英国学生科学读本 第33期:美丽的鸽子(2)

 　　The wings and tail of the pigeon¹ are covered with long feathers, called quills². The quill-feathers of the winghelp the pigeon to fly, while the quills of the tail guide the bird and steady³ it in its flight.

　　鸽子的翅膀和尾巴都覆盖着长长的羽毛, 学名叫“飞翔羽”。翅膀上的飞翔羽是帮助鸽子飞的, 尾巴上的飞翔羽, 能在鸽子飞翔时帮助导向, 帮鸽子保持平衡。

　　The rest of the pigeon's body is covered with short feathers. Below these feathers it has a kind of soft hair,called down , which clothes the bare skin of the bird and keeps it warm.

　　鸽子身体其余的部分覆盖着短羽毛。这些羽毛下面长着一种软毛, 绒羽覆盖了鸽子赤裸的皮肤, 能让皮肤保暖。

　　Pigeons⁴ live in pairs, and the mates⁵ are very fond of each other. If one of a pair dies, the other will not eat for days, and may even die of grief⁶.

　　鸽子是成双成对地生活的, 彼此非常恩爱。要是有一只死了, 另一只会好几天不吃东西, 甚至会伤心至死呢！

　　In summer, the mother pigeon lays two white eggs, and sits on them to keep them warm. The father pigeon, too, takes his turn at sitting on the eggs. In less than three weeks the young pigeons come out of the eggs. At first the young birds have no feathers to cover them; and for some weeks the parent birds have to feed them withseeds out of their own bills.

　　夏天, 鸽子妈妈会生下两个白色的鸽蛋, 坐在蛋上给蛋保暖。鸽子爸爸也会跟妈妈轮换着孵蛋。不到三个星期, 蛋里就会钻出小鸽子来。一开始, 小鸽子身上是光着的, 没有羽毛；有好几个星期的时间, 爸爸妈妈都得用喙衔着谷粒喂小鸽子。

　　Pigeons can fly very well. The carrier-pigeon sometimes flies a mile in a minute. These birds may be taken many, many miles from their home, and yet they will fly straight back again. They are used for carrying messages.The message is written on a small piece of paper, which is rolled up, and tied under the bird's wing.

　　鸽子非常善于飞翔。信鸽的速度有时候能达到一分钟一英里。把这些鸟儿带到离家成百上千英里远的地方, 它们还能径直地飞回家去。人们用信鸽来传信, 把信写在一小片纸上, 卷起来绑在信鸽的翅膀下面。

1 pigeon   

n.鸽子

参考例句：

• The pigeon homed from a distance of 100 miles.鸽子从百英里之外返回窝巢。
• How many pigeon eggs do you need?你要几个鸽子蛋？

2 quills   

n.（刺猬或豪猪的）刺( quill的名词复数 )；羽毛管；翮；纡管

参考例句：

• Quills were the chief writing implement from the 6th century AD until the advent of steel pens in the mid 19th century. 从公元6世纪到19世纪中期钢笔出现以前，羽毛笔是主要的书写工具。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Defensive quills dot the backs of these troublesome creatures. 防御性的刺长在这些讨人厌的生物背上。 来自互联网

3 steady   

adj.稳定的，不动摇的，沉着的，稳固的，坚定的，可靠的；vt.使稳定

参考例句：

• She has a steady income.她有固定的收入。
• He is a steady young man.他是一个稳重的年轻人。

4 pigeons   

n. 鸽子 名词pigeon的复数形式

参考例句：

• the sound of pigeons cooing 鸽子咕咕的叫声
• The boy frightened away the pigeons from the roof. 那男孩把屋顶上的鸽子吓飞了。

5 mates   

[英]伙伴( mate的名词复数 )； 同伴； （非正式）配偶； （熟练工人的）助手

参考例句：

• He's out boozing with his mates. 他和他的朋友们喝酒去了。
• They've been best mates since school. 他们从上学时期以来就是最要好的朋友。

6 grief   

n.悲伤，悲痛，悲伤的事，悲痛的缘由

参考例句：

• Don't allow yourself to sink into grief,it can do no good.不要使自己陷入悲哀之中，这样一点好处也没有。
• After her mother died,she abandoned herself to grief.母亲死后，她沉浸于悲痛之中。