美国语文第四册 第132期:大象(1)

 　　The elephant is the largest of quadrupeds; 大象是四蹄动物当中最大的；

　　his height is from eight to fourteen feet, and his length, from ten to fifteen feet. 高八到十四英尺，长十到十五英尺。

　　His form is that of a hog¹; his eyes are small and lively; his ears are long, broad and pendulous². 大象的外形有点像猪；眼睛小而生动；耳朵又长又宽，向下耷拉着。

　　He has two large tusks³, which form the ivory of commerce,  它有两颗大牙，因此形成了象牙贸易，

　　and a trunk, or proboscis⁴, at the end of the nose, which he uses to take his food with, and for attack or defense⁵. 大象用长鼻取得食物、攻击和防卫。

　　His color is a dark ash-brown. 大象的牙是深灰褐色的。

　　Elephants often assemble in large troops; and, as they march in search of food, the forests seem to tremble under them. 大象经常成群聚集在一起；大象觅食走过时，似乎把森林踩在脚下。

　　They eat the branches of trees, together with roots, herbs, leaves, grain, and fruit, but will not touch fish nor flesh. 大象吃树枝、草根、草药、树叶、谷物和水果，但从不吃鱼和肉。

　　In a state of nature, they are peaceable, mild, and brave; exerting their power only for their own protection or in defense of their own species. 大象爱好和平，性格温和而勇敢；敢；只有保护自己或族群时才施展自己的威力。

　　Elephants are found both in Asia and Africa, but they are of different species, the Asiatic elephant having five toes, and the African, three. 尽管在亚洲和非洲都有大象，但是它们的种类不同，亚洲象有五个趾头，非洲象只有三个趾头。

　　These animals are caught by stratagem⁶,  捕捉大象需要施展些手段才行，

　　and, when tamed, they are the most gentle, obedient, and patient, as well as the most docile⁷ and sagacious of all quadrupeds. 可是驯服后，大象是最温和、最顺从、最有耐心的动物，也是四蹄动物中最聪明的。

　　They are used to carry burdens, and for traveling. 大象被用来驮重物和骑行。

　　Their attachment⁸ to their masters is remarkable⁹; and they seem to live but to serve and obey them. 大象对主人感情很深，它们的生活似乎就是为主人服务。

　　They always kneel to receive their riders or the loads they have to carry. 它们总是跪着让主人骑上去，或者等人们把货物放到身上。

　　The anecdotes¹⁰ illustrating¹¹ the character of the elephant are numerous. 很多故事都描绘了大象的性格。

　　An elephant which was kept for exhibition at London, was often required, as is usual in such exhibitions,  在伦敦展览的一只大象常常被要求，就像展览中经常做的那样，

　　to pick up with his trunk a piece of money thrown upon the floor for this purpose. 用长鼻拾起扔在地上的钱币。

　　On one occasion a sixpence was thrown, which happened to roll a little out of his reach, not far from the wall. 有一次，一枚六便士的硬币被扔到地上后，碰巧滚到离墙很近的一个地方。

　　Being desired to pick it up, he stretched out his proboscis several times to reach it; failing in this,  大象的长鼻伸出去几次都够不到，

　　he stood motionless a few seconds, evidently considering how to act. 大象一动不动站了几分钟，显然在考虑该怎么办。

1 hog   

n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占

参考例句：

• He is greedy like a hog.他像猪一样贪婪。
• Drivers who hog the road leave no room for other cars.那些占着路面的驾驶员一点余地都不留给其他车辆。

2 pendulous   

adj.下垂的；摆动的

参考例句：

• The oriole builds a pendulous nest.金莺鸟筑一个悬垂的巢。
• Her lip grew pendulous as she aged.由于老迈，她的嘴唇往下坠了。

3 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）

4 proboscis   

n.（象的）长鼻

参考例句：

• Its proboscis has got stuck to a lot of pollen.它的喙上粘了很多花粉。
• It hovers in front of the flower,using its proboscis to look for nectar. 它在兰花前面飞来飞去, 用喙寻找花蜜.

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 stratagem   

n.诡计，计谋

参考例句：

• Knit the brows and a stratagem comes to mind.眉头一皱，计上心来。
• Trade discounts may be used as a competitive stratagem to secure customer loyalty.商业折扣可以用作维护顾客忠诚度的一种竞争策略。

7 docile   

adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的

参考例句：

• Circus monkeys are trained to be very docile and obedient.马戏团的猴子训练得服服贴贴的。
• He is a docile and well-behaved child.他是个温顺且彬彬有礼的孩子。

8 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

9 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

10 anecdotes   

n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• amusing anecdotes about his brief career as an actor 关于他短暂演员生涯的趣闻逸事
• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman. 他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 illustrating   

给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• He upstaged the other speakers by illustrating his talk with slides. 他演讲中配上幻灯片，比其他演讲人更吸引听众。
• Material illustrating detailed structure of graptolites has been etched from limestone by means of hydrofluoric acid. 表明笔石详细构造的物质是利用氢氟酸从石灰岩中侵蚀出来。