世界真奇妙之兔子

 　　·I live on all the continents of the world except Antarctica. And although I live in Australia, it's not one of my native homes.

　　·I can live in all sorts of places with different climates and temperatures. They include plains, forests, snowy areas and even swamps.

　　·I usually make my home in shallow holes in the ground called burrows². I sometimes might use another animal's burrow¹ instead of digging my own.

　　·Most people think I'm really cute. I often have large floppy³ ears, although they can be small and short too. I have a chubby⁴ body, short legs and thick, soft fur.

　　·I normally am shades of brown or gray all over, but my fur also can be white, black or even red.

　　·I can be less than a foot(10 inches, about 25 centimeters)long to almost 2 feet (20 inches, about 50 centimeters)long from nose to tail.

　　·I normally am pretty light but can get quite heavy, especially if I'm a pet. I've been known to get as heavy as 15 pounds (almost 7 kilograms).

　　·I eat a lot of grass and other plants. I'm often known for chewing on the leaves of plants in people's gardens.

　　·I'm speedy and can hop⁵ away from many enemies, especially humans.

　　·You would see me most often at sundown when it's getting dark. I might be alone or hanging out with friends in a group called a colony.

　　译文

　　兔子——地图上涂白色的地方是我的家

　　有趣的常识：世界上有18种不同类型的兔子(科学家称之为物种)。有些兔子很有名，象“长耳大野兔”和“棉尾兔”。兔子曾被认为属于啮齿类动物(象老鼠一样)!但是它们有四颗门牙，而大部分的啮齿类动物只有两颗。

　　·我住在世界上除南极洲以外的所有的陆地上。尽管我生活在澳大利亚，但我的家决不只有这一处。

　　·我能生活在具有不同气候和温度的各种各样的地方，包括平原，森林，雪地，甚至沼泽地。

　　·我通常把家安在地里的浅洞中，称为“洞穴”。有时我会用其他动物的洞穴而不是自己挖。

　　·大多数人认为我聪明伶俐。我通常有一幅大大的耷拉的耳朵，有时也可能又小又短。我还有一个浑圆的身体，短腿和又厚又软的皮毛。

　　·一般我全身棕色或灰色，但我的毛也可能是白色，黑色，甚至红色。

　　·我可能不足一英尺长(10英寸，约25厘米)，也可能从鼻子到尾巴将近二英尺长(20英寸，约50厘米)。

　　·我通常很轻，但也可能很重，尤其是作为宠物的时候。据人们所知，我最重能达到15磅(几乎7公斤)。

　　·我吃许多草和其它植物，人们都知道我常常在花园中咀嚼植物的叶子。

　　·我速度很快，能逃离很多敌人，尤其是人类。

　　·你经常会在天变黑，太阳落山的时候看到我。我可能独自一个，也可能是和朋友们在一起。

1 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

2 burrows   

n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻

参考例句：

• The intertidal beach unit contains some organism burrows. 潮间海滩单元含有一些生物潜穴。 来自辞典例句
• A mole burrows its way through the ground. 鼹鼠会在地下钻洞前进。 来自辞典例句

3 floppy   

adj.松软的，衰弱的

参考例句：

• She was wearing a big floppy hat.她戴了顶松软的大帽子。
• Can you copy those files onto this floppy disk?你能把那些文件复制到这张软盘上吗？

4 chubby   

adj.丰满的，圆胖的

参考例句：

• He is stocky though not chubby.他长得敦实，可并不发胖。
• The short and chubby gentleman over there is our new director.那个既矮又胖的绅士是我们的新主任。

5 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？