英国学生科学读本 第38期:人类的帮手-马(1)

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　　第38课 人类的帮手——马

　　The horse is an animal which seems to have been made for helping¹ us in our daily work. we ride on its back, and we get it to pull heavy loads in carts.

　　马这种动物, 似乎生来就是为人类的日常工作服务的。人们骑在马背上, 还用马来拉沉重的车。

　　Each of the horse's four legs ends in a single toe, which is covered by a thick nail, called the hoof². On the under side of the hoof there is a soft cushion, called the frog.

　　马的四条腿, 每条腿的尽头都只有一个脚趾, 覆盖着厚厚的指甲, 叫做“马蹄”。马蹄侧面的下面有一个软垫子, 学名叫“蹄叉”。

　　A long time ago all horses lived in wild herds³ on the broad grassy⁴ plains of Asia. Then their hoofs⁵ were enough to protect their feet. But our tame horses have to walk and run so much over stony⁶ roads, that we get the blacksmith to protect their hoofs by nailing to them the bent⁷ pieces of iron which we call horse-shoes.

　　很久很久以前, 所有的马都成群地生活在广阔的亚洲草原上。后来, 它们的蹄子变得足够坚硬, 可以保护脚不受伤害了。可是, 我们驯化的马, 要在石头路上走或者跑很多的路, 所以, 我们就让铁匠给马蹄钉上弯曲的铁片, 来保护蹄子。这种铁片, 叫做“马掌”。

　　The horse's hoofs are made of the same kind of horny stuff as our finger-nails. We feel no pain when our finger-nails are cut. Nor does the horse feel pain when its hoofs are pared, and when iron shoes are nailed to them.

　　构成马蹄的物质, 也跟我们的指甲一样, 是一种角质。我们剪指甲的时候感觉不到疼痛；马在修剪蹄子, 给蹄子钉上马掌的时候, 同样也感觉不到疼痛。

　　The horse's skin or hide is covered with hair, which grows very long on its neck, and forms what we call a mane. The hair also grows very long on the tail.

　　马的皮肤。覆盖着毛, 颈部的毛长得特别长, 形成了“马鬃”。尾巴上的毛也很长。

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