六級閱讀：火雞漫談精講

　　六級閱讀：The Thanksgiving Turkey 火雞漫談

　　Of all the Thanksgiving symbols the turkey has become the most well known. The wild turkey is native1 to northern Mexico and the eastern United States.

　　The turkey has brown features with buff-colored feathers on the tips of the wing and on the tail. The male turkey is called a Tom2 and, as with most birds, is bigger and has brighter and more colorful plumage. The female is called a Hen and is generally smaller and drab in color. The Tom turkey has a long wattle (a fleshy, wrinkled, brightly colored fold of skin hanging from the neck or throat) at the base of its bill and additional wattles on the neck, as well as a prominent tuft of bristles3 resembling a beard projecting downward from its chest.

　　The turkey was originally domesticated in Mexico, and was brought into Europe early in the 16th century. Since that time, turkeys have been extensively raised because of the excellent quality of their meat and eggs. Some of the common breeds of turkey in the United States are the Bronze, Narragansett, White Holland, and Bourbon Red.

　　Though there is no real evidence that turkey was served at the Pilgrim's4 first thanksgiving, in a book written by the Pilgrim's Governor Bradford, he does make mention of wild turkeys. In a letter sent to England, another Pilgrim describes how the governor sent "four men out fowling" returning with turkeys, ducks and geese.

　　Benjamin Franklin5 once said, "I wish the Bald Eagle6 had not been chosen as the representative of our country; he is a Bird of bad moral character; like those among Men who live by Sharping7 and Robbing, he is generally poor and very often lousy. The Turkey is a much more respectable Bird and withal a true original Native of North America. "

　　閱讀自測

　?、? Fill in each blank according to what you've read:

　　Of all the symbols the turkey has become the most well known . The male turkey is called a , and the female turkey is called

　　a . The turkey was originally domesticated in . Turkeys have been extensively raised because of the excellent quality of their since the century. Benjamin Franklin once said that he wished turkeys but not had been chosen as the representative of the United States.

　?、? Question :

　　Why did Benjamin Franklin think that the Turkey but not the Bald Eagle should be chosen as the representative of the United States?

　　參考答案

　　Ⅰ. Thanksgiving / Tom / Hen / Mexico / meat and eggs / 16 th / the Bald Eagle Ⅱ. Because he thought the Bald Eagle was a bird of bad moral character, while the Turkey was much more respectable and it was the true original Native of North America.

　　六級閱讀：火雞漫談精講

　　參考譯文：在感恩節(jié)所有的象征中, 火雞已經(jīng)成為人們最熟悉的東西。野火雞主要生長在墨西哥 北部和美國東部。

　　火雞通體呈褐色, 只是在翅尖和尾部點綴些許淺黃色的羽毛。人們稱雄性火雞為 T om。和大多數(shù)鳥兒一樣, 公火雞個頭更大, 羽毛的顏色也更加鮮艷明亮。人們把雌性火 雞稱作H en。母火雞的個頭較小, 羽毛是單調(diào)的土褐色。公火雞嘴的底部有一條長長的肉 垂( 這是一種從脖子或喉嚨垂下的肉質(zhì)的皮膚褶皺, 色彩艷麗) , 脖子上也會長些肉垂。而 且, 公火雞還長有一叢從胸部垂下來的像是一撮胡子一樣的豎毛。

　　火雞最早在墨西哥被馴化, 并在16 世紀(jì)早期被輸送到歐洲。從那時起, 人們就因其高 品質(zhì)的肉和蛋而開始大量飼養(yǎng)火雞。美國最常見的火雞品種主要有青銅色、納拉甘塞特、 荷蘭白和波旁紅等。

　　盡管并沒有確鑿的證據(jù)證明美國清教徒在過第一個感恩節(jié)時曾把火雞擺上宴席, 但是 他們的總督布雷德福在他寫的一本書中確實提到了野火雞。另一個清教徒在他寄往英格 蘭的信中描述了總督是怎樣派"四人出去捕鳥”, 結(jié)果卻帶了些火雞、鴨子和鵝回來。

　　本杰明· 富蘭克林曾經(jīng)這樣說:"要是當(dāng)年我們沒有選擇禿頭雕作為我國的象征就好 了。禿頭雕的品行不好, 就像那些靠欺騙和掠奪為生的人中敗類一樣, 它一般都很卑下, 而 且行為通常也很卑劣?；痣u則是一種更加值得尊敬的鳥, 不僅如此, 它是北美真正土生土 長的鳥兒。”

　　閱讀導(dǎo)評

　　一提到火雞, 人們就會想到感恩節(jié)餐桌上那道香噴噴的大餐, 但是把它和美國歷史聯(lián)系起來的人并不多。假如美國人當(dāng)年真的把火雞選作國鳥, 是不是美國甚至整個世界的歷 史都會改變呢? 鳥兒, 不論是高尚還是卑鄙, 無非是為了生存而已, 可人的欲望卻是無止境 的。要改變國鳥, 再難也容易, 要改變整個國家的政策和國民的性格, 才是最難最難的。

　　閱讀導(dǎo)釋

　　1. 這個詞作"本地的, 土生的”解, 如: native land ( 故鄉(xiāng)) ; native tongue ( 母語) ; a native Italian ( 一個土生土長的意大利人) ; The maize is native to America. ( 玉米是美洲的土產(chǎn)。)

　　2. 這里指"雄性動物”, 特別是貓和火雞。后文中的Hen 多指雌性家禽和水生動物?？紤] 到本文的寫作特點, 直接譯為公火雞和母火雞。

　　3. 該詞原指豎起的鬃毛, 此處指火雞脖子上豎起的較硬的羽毛。

　　4. Pilgrim 原意為朝圣者。此處大寫, 專指美國早期的清教徒移民。1620 年, 著名的"五月花”號船滿載著不堪忍受英國國內(nèi)宗教迫害的102 個清教徒到達(dá)美洲, 并且在新英格蘭 建立普利茅斯殖民地。為了紀(jì)念那些虔誠的殖民者, 也為感謝上帝賜予豐收和健康, 美 國把每年11 月的第四個星期四定為感恩節(jié)?；痣u和南瓜餅都是這一節(jié)日的傳統(tǒng)食物。

　　5. 本杰明·富蘭克林( 1706—1790) , 18 世紀(jì)美國著名的政治家和文學(xué)家, 同時還是了不起 的科學(xué)家、發(fā)明家。他一生最真實的寫照是他自己所說過的一句話:"誠實和勤勉, 應(yīng)該 成為你永久的伴侶。”

　　6. 禿頭雕。從1782 年起, 禿頭雕就是美國的國鳥。禿頭雕捕獵的本領(lǐng)較差, 只會跟隨其他 海鳥一起去捉魚, 往往只能抓那些死魚和半死不活的魚。有時候, 它們還會從魚鷹的嘴 中把魚搶去。

　　7. 這個詞并不是標(biāo)準(zhǔn)用法, 出自sharp adj. 狡猾的, 欺騙的。此處相當(dāng)于動詞, 指"( 運用狡 猾的手段進(jìn)行) 欺騙”, 特別用于商業(yè)貿(mào)易中。