英国学生科学读本 第47期: 人类的朋友(2)

 　　The dog has bright and knowing eyes, but he cannot see at night so well as the cat can. The pupil, or little black space in the middle of each eye, is never so large as that of the cat. Pussy¹ chases the mice by night, but the dog hunts only in the day-time.

　　狗长着明亮的、善解人意的眼睛, 但晚上看东西不像猫看得那么清楚。狗的瞳孔, 也就是每只眼睛中间的小黑点儿, 始终不会像猫一样大。小猫咪可以在晚上追老鼠, 但是狗只在白天才狩猎。

　　There is another difference between the dog's eye and the cat's. Do you remember reading in the previous Lesson that in a bright light the pupil of the cat's eye closes until it is only a narrow slit²? The pupil of the dog's eye is not like this. It is always round, however bright the light may be.

　　狗和猫的眼睛还有一处不同。你还记得吗? 在前面的课文中猫眼睛的瞳孔, 在强光下, 会眯得只剩一条缝。狗眼睛的瞳孔却不会这样, 不管光线怎么强烈, 瞳孔一直是圆的。

　　Notice the dog's teeth. How white and strong they are! All his teeth are sharp and pointed³. He has seventeen teeth in the upper jaw⁴, and nineteen in the lower jaw.

　　注意狗的牙。这些牙齿好白好硬啊！狗的牙齿全都是很尖很锋利的, 上腭有17颗牙齿, 下腭有19颗。

　　The dog has two long teeth in each jaw for seizing his prey⁵. The other teeth are for tearing the flesh and crushing the bones on which he feeds. The dog lives chiefly on flesh, and he has no flat teeth for grinding his food, like those of grass-eating animals.

　　狗的上下腭各有两颗长长的牙齿, 用来咬住猎物。另外的牙齿用来把肉撕裂, 把骨头碾碎, 狗就吃这些肉和骨头为生。狗的食物主要是肉, 没有用来磨碎食物的扁平牙齿, 这一点跟食草动物不一样。

　　Grass-eating animals like the cow can move their jaws⁶ sideways as well as up and down, in order to grind their food well; but flesh-eating animals like the dog can only move their jaws up and down.

　　牛一类的食草动物, 上下腭除了上下活动, 还可以横向活动, 这样可以把食物磨得很碎；但是, 食肉动物的上下腭, 只能上下活动。

　　The tongue of the dog is long and smooth. It is very different from the rough tongue of the cat. When a dog is very hot, he always lets his tongue hang out of his mouth, for it is by his tongue that he sweats or perspires⁷.

　　狗的舌头又长又光滑, 跟猫的粗糙的舌头很不一样。狗在非常热的时候, 总是把舌头伸到嘴外面, 因为狗是用舌头出汗或者排汗的。

1 pussy   

n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪

参考例句：

• Why can't they leave my pussy alone?为什么他们就不能离我小猫咪远一点？
• The baby was playing with his pussy.孩子正和他的猫嬉戏。

2 slit   

n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂

参考例句：

• The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
• He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

4 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

5 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

6 jaws   

n.口部；嘴

参考例句：

• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
• The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。

7 perspires   

v.出汗，流汗( perspire的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The latter has neither hens nor chicks, and only thinks of himself and perspires verdigris. 那风信公鸡既没有母鸡，也没有小鸡。他只想着自己，满身铜绿！ 来自互联网
• On an average day you take 15,000 steps and foot perspires 200 ml of sweat. 平均每一天你的脚要迈15,000步，同时分泌出200毫升的汗液。 来自互联网