美国语文第三册 第30期:称量大象(2)

 　　Often she teased¹ him with the question, "Can you weigh an elephant, Teddy?" 她经常用这样的话来取笑他：“泰迪，你能称一头大象吗？”

　　At last, while eating his supper, Teddy suddenly cried out,"I have it now!" 后来，就在吃晚饭时，泰迪突然大喊道：“我终于知道了！”

　　"Do you think so?" asked his mother. “你确定吗？”妈妈问他。

　　"How would you do it," asked Lily. 莉丽也问道：“你想怎么称呀。”

　　First, I would have a big boat brought very close to the shore, and would have planks² laid across, so that the elephant could walk right into it. 首先，我需要有一艘大船，能够非常接近岸边，并且还要铺上木板以便能从岸上登船，这样，大象就能直接走上去了。

　　"Oh, such a great, heavy beast would make it sink low in the water,"said Lily. “哇，像这么体态肥硕的巨兽一定会让船沉下去的。”莉丽说。

　　"Of course it would," said her brother. “当然会了，”她的哥哥说，

　　Then I would mark on the outside of the boat the exact height to which the water had risen all around it while the elephant was inside. 接着，我就会在船舷一侧标出大象站在船上时确切的水面高度。

　　Then he should march on shore, leaving the boat quite empty. 然后，让它走上岸，让空船静止下来。

　　"But I don't see the use of all this," said Lily. “我可不认为这样做有什么用。”莉丽说。

　　"Don't you?" cried Teddy, in surprise. 泰迪吃惊地大喊：“你认为没用吗？

　　Why, I should then bring the heaps³ of silver, and throw them into the boat till their weight would sink it to the mark made by the elephant. 为什么，我还会把大批白银放到船上，直到它们的重量使船下沉到那个称大象时的刻度。

　　That would show that the weight of each was the same. 这样就能显示出它们的重量相等了。

　　"How funny!" cried Lily; "you would make a weighing machine of the boat?" “多么有趣呀！你会做出一个和船一样的秤重机吗？”

　　"That is my plan," said Teddy. “这还真是我的计划。”泰迪说。

　　"That was the sailor's plan," said his mother. “这也正是水手的方案，”他的妈妈说，

　　"You have earned the orange, my boy;” and she gave it to him with a smile. “我的儿子，你赢得了橘子。”她微笑着把橘子给了泰迪。

1 teased   

v.取笑，戏弄( tease的过去式和过去分词 )；梳理（羊毛等）

参考例句：

• He took a screwdriver and teased out the remaining screws. 他拿出螺丝刀把其余的螺丝卸了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt annoyance at being teased. 我恼恨别人取笑我。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 planks   

（厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点

参考例句：

• The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
• We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。

3 heaps   

adv. <口>很, 非常地 名词heap的复数形式

参考例句：

• They brought home heaps of travel brochures. 他们将成堆的旅行手册带回家。
• The machine flung up great heaps of earth. 这台机器抛起了大片的土。