美国学生世界地理教材 第140期:熊的故事(1)

 when I was a boy the story I liked best was one about wolves in Russia. 我小时候最喜欢的故事，是关于俄罗斯狼群的。

Some Russians in a sleigh were driving across the snow, when they were attacked by a pack of hungry wolves. 一些俄罗斯人，驾驶着雪橇，穿过雪地，突然遭到一群饿狼的袭击。

The men whipped up their horses, but the wolves drew nearer and nearer. 雪橇上的人用鞭子抽打马，促马快跑，但是狼群还是越逼越近。

When the wolves were just about to spring upon the sleigh the men threw out food, which the wolves stopped a moment to devour¹, allowing the sleigh to get ahead. 正当狼群就要扑向雪橇之际，雪橇上的人扔出一些食物，狼群就停下去吞食，这让雪橇可以继续向前跑。

But the wolves caught up and again food was thrown out and again and again, till there was no food left. 但是狼群很快就追上来了，于是又扔出食物，狼群再次赶上来了，再扔，直到食物全部扔完。

See if you can guess the end of the story, or make up an ending of your own. 你猜结果会是怎样呢？或者你自己为这个故事编一个结尾。

Naturally, I used to think of Russia as a land of wolves, though for some reason people call Russia "The Bear." 听了这样的故事，我一直想当然地认为俄罗斯就是狼的故乡，不过现在由于某种原因俄罗斯被称为“熊”。

Russia is a huge country—it is the largest country in Europe—it is as large as all the other countries of Europe put together, 俄罗斯国土辽阔——它是欧洲最大的国家——面积相当于欧洲其他所有国家加在一起那么大。

and in the far north there are wolves, snow, and sleighs. 在遥远的俄罗斯北部，有狼群，有雪原，还有雪橇。

But there is also a middle Russia which is not so cold and a southern Russia which is quite warm. 但是，俄罗斯的中部没有那么冷，南部还相当的温暖。

In the north of Russia it is so cold that even in summer when the snow has gone and the ground has thawed² out on top, 俄罗斯北部非常寒冷，即使在夏季，雪已经没有了，地面表层也解冻了，

the ground underneath³ remains⁴ frozen⁵ stiff⁶, and, though grass and even flowers grow above, the ground below remains hard and icy. 但是地下仍然是冻得结结实实；尽管地面长着绿草，甚至还开着鲜花，地下还是又硬又结了冰。

These frozen lands are called "tundras⁷," and there are thousands of miles of such tundras across the north of Russia. 这些结冰的土地被称为“冻原”。在俄罗斯北部有数千英里这样的冻原。

At the top of Russia is a sea called "White" and at the bottom of Russia a sea called "Black." 在俄罗斯的上方有一片海，叫“白海”，在它的下方，也有一片海，叫“黑海”。

The White Sea, I suppose, is called “White” because it is frozen over most of the year and covered with snow—and yet, 我猜测，白海之所以被称为“白海”是因为一年大部分时间它都结着冰，被雪覆盖着；然而，

during a few months of the summer when the ice in it has melted, great ships sail into the White Sea, 在夏季的几个月里，冰融化了，许多大船也能驶进白海，

bringing in loads of all sorts of goods to the one great port on this sea—a city called Archangel—a name that makes one think of heaven. 载着各种各样的货物抵达白海主要的一个大港口——一座叫阿尔汉格尔斯克的城市——这个名字让人想到天堂。

1 devour   

v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷

参考例句：

• Larger fish devour the smaller ones.大鱼吃小鱼。
• Beauty is but a flower which wrinkle will devour.美只不过是一朵，终会被皱纹所吞噬。

2 thawed   

解冻

参考例句：

• The little girl's smile thawed the angry old man. 小姑娘的微笑使发怒的老头缓和下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He thawed after sitting at a fire for a while. 在火堆旁坐了一会儿，他觉得暖和起来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

6 stiff   

adj.严厉的，激烈的，硬的，僵直的，不灵活的

参考例句：

• There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。
• You have to push on the handle to turn it,becanse it's very stiff.手柄很不灵活，你必须用力推才能转动它。

7 tundras   

n.（多数位于北极圈的）冻土带( tundra的名词复数 )；苔原；冻原；寒漠

参考例句：

• The company can also produce Tundras in Indiana at a pace of 100,000 vehicles a year. 印第安纳工厂是10万辆。 来自互联网
• Treeless regions found in and around the Arctic, tundras are among Earth's coldest, harshest biomes. 无树地区位于北极圈内及其附近，苔原分布在地球最冷，最荒芜的生物群落之中。 来自互联网