美国语文第三册 第8期:海狸

 　　LESSON 9 第9课

　　prefer  更喜欢

　　trapper  设陷阱捕兽者

　　forward  向前

　　material  材料

　　disturbing 令人不安的

　　dumb  愚蠢的

　　chiefly  主要是

　　gnawing¹  咬

　　America  美国

　　cautiously² 小心翼翼的

　　height  高度

　　purpose 目的

　　tighter  更严格的

　　reminded  提醒

　　frequently 经常地

　　obtain  获得

　　curious  好奇的

　　inhuman³  不人道的

　　including  包括

　　constructed 构造

　　THE BEAVER⁴ 海　狸

　　The beaver is found chiefly in North America.  海狸主要出现在北美地区，

　　It is about three and a half feet long, including the flat, paddle-shaped tail,which is a foot in length. 包括如桨一样平坦的尾巴在内，身体总长约3.5英尺，仅它的尾巴就有一英尺长。

　　The long, shining hair on the back is chestnut-colored, while the fine, soft fur that lies next the skin, is grayish brown. 它身后长长的光亮毛发是栗子色的，而紧靠皮肤的精美细柔皮毛则是略带浅灰的棕色。

　　Beavers⁵ build themselves most curious huts to live in,  海狸为自己建造的居所大多奇形怪状，

　　and quite frequently a great number of these huts are placed close together, like the buildings in a town. 而且经常是大批海狸比邻而居，就像城市里的建筑物一样。

　　They always build their huts on the banks of rivers orlakes, for they swim much more easily than they walk, and prefer moving about in the water. 它们总喜欢将自己的住所建造在河堤或湖边。因为它们在水中比在岸上行走更容易些，所以它们更喜欢在水中移动。

　　When they build on the bank of a running stream, they make a dam across the stream for the purpose of keeping the water at the height they wish. 当它们在潺潺的小溪边构建自己的巢穴时，往往会建造一条跨越溪流的大坝，目的是为了按照自己的意愿保证水流的高度。

　　These dams are made chiefly of mud, and stones, and the branches of trees.  这些大坝主要是由泥土、石头和树枝构成。

　　They are sometimes six or seven hundred feet in length, and are so constructed that they look more like the work of man than of little dumb beasts. 有时，它们建造的水坝足有六七百英尺长，如此完美的建筑，看起来更像是人类的杰作，绝非出自这些默不作声的小动物之手。

　　Their huts are made of the same material as the dams,and are round in shape.  它们的小屋和水坝都是由同样的材料建造而成，形状也都是圆形的。

　　The walls are very thick, and the roofs are finished off with a thick layer of mud, sticks, and leaves. 墙壁非常厚实，屋顶则由厚而稠的泥土、枝条和树叶组成。

　　They commence⁶ building their houses late in the summer,but do not get them finished before the early frosts.  它们常常在夏末开始建造自己的小屋，但是并不会在冰冻初期结束这个工程。

　　The freezing makes them tighter and stronger. 霜冻会使它们的房屋更加结实牢固。

　　They obtain the wood for their dams and huts by gnawing through the branches of trees,  海狸用自己那尖而长的前牙不断地噬咬大树的细枝，

　　and even through the trunks of small ones, with their sharp front teeth.  它们甚至还会咬断小树的主干，从而为自己的小屋和水坝储存木材。

　　They peel off the bark,and lay it up in store for winter food. 它们会剥掉树皮，作为冬天的食物以备后用。

　　The fur of the beaver is highly prized.  海狸的皮毛极其珍贵。

　　The men who hunt these animals are called trappers. 猎杀这类动物的人都被称做猎人。

　　A gentleman once saw five young beavers playing.  曾经有一位先生，亲眼看到过五只小海狸在玩耍。

　　They would leap on the trunk of a tree that lay near a beaver dam, and would push one another off into the water. 它们在自己建造的水坝附近嬉戏，大家都想跳过一根树干，于是彼此推搡着想让另外一个掉进水里。

　　He crept forward very cautiously, and was about to fire on the little creatures;  那位先生很谨慎地匍匐前进，随时准备袭击这些小生命；

　　but their amusing⁷ tricks reminded him so much of some little children he knew at home,  但是它们那有趣的把戏又使他想起了自己家中的小孩子，

　　that he thought it would be inhuman to kill them.  心里暗自寻思如此猎杀海狸是不人道的。

　　So he left them without even disturbing their play. 于是，他悄悄地离开了，并没有打扰海狸们的嬉戏玩耍。

1 gnawing   

a.痛苦的，折磨人的

参考例句：

• The dog was gnawing a bone. 那狗在啃骨头。
• These doubts had been gnawing at him for some time. 这些疑虑已经折磨他一段时间了。

2 cautiously   

adv.小心地，谨慎地；小心翼翼；翼翼

参考例句：

• She walked cautiously up the drive towards the door. 她小心翼翼地沿着车道向门口走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 inhuman   

adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的

参考例句：

• We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
• It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。

4 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

5 beavers   

海狸( beaver的名词复数 )； 海狸皮毛； 棕灰色； 拼命工作的人

参考例句：

• In 1928 some porpoises were photographed working like beavers to push ashore a waterlogged mattress. 1928年有人把这些海豚象海狸那样把一床浸泡了水的褥垫推上岸时的情景拍摄了下来。
• Thus do the beavers, thus do the bees, thus do men. 海狸是这样做的，蜜蜂是这样做的，人也是这样做的。

6 commence   

vt.开始；vi.获得学位

参考例句：

• We will commence with this work.我们将开始这项工作。
• The factory will commence full scale operation next month.工厂将于下月开始全力生产。

7 amusing   

adj.有有趣的，好玩的

参考例句：

• The girl was amusing herself with a doll.那女孩在玩洋娃娃自娱。
• He related some amusing stories in his childhood to his children.他向孩子们述说了他少年时代的一些趣事。