乌龟装“车轮腿” 再也不怕赛跑啦！

A 90-year-old tortoise is going twice its normal speed after being fitted with a set of wheels.
一只90岁的乌龟装上“车轮腿”后，爬行速度达到了原来的两倍。

The animal, called Mrs T, was facing a grim future after a rat chewed off her two front legs while she was hibernating, but her owners glued the wheels from a model aircraft onto her shell.
这只乌龟名叫T夫人，她的一对前腿是在冬眠时被老鼠啃掉的，可能要面对悲惨的未来。所幸，主人给她在龟壳上安装了飞机模型用的轮子。

"It was like fitting her with a turbo charger - she's going double the speed she used to," said owner Jude Ryder. "She uses her back legs to push herself along. She seems quite happy, but it's difficult to tell with a tortoise."
主人裘德•莱德说：“轮子就像涡轮增压机，使她现在走路的速度比原来快了一倍。她爬行时靠后腿发力，而且看上去非常开心，只是作为一只乌龟，她没法跟我们分享这种喜悦。”

The 56-year-old was horrified when she went to check on her ancient pet last month and found her front legs had been eaten in the rat attack.
莱德现年56岁，上个月，她去查看年迈的宠物龟时大吃一惊，发现两条龟前腿已经被老鼠啃掉了。

Her local vet battled to save Mrs T, but feared she would not survive without being mobile. After running up a £1,000 vet bill, Mrs Ryder turned to her mechanical engineer son Dale, 37, for help.
当地兽医对T夫人进行了全力救治，花去了莱德1000英镑。但兽医认为T夫人可能挺不过去，因为她再也不能活动了。莱德太太37岁的儿子戴尔是一位机械工程师，莱德于是来找儿子帮忙想办法。

He designed the front wheels and used resin to attach them to the front of the shell.
戴尔设计了这副前腿，并用树脂把它粘在T夫人龟壳的前面。

Mrs Ryder said: "She took to them straight away, but she has had to learn how to turn and stop. She can get a good speed up, much faster than before. Mrs T is still quite young for a tortoise. She could go on for another 50 years - all she needs is a new set of tyres every now and again."
莱德说：“她立刻就喜欢上了这副轮子，但她不得不重新开始学习转弯和停下。她加速很快，比以前还快得多。作为一只乌龟，T夫人仍然很年轻，她很可能再活上50年——前提是有人时不时地为她更换轮胎。”

Mrs T was in her 60s when she was bought as a pet for Dale when he was eight. It has the run of Mrs Ryder's garden in Pembroke, West Wales, in the spring and summer before being tucked away in the garden shed to hibernate.
戴尔8岁时，T夫人被买来作为他的宠物，那时的T夫人60 多岁。莱德太太的家位于（英国）西威尔士的彭布罗克市。春夏时，T夫人在花园里玩，天气转凉后，她会被送到花园的棚屋里冬眠。

But a rat got in last month and chewed off both her front legs to the elbow joint.
但是上个月，一只老鼠闯进棚屋，咬掉了她的两条前腿，伤口一直到肘关节。

Mrs Ryder said: "We were afraid she may have to be put down, but her new set of wheels have saved her life. She has the run of the garden again and we can always find her because she leaves very strange tracks behind wherever she goes."
莱德太太说：“我们担心她会没命，但她的‘车轮腿’帮她挺过来了。她又可以在花园里玩了。现在我们很容易就能找到她，因为她走过的地方都会留下非常奇怪的脚印。”

Rats attacking tortoises is not uncommon - in 2013 Britain's oldest tortoise died after a rat attack. Thomas the tortoise was 130 when he was bitten at his home in Guernsey.
乌龟遭老鼠咬并不罕见。2013年，英国最老的乌龟被老鼠袭击身亡。那只名叫托马斯的乌龟住在格恩西，他是在自己家里被咬的，死的时候130岁。

He spent five days on strong antibiotics, but the wound became so infected his owner had no choice but to have him put to sleep.
托马斯连续五天被注射了强力抗生素，但由于伤口感染过于严重，最终他的主人别无选择，只能接受给他安乐死。

Vocabulary:

hibernate：（动物）冬眠

turbo charger：涡轮增压机

vet：兽医

resin：树脂；松香

garden shed：花园棚屋

tuck away：藏起来

antibiotics：抗生素

（中国日报网英语点津 杜娟）