美国语文第三册 第20期:蜂鸟

 　　LESSON 21 第21课

　　West Indies  西印度群岛

　　adorn¹  装饰

　　approach 靠近

　　motion  运动

　　attached 附加

　　sugar plum  小糖果

　　cotton  棉花

　　instinct  本能

　　object  对象

　　defending 捍卫

　　necessary  必要的

　　rapid  速度

　　brilliant  才华横溢的

　　fibers²  纤维

　　severely³ 严重地

　　HUMMING BIRDS 蜂　鸟

　　The most beautiful humming birds are found in the West Indies and South America.  世界上最美丽的蜂鸟仅仅在西印度群岛和南美洲发现过。

　　The crest⁴ of the tiny head of one of these shines like a sparkling crown of colored light. 其中一只小鸟很特别，它的小脑袋上有一个闪烁着耀眼光芒的顶冠，就像色彩斑斓的璀璨皇冠一样。

　　The shades of color that adorn its breast, are equally brilliant.  顶冠也同样照亮了它的胸脯，如同点缀的光影一样。

　　As the bird flits from one object to another, it looks more like a bright flash of sunlight than it does like a living being. 当小鸟从一个地方飞到另一个地方，它看起来就像一道亮闪闪的光，而不是一个活生生的小生命。

　　But, you ask, why are they called humming birds?  然而，您可能会问，它们为何被称为蜂鸟呢？

　　It is because they make a soft, hum-ming noise by the rapid motion of their wings 正是因为它们在飞翔时急速扇动翅膀，从而制造出嗡嗡的蜂鸣声，才由此而得名。

　　—a motion so rapid, that as they fly you can onlysee that they have wings. 蜂鸟颤动翅膀的速度极其快，以至于人们只能看到空中翱翔而过的翅膀，反而看不到它的身体。

　　One day when walking in the woods, I found the nest of one of the smallest humming birds.  有一天，当我在林中漫步时，发现了一只小蜂鸟的鸟巢。

　　It was about half the size of a very small hen's egg, and was attached to a twig⁵ no thicker than a steel knitting needle. 这个小巢穴大概只有半个鸡蛋大，附着在一根还不如钢针粗的小树枝上。

　　It seemed to have been made of cotton fibers, and was covered with the softest bits of leaf and bark.  它看上去就像是用棉线编织成的，上面覆盖着柔软的叶子和树皮。

　　It had two eggsin it, quite white, and each about as large as a small sugarplum. 里面有两只小卵，纯白色的，每个卵都像一粒小糖果似的。

　　When you approach the spot where one of these birds has built its nest, it is necessary to be careful.  当你靠近这类鸟巢时，一定要非常小心。

　　The mother bird will dart⁶ at you and try to peck your eyes. 鸟妈妈会向你扑来，试图啄食你的眼睛。

　　Its sharp beak⁷ may hurt your eyes most severely, and even destroy the sight. 它那尖尖的鸟嘴或许会重伤您的眼睛，甚至可能会让您失明。

　　The poor little thing knows no other way of defending its young, and instinct teaches it that you might carry off its nest if you could find it. 这个可怜的小东西并不知道除此之外还有什么可以保护幼子的方法，它只会本能地认为，如果您能找到鸟巢，就会夺走它。

1 adorn   

vt.使美化，装饰

参考例句：

• She loved to adorn herself with finery.她喜欢穿戴华丽的服饰。
• His watercolour designs adorn a wide range of books.他的水彩设计使许多图书大为生色。

2 fibers   

光纤( fiber的名词复数 )； （织物的）质地； 纤维，纤维物质

参考例句：

• Thesolution of collagen-PVA was wet spined with the sodium sulfate as coagulant and collagen-PVA composite fibers were prepared. 在此基础上，以硫酸钠为凝固剂，对胶原-PVA共混溶液进行湿法纺丝，制备了胶原-PVA复合纤维。
• Sympathetic fibers are distributed to all regions of the heart. 交感神经纤维分布于心脏的所有部分。

3 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

4 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

5 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

6 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

7 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。