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Australia’s national science agency has issued a rare apology to a seven-year-old girl for not being able to make her a fire-breathing dragon.

澳洲國家科學機構為了沒能為一個7歲女孩做出一隻噴火龍，而發佈罕見的道歉。

The youngster, Sophie, wrote to a "Lovely Scientist" at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation（CSIRO）, politely asking whether they could make her a winged pet of her own.

那個小傢伙，蘇菲，寫信給「聯邦科學暨工業研究組織 」（CSIRO）的「可愛的科學家」，客氣地詢問他們是否能夠為她製造一隻有翅膀的專屬寵物。

Sophie’s request prompted an unusual apology from the 87-year-old institution, which admitted "we’ve missed something".

蘇菲的要求促使這個有87年歷史的研究機構不尋常的道歉，坦承「我們遺漏了某些東西」。

"There are no dragons," it said in a blog reply posted on its website this week.

「沒有龍」，該機構本週在其官網上貼出的部落格回覆中說。

The enquiry had a fairytale ending Friday when the CSIRO announced that, thanks to Sophie’s letter, "a dragon was born".

這封詢問信函週五出現童話般的結局，CSIRO宣布，由於蘇菲的來信，「一隻龍誕生了」。

"Toothless, 3D printed out of titanium, came into the world at Lab 22, our additive manufacturing facility in Melbourne."

「沒牙，3D印列製作的鈦合金龍，在我們位於墨爾本的附設製造廠『22號實驗室』誕生。」

"She is a very imaginative little girl and has been obsessed with dinosaurs and dragons from a very young age and had been pestering us for a dragon for Christmas," her mom said.

「她是個非常有想像力的小女孩，很小的時候就對恐龍與龍著迷，而且一直纏著我們要一隻龍當耶誕禮物，」她媽媽說。

新聞辭典

fairytale：形容詞，童話故事般的。例句：Belgium’s famed city of Bruges offers a fairytale backdrop for romance. （比利時著名城市布魯日擁有童話般的浪漫美景。）

be obsessed with：片語，牽掛、沉迷於…。例句：They are both obsessed with watching NBA basketball. （他們倆都超愛看NBA籃球賽。）

pester：動詞，糾纏、強求（某人）。例句：Don’t pester me with your trivial matters.（別拿你那些雞毛蒜皮的事來煩我。）

本文引用自 自由時報電子報 http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/