96.Older Goats in America

　　A group of Americans were traveling by tour bus through Holland. As they stopped at a cheese farm, a young guide led them through the process of cheese making, explaining that goats' milk was used.

　　She showed the group a lovely hillside where many goats were grazing¹. These, she explained, were the older goats put out to pasture² when they no longer produced. She then asked, "What do you do with your older goats in America?"

　　A spry old gentleman answered, "They send us on bus tours!"

Notes:

　　(1) hillside n. 山坡

　　(2) graze³ v.（指牛羊等）吃青草

　　(3) put out 把…送到外面去

　　(4) pasture n.牧场

　　(5) spry adj.活泼的

Exercises:

根据短文判断下列句子正（T）、（F）：

　　① The group of Americans were traveling by train.

　　② They visited a cheese farm.

　　③ The young guide told them that cattle milk was used to make cheese.

　　④ Older goats were put out to pasture when they no longer produced milk.

　　⑤ The old gentleman was making a joke.

96.美国老羊

　　一群美国人乘长途汽车在荷兰旅游。他们在一个奶酪场停下来。一位年轻的导游带他们参观了奶酪制作的全过程，解释说用的是羊奶。

　　她指给这群人一个美丽的山坡，山坡上许多羊在吃草。对这些，她解释说，是放逐草地的老羊，它们已不能再产奶。她然后问道：“在美国你们怎样处理老羊呢？”

　　一位活泼的老绅士回答说：“他们让我们乘车旅行！”

练习参考答案：

①F②T③F④T⑤T

1 grazing   

n. 放牧, 牧草 动词graze的现在分词

参考例句：

• There were cows grazing beside the river. 有些牛在河边吃草。
• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。

2 pasture   

n.牧场，牲畜饲养

参考例句：

• This is the place where they used to pasture.这就是他们过去经常放牧的地方。
• The boy got up very early every morning to pasture cattle.这男孩每天起得很早去放牛。

3 graze   

v.(牲畜)吃草；放牧；擦过(牲畜)；n.擦伤

参考例句：

• There is good grassland here for your cattle and horses to graze on.这里有很好的草地供你们放牧牛马。
• Nothing serious.Just a graze.没关系，就破了一点皮。