美国语文第二册 第37期:鹗

 LESSON 41 第四十一课

rough  粗暴

beneath  在……之下

seaside  海边

timidly  怯生生的

robber 强盗

spots  点

osprey  鱼鹰

often  经常

fiercely  狠狠的

twenty 二十

compels  迫使

breast  胸

mode  模式

hooked 大呼过瘾

THE FISHHAWK 鹗

The fishhawk, or osprey, is not so large as the eagle; but he has, like the eagle, a hooked bill and sharp claws. 鹗不像老鹰那么大，但和老鹰一样，有一个钩状的喙和锋利的爪子。

His color is a dark brown, with black and white spots, and his length is from twenty to twenty-two inches.  它的颜色呈棕黑，身上长着黑白相间的斑点，身长二十至二十二英寸。

His breast is mostly white. His tail and wings are long. 它的胸脯大部分是白色的，尾巴和翅膀很长。

The fishhawk is often found sitting upon a tree over a pond, or lake, or river.  鹗常常坐在池塘、湖泊或河流边的树枝上。

He is also found by the seaside. 它也会出现在海边。

He watches the fish as they swim in the water beneath him; then he darts² down suddenly and catches one of them. 它观察着身下水中游动的鱼，突然俯冲，抓住其中的一条。

When he catches a fish in his sharp, rough claws, he carries it off to eat, and, as he flies away with it for his dinner, an eagle sometimes meets him. 当鹗用锋利而粗暴的爪子抓到一条鱼后，就把鱼带走吃掉。当它带着晚餐飞走时，一只老鹰却正盯着它。

The eagle flies at him fiercely with his sharp bill and claws, and compels the hawk¹ to drop the fish. 老鹰凶猛地向它飞去，用锋利的喙和爪子迫使鹗把鱼扔掉。

Then the eagle catches the fish as it falls, before it reaches the ground, and carries it off. 在鱼落地之前，老鹰接住了并把它叼走。

The poor fish hawk, with a loud cry, timidly flies away.  可怜的鹗一边高声地叫着，一边胆怯地飞走了。

He must go again to the water and catch another fish for his dinner. 它必须再次回到水边抓另一条鱼，来做自己的晚餐。

Thus you see, that the eagle is a robber.  你看，鹗唯一的生存模式就是抓鱼。

He robs fishhawks, whose only mode of getting a living is by catching³ fish. 老鹰则是强盗，它从鹗那里抢走了鱼。

1 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

2 darts   

n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• His darts trophy takes pride of place on the mantelpiece. 他将掷镖奖杯放在壁炉顶上最显著的地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I never saw so many darts in a bodice! 我从没见过紧身胸衣上纳了这么多的缝褶！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。