美国小学英语教材5:第70课 荒原:野生动物保护区(4)

 “Three things have done it,” the owner of the place said. “这种景象由三种因素造成,”土地所有者表示。

“These fields, you see, were worthless¹ to me for planting purposes. “你看，如果是为了种植，这些土地是没有价值的。

But ducks have always come here. 但鸭子总是来这儿。

At a small expense, I arranged to have the fields hold water when once the water had flowed over them. 我花了很少的钱就能在田地固水。

A duck isn’t going to light on dry land, not if there’s water within reach of his wings. 一只鸭子是不会在陆地上的，如果它的翅膀够得着水的话。

The third thing was the matter of feed. 第三件事是饲料问题。

I went to Washington, D. C., and spent two or three days at the Department of Agriculture finding² out just what wild food would grow here, things that the ducks liked best. 我去了华盛顿特区。他花了两三天时间在农业部研究这里会种什么野生食物，鸭子最喜欢吃的东西。

They recommended to me duck oats, water lilies, and the American lotus. 他们向我推荐燕麦片、睡莲和美洲莲。

This last is probably the most successful food I have tried. 最后一种可能是我尝试过的最成功的食物。

The bloom³ has a seed-'holding disk like a sun-flower. 花朵有一个像太阳花一样的种子托盘。

The seeds themselves are like hard black acorns⁴, and the ducks are very fond of them. 种子本身就像坚硬的黑橡子，鸭子很喜欢它们。

“Yes, these old fields were worthless, but in these days there is no such thing as waste land if a man will turn over to wild things those parts of his lands which he cannot use himself. “对，这些老田本来毫无用处，但如今，如果人类不把自己不能使用的土地交给野生动物，就不会有荒野这样的地方饿了。

And if he will encourage the wild life just a little, he will have it coming in abundance⁵. 如果能给野生动物一点鼓励，那么就会有大量的野生动物出现。

Reasonable quiet and protection, water, food — get these three things in this part of the country, and you will have all the ducks you want.” 合理的安静和保护、水、食物——在这个地区得到这三样东西，你就会得到你想要的所有鸭子。”

 

1 worthless   

adj.无价值的，无用的，可鄙的

参考例句：

• Don't read worthless books.不要读没有用的书。
• He was worthless as a painter.他作为画家一事无成。

2 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

3 bloom   

n.花，花期；vi.开花；容光焕发，显露出健康

参考例句：

• The park is a picture when flowers are in bloom.当鲜花盛开时，这个公园的景色美极了。
• The flowers in the garden are now in full bloom.花园里的花盛开。

4 acorns   

n.橡子，栎实( acorn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Great oaks from little acorns grow. 万丈高楼平地起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Welcome to my new website!It may not look much at the moment, but great oaks from little acorns grow! 欢迎来到我的新网站。它现在可能微不足道，不过万丈高楼平地起嘛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 abundance   

n.大量，丰富，充足

参考例句：

• At the feast there was food and drink in abundance.宴会上有丰富的饮食。
• There is an abundance of commodity supplies on the markets.商品供应充足。