英国学生科学读本 第1期:冬青

 　　Lesson 1 The Holly¹

　　第一课 冬青

　　How nice it is at Christmas to see the branches of holly on the walls! How pretty the bright-red berries look against the shining dark-green leaves!

　　过圣诞节了，墙上挂起了冬青的树枝，小朋友们多高兴啊！那些亮红色的果子，衬着闪光的暗绿色叶子，多好看啊！

　　You may call the holly either a large shrub² or a small tree. The leaves of most trees fall off when winter comes, but the holly is green all the year round. It is called an ever-green tree; for as long as one old brown leaf drops off, a fresh green one grows in its place.

　　冬青，可以叫它“大灌木”，也可以叫它“小树”。冬天来了，树的叶子差不多都掉光了，是冬青呢，一年四季都是绿油油的。冬青是一种“常绿树”，因为只要冬青树上的一片叶子变成了棕色，落了下来，在原来的地方，就会长出一片新的绿叶！

　　Did you ever prick³ your fingers when you were hanging up the holly? The leaves have sharp points or spines⁴ all round the sides and also at the ends.

　　小朋友，你在往墙上挂冬青的时候，有没有扎到过手指头？冬青的叶子边上和顶上，长满了小小的尖儿，这种尖儿也叫“刺”（spine）。

　　Can you guess what is the use of these prickles or spines to the holly tree? They keep cows and other animals from biting off the leaves.

　　猜猜看，这种“刺”，或“棘”，对冬青有什么用处呢？有了这些刺，冬青就不怕牛、马，或者别的动物，去咬它的叶子了。

　　Look at the holly leaves at the top of the tree, where the cows cannot reach, and you will see that these leaves are quite smooth, and have no spines.

　　看看冬青树顶上的叶子。牛、马够不到冬青树的顶上，瞧，这儿的叶子就很光滑，没有刺了。

　　If you put some of the bark of the holly tree into an old sauce-pan with a little water, and stew⁵ it slowly on the fire, you will get a sticky white stuff.

　　要是把一块冬青树的树皮放进汤锅，再加点儿水，慢慢地放在火上炖一会儿，就会得到一种白白的、黏黏的东西。

　　This sticky stuff is called bird-lime, for men spread it on leaves and twigs⁶ to catch birds. If a bird rests on one of these twigs or leaves, the bird-lime sticks to its feet, and then it cannot fly away.

　　这种黏黏的东西，叫做“黏鸟胶”，因为人们把它涂在树叶上，涂在小树枝上逮鸟儿。要是鸟儿落在这些小树枝上、树叶上，黏鸟胶就会黏在鸟儿的脚上，鸟儿就飞不走了。

　　Look at the holly in summer, and you will see that it has small white flowers. When these drop off, the fruit comes in their place. The fruit of the holly tree is the pretty scarlet⁷ berry, which you can see on the branches in winter.

　　夏天的冬青，会开出小小的白花。白花落了，在原来的地方会长出果实。冬青的果实是好看的红莓，冬天，过圣诞节的时候，你就能在圣诞挂饰上看到红莓。

　　Be sure you find some nice holly, with plenty of scarlet berries, for next Christmas. Hang up the branches all round your rooms, and stick a small piece in your plum-pudding.

　　明年圣诞节，一定要找些美丽的冬青枝叶，带着好多红莓。把冬青枝叶挂满房间，往葡萄干布丁里放一颗小红莓吧！

1 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

2 shrub   

n.灌木，灌木丛

参考例句：

• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。
• Moving a shrub is best done in early spring.移植灌木最好是在初春的时候。

3 prick   

v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛

参考例句：

• He felt a sharp prick when he stepped on an upturned nail.当他踩在一个尖朝上的钉子上时，他感到剧烈的疼痛。
• He burst the balloon with a prick of the pin.他用针一戳，气球就爆了。

4 spines   

n.脊柱( spine的名词复数 )；脊椎；（动植物的）刺；书脊

参考例句：

• Porcupines use their spines to protect themselves. 豪猪用身上的刺毛来自卫。
• The cactus has spines. 仙人掌有刺。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

6 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

7 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。