Have you ever watched a family of squirrels? 你观察过松鼠家族吗？

　　As you read this true story, see if it tells you anything about squirrels you did not know before. 当你读完这个真实的故事之后，看看你能不能学到一些之前你不知道的有关松鼠的事情。

　　On a street corner in a busy town there lived a boy named Billy. 在一个繁忙城市的街角住着一个男孩，名叫比利。

　　His father was a policeman, whose work was to help old people and children cross the streets safely. 他的爸爸是一名警察，他的工作是帮助老人和儿童安全地穿过马路。

　　Billy was very proud of his father and wanted to be like him. 比利以自己的爸爸为骄傲，想成为像爸爸一样的人。

　　"Some day," he said to himself, "I will be a policeman, too. Then I will help people to cross the streets." 他跟自己说，将来有一天我也要成为一名警察，那时我会帮助人们过马路。

　　Near Billy's bedroom window was a big elm tree. 比利的卧室窗户旁有一棵大大榆树。

　　High up in the tree the boy could often see a mother squirrel sitting close to her nest. 在树上比利经常看到一只松鼠妈妈坐在巢的附近。

　　Sometimes Billy put peanuts outside his window, and it did not take long for the sharp eyes of Mother Squirrel to see them there. 有时比利会在窗外放些花生，要不了多久花生就会被松鼠妈妈锐利的眼睛看到。

　　Down she would come on a long branch of the elm. 然后松鼠妈妈便会顺着榆树长长的树枝爬下来。

　　Quickly she would pick up a peanut, put it into her mouth, and scamper away. 飞快地捡起花生，放到嘴里，蹦蹦跳跳地离开。

　　Billy liked to watch the squirrel hiding her food. 比利喜欢看松鼠藏食物。

　　Almost always she hurried away to the garden with the peanut. 松鼠妈妈总是拿着花生匆匆忙忙地跑到花园。

　　Scratch, scratch, went her sharp front paws until she had made a little hole in the ground. 她用锋利的前爪用力地刨啊刨，直至在地上挖了个小洞。

　　Then she took the nut from her mouth, put it into the hole, and covered it up. 接着她便从嘴里拿出花生，把它放进洞里并盖上土。

　　Mother Squirrel had a family of four tiny gray squirrels. 松鼠妈妈的家里有四只灰色的小松鼠。

　　How excited Billy was the first time he saw them sitting outside their nest! 第一次看到小松鼠们坐在巢外时，比利别提多兴奋了。

　　The old squirrel was very busy every day teaching her little ones all the things they should know. 松鼠妈妈终日忙碌，不停地教小松鼠们所有他们需要知道的一切。