美国小学英语教材3:第28课 燕子的一课(2)

 　　The mother and the father birds brushed their wings against the young swallows and made them leave the telephone wire. 燕子爸爸和燕子妈妈用翅膀掠过小燕子，让它们离开电线。

　　Then the whole family flew away together. 接着整个燕子家庭一起飞走了。

　　In a little while the mother swallow darted² off by herself, and then flew back to one of the young birds. 不一会儿，燕子妈妈自己飞走了，然后又飞回到一只小燕子身旁。

　　She fluttered³ her wings to hold herself up, and held out an insect in her bill. 它拍打着双翅，使自己在高处嘴里衔着一只昆虫

　　Oh, how the little bird wished that he were sitting quietly in his nest. 啊，小燕子多么希望自己静静地坐在鸟巢里。

　　There it would be easy for him to get the insect, while here it was not easy at all. 在那里它可以毫不费劲的吃到昆虫，而在这却没那么容易。

　　But his flying had made him very hungry indeed. 飞行却是让它感到非常地饥饿。

　　So he fluttered his wings to hold himself up, as his mother was doing, and snapped⁴ quickly with his little bill. 于是它像妈妈那样拍打着翅膀，让自己飞起来，用它的小嘴快速地捕捉食物。

　　To the young swallow's surprise, he caught the insect. 让小燕子惊讶的是，它抓到了昆虫。

　　And, best of all, he had now learned⁵ his first lesson in getting his food while he was in the air. 而最重要的一点是，它已经学到了在空中取食的第一课。

　　The two other young birds learned the same lesson. 还有两只小燕子也同样学到了这一课。

　　After that, the mother and father birds made their children dart¹ about, and showed them how to catch insects that were flying around. 在那之后，燕子爸爸和燕子妈妈会教它们的孩子敏捷地飞翔，教它们如何在飞翔的时候捕捉昆虫。

　　Never again did the young swallows wait for the older birds to bring them food. 小燕子再也不用等老燕子给它们带食物了。

　　They had found out that it was far more fun to dart about in the air than to sit quietly in a nest or on a telephone wire. 它们发现，在空中上下翻飞比静静的待在鸟巢里或站在电线上要有趣的多。

　　All summer long they darted here and there and filled their little crops with hundreds and hundreds of flies and other insects. 整个夏天它们便四处疾飞，用上百只蚊子和其它昆虫塞满了它们的小肚子。

　　But what did the swallows do when winter time came and there were no insects in the air? 冬天来临的时候，没有昆虫了，但燕子们该怎么办呢？

　　They flew far away to the South, where it is always warm. 它们要飞到很远很远的南方，那里的天气总是很暖和。

　　In that land they found plenty of things to dart after in the bright sunshine. 在那片土地上它们会发现，在灿烂的阳光下有许多东西可以捕捉。

　　There they stayed until spring came back to the North. 它们待在那里直到春天才回到北方。

1 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

2 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 fluttered   

v.飘动( flutter的过去式和过去分词 )；（心）快速跳动；振翼，拍翅膀

参考例句：

• Flags fluttered in the breeze. 旗帜在微风中飘扬。
• Imes concluded from her fluttered look that she had spent the money. 艾姆斯从她慌张的眼神推断出她花光了钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 snapped   

v.猛地咬住( snap的过去式和过去分词 )；（使某物）发出尖厉声音地突然断裂[打开，关闭]；厉声地说；拍照

参考例句：

• The wind had snapped the tree in two. 风把树喀嚓一声刮断了。
• He lost his temper and snapped irritably at the children. 他发火了，暴躁地斥责孩子们。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。