英国学生科学读本 第75期:蒲公英(3)

 　　Lesson 75 Only A Weed

　　第75课 蒲公英

　　When the dandelion flowers have all received their supply of pollen¹, and their seeds are "set" or fully² formed,

　　当蒲公英的花朵全部获得它们所需的花粉、种子也“做好准备”或者说完全成型之后,

　　the yellow flower-heads close up inside their circle of green leaves, and bend down to the ground for a few days while the seeds ripen³.

　　黄色的头状花序将蜷缩在绿叶的怀抱之中, 在种子成熟的这几天时间里低头向地面弯曲。

　　When the heads open and rise up again, a great change is seen to have taken place.

　　当头状花序再次打开, 向上伸展时, 它们已经发生了巨大的变化。

　　Each dandelion is no longer a golden yellow flower, but a round white ball of down!

　　每一支蒲公英都已经不再是金黄色的花朵了, 变成了毛茸茸的白色圆球！

　　What can have changed it so?

　　如此剧烈的变化是怎么回事呢?

　　Let us get one of those white downy balls and see whether we can find out the cause of this change.

　　我们摘下一朵这样的白色绒球, 看看能不能解开这种变化背后的成因。

　　Pulling off one of the white plumes⁵ , and you will find a little round seed-vessel at the end of it.

　　摘下一根白色绒毛, 就会发现, 末端有一个细小的球形种皮。

　　This long white plume⁴ has grown from the white hairy calyx which we found outside each tiny yellow flower.

　　这些长长的白色绒毛就是从黄色小花外面的白色毛状花萼中生长而出。

　　The yellow parts have all fallen off, for the seed-vessel had no more need of them.

　　其中黄色的结构已经全部掉落, 因为种皮完全不需要它们了。

　　The first puff⁶ of wind that comes breaks off the ripe seed-vessels and their white plumes, and away they go sailing over the fields and the hedges.

　　微风吹来, 白色的绒毛从成熟的种皮上脱落下来并随风飘扬, 飞越田间与树丛。

　　Did you ever help the dandelion to spread its seeds, by blowing on the ripe head "to see what o'clock it is"?

　　你是否曾经拿起过一朵蒲公英, 朝着绒球吹上一口气, “看看它是几点钟”?这其实就是在帮助它们传播种子。

　　Children sometimes call these white dandelion heads "clocks, " and try how many puffs⁷ of their breath it takes to blow off all the down.

　　有时候, 孩子们将这些白色的蒲公英花团称作“时钟”, 然后试着看用几口气才能把所有的绒毛吹下来。

　　If it takes four puffs, they say it is "four o'clock.

　　如果吹了四下, 那么这团蒲公英就是“四点钟”。

　　It is a great advantage to the dandelion flowers to have seeds that are easily blown about by the wind; for if all the seeds fell on the ground close to the parent plant,

　　只需一阵微风, 蒲公英花朵上的种子便会随风飘扬, 这可是一种巨大的优势；因为, 如果所有的种子都掉落在亲本株周围的地面上,

1 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 ripen   

vt.使成熟；vi.成熟

参考例句：

• I'm waiting for the apples to ripen.我正在等待苹果成熟。
• You can ripen the tomatoes on a sunny windowsill.把西红柿放在有阳光的窗台上可以让它们成熟。

4 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

5 plumes   

羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物

参考例句：

• The dancer wore a headdress of pink ostrich plumes. 那位舞蹈演员戴着粉色鸵鸟毛制作的头饰。
• The plumes on her bonnet barely moved as she nodded. 她点点头，那帽子的羽毛在一个劲儿颤动。

6 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

7 puffs   

n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
• Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句