一个故事说，在纽约街道下面的下水道里有很多非常大的短吻鳄。 真的吗?3. 短吻鳄只在水里游得快。 许多人认为短吻鳄不游泳的时候很慢。 他们是吗?4. 你可以很容易地阻止鳄鱼张开它的嘴。 人能做到吗？1. 真实的。 鳄鱼会哭，但不是因为不开心。 当他们吃东西的时候，水从他们的眼睛里流出来！2. 假的。鳄鱼需要阳光。 下水道里太黑了。冬天太冷了。 3. 假的。短吻鳄每小时能跑17公里！但只会持续很短的时间。 4. 真实的。鳄鱼的下颚在合上时非常有力，但张开时就不那么有力了。 所以，如果你把手放在它的下巴上，它就无法张开嘴。 但是你必须非常小心！洞洞鞋很危险！

CHAPTER 2 All About Crocodiles HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT CROCODILES? Crocodilians (crocodiles and alligators) are reptiles. Reptiles are animals that come from eggs, like birds. Reptiles are cold-blooded animals they need the sun to stay warm. Because they don't use food to make their body warm, they don't need to eat much. It's easy to see if a crocodilian is an alligator or a crocodile. Their heads aren't the same. The alligator's head looks like a U from above. The crocodile's head is longer and thinner and looks like a V. The first crocodiles lived more than 20 million years ago. Today, they live all around the world: in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Australia. Some live in rivers and others live in the sea. Crocodiles can swim fast: 32 kilometers an hour! And they can stay underwater for more than an hour! There are different species of crocodile. Some grow very big and some are smaller. The smallest adults are under two meters long. But the biggest croc of all time was 6.2 meters!

关于鳄鱼你知道多少？ 鳄鱼目动物（鳄鱼和短吻鳄）是爬行动物。 爬行动物是由蛋孵出来的动物，像鸟一样。 爬行动物是冷血动物，它们需要阳光来保暖。 因为它们不用食物来保暖，所以它们不需要吃太多。 很容易看出鳄鱼是短吻鳄还是鳄鱼。 他们的头不一样。 从上面看，鳄鱼的头像一个U形。 鳄鱼的头又长又细，看起来像个V字。 第一批鳄鱼生活在2000多万年前。 今天，它们生活在世界各地：非洲、美洲、亚洲和澳大利亚。 有些生活在河里，有些生活在海里。 鳄鱼能游得很快：每小时32公里！它们可以在水下呆一个多小时！鳄鱼有不同的种类。 有些长得很大，有些则很小。 最小的成年鲸体长不到两米。 但有史以来最大的鳄鱼有6.2米长！

Today, some species of crocodile are in danger of dying out. This is because people want their skin and meat. Restaurants pay a lot of money for crocodile meat, and their skin makes very good, expensive bags and shoes. People called poachers hunt crocodiles to sell. But the police are watching. All the countries in the world say that you mustn't hunt one species: the Siamese crocodile. In 2012, police in China caught poachers with 3,600 Siamese crocodiles! They think that restaurants in Guangdong wanted to buy the crocodiles for their meat. The police took the crocs back to the wild. Crocodiles don't like other animals to come near them. In a zoo in Australia, a crocodile called Elvis thought a new lawnmower was another animal. The lawnmower made a lot of noise when the men at the zoo used it. Elvis jumped on it and carried it into the water! He stayed with it for more than an hour. The men couldn't get it back. Later, when the men got the lawnmower, they found two of Elvis's teeth in it. Lawnmowers aren't good to eat! The zoo had to buy a new lawnmower.

今天，一些种类的鳄鱼正面临灭绝的危险。 这是因为人们想要它们的皮和肉。 餐馆会花很多钱买鳄鱼肉，鳄鱼皮可以用来制作物美价廉的包包和鞋子。 被称为偷猎者的人猎杀鳄鱼出售。 但是警察正在监视。 世界上所有的国家都说你不能猎杀一种鳄鱼：暹罗鳄鱼。 2012年，中国警方抓获了携带3600条暹罗鳄的偷猎者！他们认为广东的餐馆想买鳄鱼肉。 警察把鳄鱼带回了野外。 鳄鱼不喜欢其他动物靠近它们。 在澳大利亚的一个动物园里，一只名叫埃尔维斯的鳄鱼把一台新割草机当成了另一种动物。 动物园的人使用割草机时，割草机发出很大的噪音。 埃尔维斯跳上它，把它带到水里！他和它呆了一个多小时。 男人们再也拿不回来了。 后来，当这些人拿到割草机时，他们在割草机里发现了埃尔维斯的两颗牙齿。 割草机不好吃！动物园不得不买一台新的割草机。

CHAPTER 3 See You Later, Alligator WHEN PEOPLE LEAVE, THEY SOMETIMES SAY "SEE YOU LATER, ALLIGATOR." BUT WHAT IS AN ALLIGATOR? Crocodiles and alligators became different families of animals about 37 million years ago. Crocodiles live in many countries, but we usually only find alligators in the United States and China. We know that crocodiles and alligators have different heads. But their color is different, too. Crocodiles are usually gray-green. Alligators are usually dark brown or black. Big adult alligators are about four meters long. People think the biggest alligator grew to 5.85 meters! It lived in Louisiana, USA. American alligators eat a lot of fish. But they also eat small animals, other reptiles— and other alligators! They need good teeth. Alligators grow new teeth all the time. One alligator can have 3,000 teeth in its life! Male alligators "dance" to find females and have babies. At night, a lot of alligators meet and "dance" together. The females have 20—50 eggs at one time. But not all of these eggs become adult alligators.

当人们离开时，他们有时会说：“再见，鳄鱼。” 但是鳄鱼是什么呢？大约在3700万年前，鳄鱼和短吻鳄变成了不同的动物家族。 鳄鱼生活在许多国家，但我们通常只在美国和中国发现鳄鱼。 我们知道鳄鱼和短吻鳄有不同的头。 但是它们的颜色也不一样。 鳄鱼通常是灰绿色的。 短吻鳄通常是深棕色或黑色的。 大的成年短吻鳄大约有四米长。 人们认为最大的短吻鳄能长到5.85米！它住在美国路易斯安那州。 美洲短吻鳄吃很多鱼。 但它们也吃小动物，其他爬行动物和其他短吻鳄！他们需要好的牙齿。 短吻鳄一直在长新的牙齿。 一只短吻鳄一生可以有3000颗牙齿！雄性短吻鳄“跳舞”寻找雌性并生孩子。 晚上，很多短吻鳄聚在一起“跳舞”。 雌性一次产20-50个卵。 但并不是所有的卵都能长成成年短吻鳄。

In the wild, alligators can live 30—50 years. But they can live for 70 years in zoos because they have good food and vets. Belgrade Zoo in Serbia has a 76-year-old gator called Mujo. He's maybe the oldest in the world. In the United States, there are a lot of alligator farms. People go to these farms to buy meat and skin. Like crocodile skin, alligator skin makes good bags and shoes. People also pay to see the alligators in these farms. They're interesting animals. Alligators aren't good pets. They never learn to love people like cats or dogs do. And adult gators can be very dangerous. In many countries you can't have a pet alligator at home. In Missouri, USA, different people bought 50 baby alligators from a man called Ken Henderson in 2011. They were very small. But then they grew! Police had to find these "pets" and take them. One woman had two gators in her backyard. Small children lived near her. It wasn't safe!

在野外，短吻鳄可以活30-50年。 但是它们可以在动物园里活70年，因为它们有好的食物和兽医。 塞尔维亚的贝尔格莱德动物园有一只76岁的鳄鱼，名叫Mujo。 他可能是世界上最老的。 在美国，有很多鳄鱼养殖场。 人们去这些农场买肉和皮。 和鳄鱼皮一样，鳄鱼皮也可以用来制作很好的包包和鞋子。 人们也花钱去看这些农场里的短吻鳄。 它们是有趣的动物。 短吻鳄不是好宠物。 它们永远不会像猫或狗那样学会爱人。 成年鳄鱼是非常危险的。 在许多国家，你不能在家里养鳄鱼作为宠物。 2011年，在美国密苏里州，不同的人从一个名叫肯·亨德森的人那里买了50只小鳄鱼。 它们很小。但后来他们长大了！警察必须找到这些“宠物”并带走它们。 一位妇女在她的后院养了两只鳄鱼。 小孩住在她附近。 那里不安全！

CHAPTER 4 People, Crocs, and Gators CAN WE LIVE WITH CROCS AND GATORS? AND CAN THEY LIVE WITH US? Are people bad for crocodilians? Yes and no. We build houses and factories in the places where they live. Pollution from our cars and factories is bad for crocodilians. We eat their meat and make bags with their skin. There were a lot more crocs and gators in the world 100—200 years ago. Today, there aren't any crocodilians in a lot of places because of people and the things that we do. There's another problem: the weather around the world is getting warmer. So, there's more rain in some places. And floods. Crocodilians like water, but too much water is bad for their eggs. What's the answer? In many countries, people make reserves or national parks. A reserve is a safe place for animals to live in the wild. There are no houses or factories on reserves. They're clean and there are workers there to help the animals. People can't catch or eat the animals on reserves. More baby crocodilians can live to become adults.

第四章人、鳄鱼和鳄鱼我们能和鳄鱼和鳄鱼一起生活吗？ 他们能和我们住在一起吗？ 人类对鳄鱼有害吗？ 是也不是。我们在他们居住的地方建造房屋和工厂。 汽车和工厂造成的污染对鳄鱼有害。 我们吃它们的肉，用它们的皮做袋子。 100-200年前，世界上的鳄鱼和短吻鳄要多得多。 今天，由于人类和我们所做的事情，很多地方都没有鳄鱼。 还有另一个问题：世界各地的天气正在变暖。 所以，在一些地方会有更多的雨水。 和洪水。鳄鱼喜欢水，但太多的水对它们的卵有害。 答案是什么？在许多国家，人们建立保护区或国家公园。 保护区是动物在野外生活的安全场所。 保留区没有房屋或工厂。 它们很干净，有工人在那里帮助动物。 人们不能捕捉或食用保护区的动物。 更多的幼鳄可以活到成年。