美国小学英语教材5:第67课 荒原:野生动物保护区(1)

WASTE LAND: A WILD-LIFE PRESERVE

荒原：野生动物保护区

Archibald Rutledge

作者：阿奇博尔德·拉特利奇

Once upon a time there were thousands of beautifulbirds called passenger pigeons. Now they are gone.Herds¹ of graceful² antelope³ used to roam the prairiesof the West. They are disappearing. Mr. Hawkes hastold us that the beaver⁴ is in danger. In this story Mr.Rutledge tells us how we can help save these wildchildren of Nature.

从前，有成千上万的美丽的鸟，叫做旅鸽。现在都消失了。成群优雅的羚羊曾经在西部的大草原上漫步。而羚羊也正在消失。霍克斯先生告诉我们海狸有危险。在这个故事中，拉特里奇先生告诉我们如何帮助拯救这些野生的自然儿童。

Mr. Farmer, don’t keep your place too clean. Leave that patch of scrub growing over yonder bythe creek⁵; leave that fence row filled with briars. Your best friend of the great bird kingdom,bob-white, can’t live with you if you take away all his cover. Keep most fields clean, if you like,but leave some places untidy for the sake of those who will leave you if you clean away theirshelters.

法默先生，不要把你的地方弄得太干净。把那边小溪边的那片灌木丛留下；留下那排长满荆棘的篱笆。如果你拿走他所有的掩护，那么你最好的朋友，大鸟王国的鲍勃-怀特，不能和你住在一起。你若愿意，可以使大多数田地洁净，也可以使一些地方不洁净，因为你若除掉他们的住处，他们必离开你。

Wild creatures will take what we leave. They will rejoice to live on our waste lands. There is noplace so impossible for the home of man that it cannot be made into a home for wild life. Itlooks, then, as if in the years to come, man will take all the choice lands for himself. Then he willset aside waste lands for the wild children of the woods and the waters and the air.

野生动物会拿走我们留下的东西。他们将高兴地生活在我们的荒地上。对于人类的家园来说，没有什么地方是不可能建成野生动物的家园的。这样看来，似乎在未来的岁月里，人类将为自己夺取所有的土地。他必为树林、水、空气中的野地设立界限。

 

 

1 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

2 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

3 antelope   

n.羚羊；羚羊皮

参考例句：

• Choosing the antelope shows that China wants a Green Olympics.选择藏羚羊表示中国需要绿色奥运。
• The tiger was dragging the antelope across the field.老虎拖着羚羊穿过原野。

4 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

5 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。