美国语文第四册 第35期:狮子(1)

 　　The lion is often called the "king of beasts." 狮子通常被称作“百兽之王”，

　　His height varies from three to four feet, and he is from six to nine feet long. 身高从三英尺到四英尺不等，身长六至九英尺，

　　His coat is of a yellowish brown or tawny¹ color, and about his neck is a great shaggy mane which gives his head a majestic² appearance. 皮肤呈黄棕色或黄褐色。它的颈部周围有一圈蓬松的鬃毛，使它的头部看起来雄壮威武。

　　The strength of the lion is so great that he can easily crush the skulls³ of such animals as the horse or ox with one blow of his paw. 狮子的力量非常大，以至于它能够用爪子一挥轻而易举地击碎马或牛等动物的头骨。

　　No one who has not seen the teeth of a full grown lion taken out of their sockets⁴ can have any idea of their real size; 没有见过一头成年狮子的牙齿被从齿槽中拔出的人是不会了解它们实际的体型大小的。

　　one of them forms a good handful, and might easily be mistaken for a small elephant's tooth. 其中一个非常巨大，很容易被误认为是小象的牙齿。

　　The home of the lion is in the forests of Asia and Africa, where he is a terror to man and beast. 狮子的家在亚洲和非洲的森林里，在那里，人类和野兽对他充满畏惧。

　　He generally lies concealed⁵ during the day, 一般来说，白天它都会躲藏起来，

　　but as darkness comes on he prowls about where other animals are accustomed to go for food or drink, 但随着夜幕降临，它会悄悄地踱到其他动物惯于觅食或饮水的地方，

　　and springs upon them unawares, with a roar that sounds like the rumble⁶ of thunder. 趁它们毫无察觉时跳出来，发出一声如雷般的吼声。

　　The lion sometimes lives to a great age. 有时候，狮子可以活到很大年龄。

　　One by the name of Pompey died at London, in the year 1760, at the age of seventy years. 一头名叫庞培的狮子于1760年死在伦敦，终年70岁。

　　If taken when young the lion can be tamed, and will even show marks of kindness to his keeper. 如果捕捉幼年时期的狮子，可以进行驯养，它甚至会对主人表现得很友好。

　　In a menagerie at Brussels, there was a cell where a large lion, called Danco, used to be kept. 在布鲁塞尔的一家动物园，一个小笼子里关着一头名叫丹科的大狮子。

　　The cell happened to be in need of repair, and the keeper, whose name was William, desired a carpenter to come and mend it. 笼子恰好需要维修，动物园的管理员威廉想要请一名木匠来修理它。

　　The carpenter came, but was so afraid of the lion, that he would not go near the cell alone. 木匠来了，但是因为太害怕狮子，不敢独自一人靠近笼子。

　　So William entered the cell, and led the lion to the upper part of it, while the other part was refitting. 所以威廉走进笼子里，将狮子引导到上部，这时开始维修笼子的其他地方。

1 tawny   

adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色

参考例句：

• Her black hair springs in fine strands across her tawny,ruddy cheek.她的一头乌发分披在健康红润的脸颊旁。
• None of them noticed a large,tawny owl flutter past the window.他们谁也没注意到一只大的、褐色的猫头鹰飞过了窗户。

2 majestic   

adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的

参考例句：

• In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
• He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。

3 skulls   

颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜

参考例句：

• One of the women's skulls found exceeds in capacity that of the average man of today. 现已发现的女性颅骨中，其中有一个的脑容量超过了今天的普通男子。
• We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight! 我们便能令月光下的平原变白，遍布白色的骷髅！

4 sockets   

n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴

参考例句：

• All new PCs now have USB sockets. 新的个人计算机现在都有通用串行总线插孔。
• Make sure the sockets in your house are fingerproof. 确保你房中的插座是防触电的。 来自超越目标英语 第4册

5 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

6 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。