美国小学英语教材5:第59课 长牙象彭博·库巴(5)

 LEADING HIS OWN HERD¹ 领导象群

It was not only Kubwa's strength that made him win, for often he tackled elephants who were really stronger than himself. 库巴的力量不仅使他获胜，因为他经常对付比他强壮的大象。

But he was quick to think and could get into action before the other fellow had decided² on his plan of attack. 而且他反应敏捷，能在另一个人决定进攻计划之前就采取行动。

As Kubwa got bigger and bigger, he got deadlier and deadlier in action. 随着库巴变得越来越大，他在行动中变得越来越致命。

The time came when he only snorted when his mother spoke³ to him, and he threw dust in his older brother's eyes, which was not a respectful thing to do. 当他妈妈跟他说话的时候，他才哼了一声，然后把尘土撒在哥哥的眼睛里，这是不礼貌的。

Finally he fought his uncle, who started out to teach him his place, and gave his uncle such a horrid⁵ poke⁴ in the shoulder with his long sharp tusks⁶ that the old leader went off in a huff. 最后他和他的叔叔打了一架，他的叔叔开始教他自己的位置，并且用他的长而锋利的长牙在他的肩膀上戳了一个可怕的洞，以至于老领头象气冲冲地走了。

Several of the older ones went with his uncle, but the others stayed and listened politely and lazily to this energetic young boss, and Kubwa began to lead his own herd. 几个年纪大一点的跟着他的叔叔去了，其他的留在那里，礼貌而懒散地听着这位精力充沛的年轻领头说话。

Kubwa adored commanding! He said when it was time to go into the swamp, and when into the forest, 库巴崇拜指挥！他指导大家，什么时候该去沼泽，什么时候该去森林，

and he led the way to the grazing grounds and sampled all the best places for miles around. 然后他带路来到牧场，在方圆数英里内的所有最好的地方取样。

Soon he began bullying⁷ any strangers or any small groups that wandered into the grazing grounds when he was there; 不久，他就开始欺负任何陌生人或在他在场时溜达到牧场的小团体；

mild-mannered elephants, who wanted a quiet life and good food, began to come and join his herd in order to get the benefit of his protection and his leadership. 温文尔雅的大象想要安静的生活和美味的食物，为了得到他的保护和领导，它们开始加入他的象群。

 

1 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

5 horrid   

adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的

参考例句：

• I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
• The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

6 tusks   

n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头

参考例句：

• The elephants are poached for their tusks. 为获取象牙而偷猎大象。
• Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used in some parts of Africa. 非洲的一些地区则使用象牙、猴尾和盐。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

7 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》