美国语文第五册 第39期:致命的虫豸(1)

 　　Who has not heard of the rattlesnake or copperhead? 有人从没听说响尾蛇或一种头呈铜色的北美毒蛇？

　　An unexpected sight of either of these reptiles¹ will make even the lords of creation recoil²; 这两种虫豸，无论哪一种与你不期而遇，哪怕作为生物界主宰的人类亦会惊恐万分；

　　but there is a species of worm, found in various parts of this country, 不过，还有一种极为特异的蠕虫，这种蠕虫在美国不少地区业已相继发现，

　　which conveys a poison of a nature so deadly that, compared with it, even the venom³ of the rattlesnake is harmless. 这种蠕虫分泌出某种致命的天然毒液，与其相比，响尾蛇对人的伤害委实是小巫见大巫。

　　To guard our readers against this foe⁴ of human kind is the object of this lesson. 本文旨在指导读者如何预防来自人类敌人的伤害。

　　This worm varies much in size. 这种蠕虫体形差异很大。

　　It is frequently an inch in diameter, but, as it is rarely seen except when coiled, its length can hardly be conjectured⁵. 通常其直径达到一英寸，但除非蠕虫盘绕成团，这种情形极为鲜见，因此蠕虫长度几乎难以估测。

　　It is of a dull lead color, and generally lives near a spring or small stream of water, 蠕虫呈暗铅色，通常盘踞在泉水或细小溪流附近，

　　and bites the unfortunate people who are in the habit of going there to drink. The brute⁶ creation it never molests⁷. 对前去饮水的人发动攻击。蠕虫从不攻击猛兽，

　　They avoid it with the same instinct that teaches the animals of India to shun⁸ the deadly cobra. 与此同时，那些北美猛兽出于相同本能亦尽量避免与蠕虫接触，甚至知道如何避开致命的眼镜蛇。

　　Several of these reptiles have long infested⁹ our settlements, to the misery¹⁰ and destruction of many of our fellow citizens. 世界上存在好几种长期侵扰人类的爬行虫豸，它们给人们生命酿成不幸或导致灾难。

　　I have, therefore, had frequent opportunities of being the melancholy¹¹ spectator of the effects produced by the subtile poison which this worm infuses. 这种蠕虫刺入人体哪怕极少或微量体液，亦会给人带来不可避免的悲剧。不幸的是，这类受害者对我来说，实在是司空见惯。

1 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 recoil   

vi.退却，退缩，畏缩

参考例句：

• Most people would recoil at the sight of the snake.许多人看见蛇都会向后退缩。
• Revenge may recoil upon the person who takes it.报复者常会受到报应。

3 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

4 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

5 conjectured   

推测，猜测，猜想( conjecture的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The old peasant conjectured that it would be an unusually cold winter. 那老汉推测冬天将会异常地寒冷。
• The general conjectured that the enemy only had about five days' supply of food left. 将军推测敌人只剩下五天的粮食给养。

6 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

7 molests   

n.骚扰( molest的名词复数 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵v.骚扰( molest的第三人称单数 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵

参考例句：

• A dog that molests sheep has to be killed. 骚扰羊群的狗要被杀掉。 来自辞典例句

8 shun   

vt.避开，回避，避免

参考例句：

• Materialists face truth,whereas idealists shun it.唯物主义者面向真理，唯心主义者则逃避真理。
• This extremist organization has shunned conventional politics.这个极端主义组织有意避开了传统政治。

9 infested   

adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于

参考例句：

• The kitchen was infested with ants. 厨房里到处是蚂蚁。
• The apartments were infested with rats and roaches. 公寓里面到处都是老鼠和蟑螂。

10 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

11 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。