【托福培训-阅读】托福阅读材料：澳洲杀人松果

前段时间，山东枣庄狼咬人事件闹得纷纷扬扬，引发了野生动物保护与人身安全的大争论，不过，你听说过植物可以杀人吗？

　　传说澳大利亚是一个危机四伏的地方，那里有致命的毒蛇，海滩里潜伏着蜇人的水母和吃人的鲨鱼。倘若说动物很可怕也就算了，在澳大利亚松果也能杀人!开始看题目，我觉得这不是扯淡吗?北京的松果大了去了也就半个拳头大，就算美国大松塔也就是一个拳头左右，可是看了澳大利亚的松塔，我彻底折服了。

　　As travel writer Bill Bryson pointed out in his book In a Sunburned Country, Australia “has more things that will kill you than anywhere else” — including poisonous snakes and jellyfish, crocodiles, and sharks. If you’re traveling to the Land Down Under, be wary of those things — but now add pine cones to that list. That’s right; according to Australia’s ABC News, there are huge pine cones dropping from above in the town of Warragul, Victoria (about 65 miles east of Melbourne), just outside the Courthouse Hotel where travelers should be finding refuge.

　　“These things are enormous,” said Warragul Mayor Diane Blackwood, describing the potentially lethal pine cones of the Bunya pine tree on the hotel grounds, which is 120-years-old and on their historical heritage list. “They are the size of a watermelon, falling literally out of the sky from potentially 20 meters high… So you wouldn’t want to be under one, I tell you.”

　　The watermelon-sized pine cones weigh up to 22 lbs. each, which is heavier than most bowling balls. Try to imagine one of those falling on your head and cracking your skull; it won’t be pretty. So be careful when traveling to Warrugul; it may be a good idea to look up when you’re walking down under.

　　以上就是今天的托福阅读材料，大家可以积累其中的高分词汇及句型，并且练习提升阅读速度，迅速找到托福阅读的主题句和出题点。