英国学生科学读本 第38期:人类的帮手-马(1)

 　　Lesson 38 Our Helper, The Horse

　　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。

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 hoof   

n.(马，牛等的)蹄

参考例句：

• Suddenly he heard the quick,short click of a horse's hoof behind him.突然间，他听见背后响起一阵急骤的马蹄的得得声。
• I was kicked by a hoof.我被一只蹄子踢到了。

3 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

4 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

5 hoofs   

n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The stamp of the horse's hoofs on the wooden floor was loud. 马蹄踏在木头地板上的声音很响。 来自辞典例句
• The noise of hoofs called him back to the other window. 马蹄声把他又唤回那扇窗子口。 来自辞典例句

6 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

7 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。