英國學生科學讀本 Lesson 76 家鼠(1)

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第76課 家鼠

This little animal likes to live near the dwellings of men, for there it finds most easily the food which it likes best to eat. Mice generally remain in their holes during the daytime. It is only the young and foolish mice that come out then. The old ones are too much afraid of being caught and eaten by the cat. But at night they are bolder, and they come out from the holes which they have gnawed in the woodwork of the house, and run about seeking for something to eat and to drink.

這種小動物喜歡生活在人們的住所附近, 因為可以在那里輕松地找到最愛的各類食物。白天, 老鼠通常都呆在自己的洞穴中。只有年幼和愚笨的老鼠才會在那個時候跑出來。成年老鼠非常害怕被貓給抓到和吃掉。不過, 當夜幕降臨以后, 它們的膽子就大了很多。它們會爬出自己在房間的木頭中啃咬而成的洞穴, 到處尋找可供吃喝的東西。

The mouse is a very small animal, hardly three inches in length if we do not reckon its tail. But the tail is very nearly as long as the body. The body of the mouse is covered with short, velvety grey fur, which is darker on the back than on the rest of the body.

老鼠是一種體型很小的動物, 不算尾巴, 身長一般不超過三英寸。然而, 它們的尾巴卻和身體差不多長。老鼠全身都覆蓋著柔軟的灰色短毛, 背上的毛色比身體其他部分要深一些。

The mouse has two bright little black eyes, so small that they look like beads. Its ears are large, and it can move them about so that they catch every sound. The feet of the mouse have sharp little claws, one for each toe. There are four toes on each fore foot, and five on each hind foot.

老鼠長有明亮的黑色小眼睛, 這雙眼睛實在太小了, 看起來就像是兩顆珠子。耳朵很大, 而且可以到處轉動, 這樣就能捕捉到各種動靜。腳上長有尖銳的小爪子, 每個腳趾上都有一個爪子。兩只前腳長有四根腳趾, 兩只后腳則長有五根腳趾。

We can almost always tell something about the habits of an animal, and the nature of its food, by looking at its teeth. The teeth of the mouse are like those of the rat, the rabbit, and the squirrel; they are made for gnawing, or cutting through hard substances such as wood.

一般說來, 只需觀察動物的牙齒, 我們基本上就能夠判斷它的生活習慣與進食特征。老鼠的牙齒與大鼠、兔子及松鼠的牙齒一樣;它們的作用就是啃咬, 或者鑿穿諸如木頭這樣的硬物。

In the front or middle of its mouth, the mouse has two long cutting or gnawing teeth in each jaw. These teeth never wear short, for they keep on growing at the end which is buried in the gum as fast as they wear away at the cutting end.

在老鼠嘴巴的前端或中部, 上下顎的位置上分別長有兩根長長的切牙或門牙。這些牙齒從來就不會因為磨損而變短, 因為當前面的牙齒有所磨損, 埋藏在牙床中的另一端就會迅速生長出新的一部分。

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