英國學(xué)生科學(xué)讀本 Lesson 62 吃苦耐勞的驢子(1)
第62課 吃苦耐勞的驢子
Have you ever heard a donkey bray? What a noise he makes! Even if you have not heard one, I am sure that you have all seen a donkey, and perhaps some of you have ridden one at the seaside on a holiday. The animal which we call the ass or donkey looks somewhat like the horse, but it is much smaller. It is covered with grey hair, and you may notice a long dark stripe running along the spine or back-bone, and a shorter stripe across the shoulders.
你有沒有聽到過驢叫?那種聲音可真不是一般的洪亮啊!即便你沒有聽到過驢叫，那么我肯定，你絕對看到過這種動物，有些人可能在海邊度假的時候還騎過毛驢呢。這種被稱作驢子的動物樣子與馬有幾分相似，但是體型較小。它身披灰毛，你可能還會注意到，它的脊椎或脊梁處有一條深色的條紋，另外還有一條較短的條紋貫穿雙肩。
The donkey has long ears, which it lays backwards when it is angry. Its tail is somewhat like that of the cow; it is covered with short hairs, and has a tuft of long hairs at the end. The donkey finds its tail very useful for driving away the flies.
驢子的耳朵很長，當(dāng)它生氣的時候耳朵便會向后伸展。它的尾巴跟牛尾很像，上面長滿了短毛，而尾部則是一簇長毛。當(dāng)驢子想要驅(qū)趕蚊蠅的時候，它們的尾巴就能夠派上大用場。
Along the top of its neck it has a short mane. The mane stands upright, and does not fall down over its neck like that of the horse. The donkey has two large, bright eyes, and two nostrils placed just above the mouth.
驢子的頸部頂端長有粗短的鬃毛。與馬不同，驢子的鬃毛是直立的，不會垂下遮擋住頸部。驢子的雙眼又大又亮，兩個鼻孔位于嘴巴正上方。
If we look inside the donkey's mouth, we shall find that the teeth are very much like those of the horse. In the front of the mouth there are six chisel-shaped teeth in each jaw, with which the donkey bites or cuts off its food; and at the back of the mouth there are six flat-topped teeth in each jaw at each side, with which it grinds its food to small pieces before swallowing it. The donkey lives on vegetable foodonly, and it eats grass, hay, oats, and even thistles.
我們觀察驢子嘴巴的內(nèi)部結(jié)構(gòu)，就會發(fā)現(xiàn)，它們的牙齒與馬的牙齒非常相似。驢子嘴巴前部的上下腭都長有六顆鑿子狀牙齒，通過這些牙齒，它們就能夠撕咬與切斷食物;再來看驢子嘴巴的后部，那里的上下腭每一側(cè)則分布著六顆平頂?shù)难例X，它們正是利用這些牙齒對食物進(jìn)行碾磨，然后再吞入胃中。驢子是純粹的草食動物，它們吃的是青草、干草、燕麥，甚至薊種植物。
英語美文
