中英对照读新闻》Man tries to scare off birds, accidentally creates ’magpie god’ 男子试图吓跑小鸟 却意外创造出「喜鹊之神」
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澳洲一名男子为了吓跑喜鹊，自制一组猫头鹰雕像，却意外引发喜鹊的特殊反应。（美联社档案照）(photo:LTN)◎孙宇青
A new South Wales, Australia, man attempted to keep birds away from his cat’s food with a homemade owl sculpture, but "accidentally made a magpie god."
澳洲新南威尔斯州一名男子试图用自制的猫头鹰雕像，让鸟类远离他的猫的食物，但「意外制造出喜鹊之神」。
Giulio Cuzzilla said he learned that magpies can be deterred with owl sculptures, but he didn’t want to spend a lot of money on one, so he made his own out of paper mache and feathers.
朱里欧‧库吉拉说，他得知猫头鹰雕像可以吓跑喜鹊，但他不想花很多钱买一个，所以用纸浆和羽毛自己做出一个。
He said the magpies initially seemed to fear his sculpture, but they eventually started to approach it and engage in behaviors that seemed like "worship."
他说，喜鹊一开始似乎害怕他做的雕像，但牠们最终开始接近它，并做出看似「膜拜」的行为。
"I accidentally made a magpie god," he said.
他说：「我不小心做了一个喜鹊之神。」
Gisela Kaplan, an emeritus professor in animal behavior at the University of New England, said the magpies aren’t actually showing deference to the owl sculpture, they are making territorial calls to try to scare it away.
新英格兰大学动物行为学荣誉教授吉塞拉‧卡普兰表示，喜鹊实际上并未表现出对猫头鹰雕像的尊敬，牠们只是在宣示领地，试图将猫头鹰吓跑。
新闻辞典
deter：动词，威慑、阻止。例句：These military campaigns effectively deter an enemy attack.（这些军事行动有效吓阻敌军攻击。）
deference：名词，尊敬。例句：He kept his voice low out of deference to the holy place.（出于对圣地的尊敬，他压低声音。）
