《中英對照讀新聞》Fictional King Kong mirrors odd island facts 虛構的「金剛」反映古怪的島嶼事實

◎俞智敏

King Kong may be a far-fetched creation of Hollywood but scientists say the big ape has some basis in biological fact：animals on islands often evolve into gigantic versions of their mainland kin.

金剛或許只是好萊塢的牽強創造物，但科學家表示，這隻巨猿也有幾分生物學上的事實根據：島嶼上的動物經常演化成為其生活在大陸上近親的巨型版本。

"There is a whole body of research on islands which suggests gigantism occurs on them but of course nothing on the scale of King Kong," said Sue Lieberman, an evolutionary biologist and director of the global species programme for WWF International.

「有大量關於島嶼的研究顯示，島嶼上的物種經常體型碩大，但當然不至於像『金剛』那麼巨大，」演化生物學家兼「世界自然保育基金會」全球物種計畫主任蘇．李伯曼說。

"There is evidence that this happens because of isolation and a lack of competition … the further an island is from the mainland the more potential there is for the evolution of new species," she said.

「有證據指出，這種情況是因為與世隔絕、又缺乏競爭所導致的結果…島嶼離大陸愈遠，演化出新物種的可能性也就愈高，」她說。

King Kong, which is reigning at the North American box office this holiday season, is a remake of the 1930s classic about a giant gorilla found on an uncharted island.

今年新年假期橫掃北美洲電影票房的「金剛」，其實是翻拍自一九三○年代的經典老片，描述一隻在不知名島嶼上被發現的巨大黑猩猩的故事。

新聞辭典

fictional：虛構的、想像的、小說的。名詞為fiction，指想像的、虛構的故事，但亦常用來泛指小說（novel）。如 The book is a work of fiction and not intended as a historical account.（這本書為虛構作品，並不是歷史說明）。

far-fetched：牽強的、穿鑿附會的、不太可能的。如︰a far-fetched story（一個很牽強的故事）。

reign：動詞，指支配、盛行、佔優勢，亦可指統治。如︰Chaos reigned in the classroom.（教室裡一片混亂）。