英语听力：自然百科:黄石公园—夏天(6)

When these great ice sheets retreated, they left pulverized¹ rocks in their wake, the foundation for fertile soil and some of the richest natural grasslands² in America.

当这些大冰原消散,它们离开岩石,肥沃的土壤和一些最富饶的美国自然草原展现的一览无余。

But in May this year, in the heart of Yellowstone, that grass is still beneath thick snow—something this ground squirrel was clearly not expecting.

但今年5月,在黄石国家公园的中心,草仍在厚重的雪下—这显然不是地松鼠所希望的。

But as the sun's strength returns, spring bulbs start to push through the late snow—at last a sign that winter is losing its grip.

而随着太阳强势回归,春天开始融化最后的雪—而最后一个迹象表明,冬天正失去其掌控。

Bluebirds, too delicate to survive deep winter here, now return to take advantage of the fist hatch of stone flies from the thawing³ river.

蓝知更鸟,太过精致以致于不能在这深冬里生存,现在回来利用其身体独特的优势从解冻的河流中觅食。

1 pulverized   

adj.[医]雾化的，粉末状的v.将…弄碎( pulverize的过去式和过去分词 )；将…弄成粉末或尘埃；摧毁；粉碎

参考例句：

• We pulverized the opposition. 我们彻底击败了对手。
• He pulverized the opposition with the force of his oratory. 他能言善辩把对方驳得体无完肤。 来自辞典例句

2 grasslands   

n.草原，牧场( grassland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Songs were heard ringing loud and clear over the grasslands. 草原上扬起清亮激越的歌声。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Grasslands have been broken and planted to wheat. 草原已经开垦出来，种上了小麦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 thawing   

n.熔化，融化v.（气候）解冻( thaw的现在分词 )；（态度、感情等）缓和；（冰、雪及冷冻食物）溶化；软化

参考例句：

• The ice is thawing. 冰在融化。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• It had been snowing and thawing and the streets were sloppy. 天一直在下雪，雪又一直在融化，街上泥泞不堪。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹