许国璋英语听力第三册 Lesson 6

　　WORD LIST
civilization
equator
equatorial
stretch
degree
tropical
percent
desert
vegetation
shrub¹
gazelle
hare
survive
shade
temperature
portion
rainfall
plateau
tree-dotted
herd²
antelope³
variety
zebra
giraffe
rhinoceros⁴
leopard⁵
hyena⁶
cradle
characteristic
regularity⁷
annual
Ethiopia
Ethiopian
originate
laden⁸ with
submerge
saturate⁹
layer
maize¹⁰
millet¹¹
bean
date
worship
legend
temple
measure
survey
geometry
calender
astronomy
IDIOMS AND EXPRESSION
keep out
to feed on
to come into being
TEXT
AFRICA—LAND AND CIVILIZATION
Africa is a very large continent—larger than China, Europe and the United States put together. It sits on the equator, stretching both north and south about 35 degrees. For this reason it is the most tropical of continents.
40 percent of Africa is desert country. Parts of the desert are so dry that there is no vegetation. Where a little rain falls, grass and desert shrubs¹² appear. Typical desert animals are the gazelle, the fox, and the hare. They can survive in this region of little water, little shade, and high day-time temperature.
Central Africa, the most tropical portion of this tropical continent, is a land of heavy rainfall and high plateaus. It is also a land of vast tropical rain forests. In these forests there are so many trees, and they grow so close together, that it is hard to move around. The tops of trees form a kind of roof, under which there is little light, as the sun cannot get in, and it is very quiet because the trees keep out the wind.
South of the equatorial regions is the tree-dotted grassland¹³ called the savanna¹⁴. The savanna is the home of great herds¹⁵ of animals—antelopes of many varieties, zebras, giraffes, elephants, rhinoceroses¹⁶. All of them live on grass and leaves of trees. The savanna is also the home of meat-eaters—the lion, leopard, and hyena—who feed on the grass-eaters.
One cannot think of Africa without thinking of Egypt, the cradle of an ancient civilization, nor of Egypt without the Nile. The great characteristic of the Nile is the regualrity of its floods. The annual flooding is caused by the melting snows on the high Ethiopian plateaus, from where the Nile originates. The floods, laden with rich earth, reached the lower valley about 15 June—at a time when the whole land has been burnt black by the sun. It brings “the water of life “. From June to September the Nile rises and submerges the whole valley; then in the beginning of October it begins to fall, leaving the land saturated¹⁷ with water and covered with a layer of rich, black soil. On it farmers grow maize, rice, millet, beans and dates. Here too cotton is grown, for which Egypt is rightly famous.
The story of a great river is very often the story of a great civilization. For centuries the ancient Egyptians worshipped the Nile. They bathed in the river, drank its water, told legends about it and built tombs and temples on its shores. Fighting the annual floods men got themselves organized, and society came into being. Measuring the irrigated¹⁸ land men inventd surveying and became interested in geometry. Predicting the coming of floods men made a calendar, and better calenders were made by observing the sun and the moon and the planets, and this led to the growth of astronomy.

1 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。

2 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

3 antelope   

n.羚羊；羚羊皮

参考例句：

• Choosing the antelope shows that China wants a Green Olympics.选择藏羚羊表示中国需要绿色奥运。
• The tiger was dragging the antelope across the field.老虎拖着羚羊穿过原野。

4 rhinoceros   

n.犀牛

参考例句：

• The rhinoceros has one horn on its nose.犀牛鼻子上有一个角。
• The body of the rhinoceros likes a cattle and the head likes a triangle.犀牛的形体像牛，头呈三角形。

5 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

6 hyena   

n.土狼，鬣狗

参考例句：

• African hyena noted for its distinctive howl.非洲鬣狗，以其特别的嚎叫而闻名。
• The hyena's public image is not aided by its ridiculous appearance.鬣狗滑稽的外表无助于改善它在公众心中的形象。

7 regularity   

n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐

参考例句：

• The idea is to maintain the regularity of the heartbeat.问题就是要维持心跳的规律性。
• He exercised with a regularity that amazed us.他锻炼的规律程度令我们非常惊讶。

8 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

9 saturate   

vt.使湿透，浸透；使充满，使饱和

参考例句：

• We'll saturate California with the rise in its crime rate.我们将使加利福尼亚州的犯罪案件增长率达到饱和点。
• Saturate the meat in the mixture of oil and herbs.把肉浸泡在油和作料的卤汁里。

10 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

11 millet   

n.小米，谷子

参考例句：

• Millet is cultivated in the middle or lower reaches of the Yellow River.在黄河中下游地区，人们种植谷子。
• The high quality millet flour was obtained through wet milling.采用湿磨法获得了高品质的小米粉。

12 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

13 grassland   

n.牧场，草地，草原

参考例句：

• There is a reach of grassland in the distance.远处是连绵一片的草原。
• The snowstorm swept the vast expanse of grassland.暴风雪袭击了辽阔的草原。

14 savanna   

n.大草原

参考例句：

• The savanna is also the home of meat-eaters--the lion,leopard,and hyena who feed on the grasseaters.大草原也是食肉动物的家乡--狮子、豹、鬣狗--它们都是以草食动物维持生命的。
• They sped upon velvet wheels across an exhilarant savanna.他们的马车轻捷地穿过一片令人赏心悦目的大草原。

15 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

16 rhinoceroses   

n.钱，钞票( rhino的名词复数 )；犀牛(=rhinoceros)；犀牛( rhinoceros的名词复数 )；脸皮和犀牛皮一样厚

参考例句：

• Rhinoceroses and dragons for once will let us walk in peace. 犀牛与龙安歇，让我们能平静地行走。 来自互联网
• Although the rhinoceroses are very heavy, they can run very fast. 犀牛虽然体型笨重，但仍能以相当快的速度行走或奔跑。 来自互联网

17 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

18 irrigated   

[医]冲洗的

参考例句：

• They irrigated their crops with water from this river. 他们用这条小河里的水浇庄稼。
• A crop can be sown, weeded, irrigated, and fertilized uniformly. 一种作物可以均匀一致地进行播种，除草，灌溉和施肥。