英文短篇故事（纽约）44 An Island Full of Animals

 　　The island had many trees and animals. One day, many people in small boats came to live on the island. They went into the woods. They hunted the animals. They killed many animals the first six months. "Maybe we are killing¹ too many animals," said Jacob. The others laughed. "Do you see the stars that shine tonight? There are more animals than there are stars," Abraham said. But every year they had to hunt a longer time than the year before. Every year they saw fewer animals. Every year Jacob said, "Maybe we are killing too many animals." Every year Abraham said, "There are more animals than there are stars. They have learned² how to hide from us. They know we want to eat them." One day they returned from hunting. They had hunted for a week. They had killed just one animal. "We must find another island," said Abraham.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 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。