美国学生世界地理教材 第214期:动物王国(1)

 Have you ever been to the zoo or the circus? 你去过动物园或马戏团吗？

How would you like to live in a zoo where the animals were not in cages? 如果有个动物园，动物都不关在笼子里，你愿意住在里面吗？

The land in Africa on each side of the Equator¹ is like that. 非洲赤道两侧的地带就像这样的动物园。

A great many of the animals are dangerous, yet some are not. 许多动物都是危险的，而有些并不危险。

A lion is a huge cat. but he is the wildest kind of a wild cat. 狮子是大型猫科动物，但它是野兽中最凶猛的。

He is the most terrifying of all wild animals—his roar is enough to "freeze the narrow in your bones." even if he happens to be behind bars in the zoo. 狮子是所有野生动物中最可怕的动物——即使它被关在动物园的笼子里，它的吼声也让你不寒而栗。

No wonder he is feared by all animals and fears none. 难怪，所有的动物都怕它，而它却不怕任何动物。

Other animals have always to be on the watch against enemies, but the lion can lie down and go to sleep without watching or worrying or caring about enemies. 别的动物不得不总是提防敌人，而狮子却能够躺下来呼呼大睡，不必提防、担心或在意什么敌人。

My father used to say if you wanted to catch a bird alive the thing to do is to put a little salt on his tail. 我小时候父亲常说，要想活捉一只鸟儿，最好的办法是在它的尾巴上撒一点盐。

But you can't catch lions that way and you can't catch birds that way either. 但是用这种方法，是抓不住狮子的，其实用这种方法也抓不住鸟儿。

If a hunter wishes to catch a lion alive for the zoo or circus, he must catch him in a trap called a snare², 如果一个猎人想活捉一只狮子卖给动物园或马戏团，他就必须设圈套让它落入陷阱中，

which is a pit dug in the ground and covered over with branches and twigs³. 就是为捕捉野兽而挖的一个坑穴，上面浮盖着大小不等的树枝，

The lion falls into it and then must be caught with a very strong net. 狮子踩在上面就掉到坑里，这时必须用一张结实的网将它套住。

If, however, a hunter wishes to kill the lion. 然而，如果猎人想猎杀狮子，

he hides near a water-hole and waits until the lion comes for a drink, 他就躲在池塘附近，等着狮子来饮水；

or else the hunter kills some harmless animal as you might dig worms for bait⁴ to catch fish and places him in the lion's path. 或者，猎人猎杀某种温顺的动物，把它放在狮子必经之路上做诱饵，就像你挖虫子做钓鱼用的诱饵一样。

One of the animals used for bait is a zebra—a poor, harmless animal that looks like a little pony⁵ with stripes. 用作诱饵的动物之一就是斑马——一种可怜、温顺的动物，样子像身上有条纹的小型马。

Nature has given the zebra stripes that look like the shadows of tall grass so that he cannot easily be seen. 大自然赋予斑马身上的条纹，看上去就像高高的草投下的影子，因此，它们就不容易被发现。

1 equator   

n.赤道，（平分球形物体的面的）圆

参考例句：

• Singapore is near the equator.新加坡位于赤道附近。
• The United States is north of the equator.美国位于赤道以北。

2 snare   

n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑

参考例句：

• I used to snare small birds such as sparrows.我曾常用罗网捕捉麻雀等小鸟。
• Most of the people realized that their scheme was simply a snare and a delusion.大多数人都认识到他们的诡计不过是一个骗人的圈套。

3 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

4 bait   

n.饵，引诱物；vt.用饵引诱，折磨，奚落

参考例句：

• The fish took the bait.鱼吞饵了。
• They are too knowing to bite at such a bait.他们很老练，不上这种当。

5 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。