英国语文第三册 第66期:花的习性(上)

 LESSON 56 Habits of flowers 第五十六课 花的习性

Nearly all flowers turn towards the light, as if they loved it.  几乎所有的花都有向阳的,好像它们很喜欢太阳.

This can be seen by watching plants that are standing¹ near a window.  通过观察窗户旁边的植物就可以看出来.

The flowers will all be bent² towards the light, if the pots are allowed always to stand in the same position.  如果花盆都放在相同的位置,花儿都向光弯曲.

But by turning them round a little every day, while the blossoms³ are opening,  当花骨朵正在开放的时候,我们每天都把花盆旋转一点点,

the plants can be made to show flowers on all sides. 植物将会面向四方开花的.

Some flowers shut themselves up at night, as if they were going to sleep, and open again in the morning.  一些花儿晚上闭合,好像要去睡觉一样,到了第二天早上再开放.

This is the case with tulips. The writer was one morning admiring some flowers that had been sent to him the evening before. 郁金香就是这样.作家一天早上正在欣赏昨天晚上被人送来的一些花儿.

Among them were some tulips, and out of one of these, as it opened, flew a bee! 花儿中有些郁金香,其中一朵郁金香,当它开放时飞出来一只蜜蜂.

A lazy, dronish bee he must have been, to be caught in this way, when the flower was closing for the night.  它一定是只懒散的蜜蜂,在晚上花儿闭合的时候,不小心被困住了.

Or, perhaps, he had done a hard day's work in gathering⁴ honey, and at last had become sleepy.  或许它一整天都在辛勤的采蜜,最后睡着了,

At any rate, he stayed too long in the tulip, and so was shut in for the night. 无论是哪种情况,它在郁金香里停留太久了,所以最后在闭合的郁金香里呆了一夜.

The little daisy is one of the flowers that close at night;  雏菊也是晚上闭合一种花,

but it is as beautiful and bright as ever, on its "slender stem⁵", when it awakes in the morning.  但是当它早上开放时,花朵和往常一样明艳美,亭亭玉立.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

3 blossoms   

n.（尤指果树的）花( blossom的名词复数 )；花丛，花簇v.（植物）开花( blossom的第三人称单数 )；发展；长成；变得更加健康（或自信、成功）

参考例句：

• It was springtime and the slopes were ablaze with almond blossoms. 时当春季，怒放的扁桃花使那片山坡鲜红似火。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The spring comes and peach blossoms [flowers] are all open. 春天了，桃花都开了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 stem   

n.茎，干，船首，词干，血统；vt.堵住，阻止，抽去梗；vi.起源于，发生

参考例句：

• Cut the stem cleanly,just beneath a leaf joint.把茎切整齐点，正好切在叶根下。
• The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。