of House Cats
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Table of Contents An Unlikely Friend.
内容表 不同的朋友。
4 The Taming of Cats.
4"打猫".
6 A Growing Friendship.
6"不断成长的友谊".
8 Modern Cats.
8 现代猫.
12 Cat Companions.
12"猫伴".
15 Glossary.
15 词汇。
16 An Unlikely Friend Cats are the world’s most popular pet.
16 不同寻常的朋友猫是世界上最受欢迎的宠物。
However, they are different from most other tame animals.
然而,它们与其他大多数驯服动物不同.
Cats are friendly, but they don’t need help from others—they usually hunt and live alone.
猫是友善的,
Over time, cats have developed into many different breeds and colors.
随着时间的推移,猫已经发展出许多不同的品种和颜色.
Cats also don’t work for humans in the same way that dogs, cows, horses, and sheep do.
猫也不像狗、牛、马和羊一样为人类工作。
This means that cats and humans are a surprising pair.
这意味着猫和人类是惊人的一对.
So how did cats become some of our dearest friends?
那么猫是怎么成为我们最亲爱的朋友的?
In the United States, one in every three households has a pet cat or two.
在美国,每3个家庭就有1个或2个宠物猫.
The Taming of Cats Some scientists think that cats were first tamed in the Middle East about twelve thousand years ago.
一些科学家认为,大约一万二千年前,猫首先在中东被驯服.
At that time, people began to grow and store grain for food.
这时,人们开始种植并储存谷物以取粮.
Mice and rats came to eat the grain, and cats came to hunt them.
老鼠和老鼠来吃谷物,猫来猎杀.
People might have started feeding cats because they were happy to get rid of the pests.
人们可能开始喂猫,因为他们乐于去除害虫.
Over time, cats that were better with people bred rapidly near towns.
随着时间的推移,与人相处较好的猫在城镇附近迅速繁殖.
These cats were especially successful because they could easily get food.
这些猫之所以特别成功,是因为它们很容易得到食物.
People still keep barn cats on their farms and ranches to control pests.
人们仍然把谷仓猫放在自己的农场和牧场来控制害虫.
Some scientists think that people simply may have liked the way cats looked.
一些科学家认为人们可能只是喜欢猫的样子.
Cats have big eyes and round faces.
猫有大眼睛和圆相.
These features tend to bring out a caring response in humans.
这些特征往往会给人类带来关爱的反应.
In other words, people may have taken in cats because they are cute.
换句话说,人们可能因为可爱而收留了猫.
Strong night and close-up vision Excellent long-distance hearing; thirty muscles in each ear for quick movement Sharp teeth; poor taste for sweet flavors makes them prefer meat Sense of smell fourteen times as strong as that of humans Whiskers increase sense of touch Cute and Dangerous Cats may look adorable, but their physical traits and strong senses make them excellent hunters as well.
强烈的夜晚和特写视觉 非常好的长途听力,每只耳朵有三十个肌肉 锋利的牙齿;甜味的口味差,使他们更喜欢肉质的嗅觉强度是人类的14倍,Whiskers增加了触摸感的可爱度,而危险的猫可能看起来很可爱,但他们的物理特质和强烈的感想也使他们成为了优秀的猎人.
A Growing Friendship The friendship between cats and people grew over time.
不断增长的友谊 猫与人之间的友谊随时间而增长.
In ancient Egypt, for example, people believed that cats were magical animals that brought good luck.
例如在古埃及,人们就认为猫是能带来好运气的神奇动物.
Some of their gods even took the form of cats.
他们的一些神甚至采取猫的形式.
This ancient Egyptian drawing shows a cat watching over geese (left).
这出古埃及画作显示一只猫在看雁(左).
The ancient Egyptian goddess Bastet had the head of a cat (right).
古埃及女神巴斯特有一只猫的头(右).
Cat mummies show that these animals were very special to ancient Egyptians.
猫的木乃伊表明这些动物对于古埃及人来说是非常特殊的.
In fact, anyone who harmed a cat was punished.
事实上,任何伤害了猫的人都会受到惩罚.
People in ancient Egypt made mummies of their dead as a sign of love and respect.
古埃及人用木乃伊来作活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活
They did the same for their pet cats that Experts think that tame cats spread quickly around the ancient world on ships that carried grain.
他们对宠物猫也做了同样的事情,专家认为驯服猫会用载有谷物的船迅速传播到古代世界.
The cats were brought on board to hunt mice.
猫被带入船上去猎老鼠.
In this way, cats traveled all over Europe and Asia on trade ships.
这样一来,猫就乘坐贸易船走遍了欧洲和亚洲.
They arrived in China and India about two thousand years ago.
他们大约在两千年前到达了中国和印度.
In Asia, they helped keep mice away from important papers.
在亚洲,他们帮助老鼠远离重要文件.
Cats often appear in Asian legends and art such as this Chinese painting from the 1400s.
猫常出现在亚洲传说和艺术中,如从1400年代起的这幅中国画.
In the Middle Ages (500–1500 CE), however, many people in Europe began to fear cats, believing them to be evil.
然而在中世纪(500–1500 CE),欧洲的许多人开始害怕猫,认为它们是邪恶的.
They had superstitions about wicked people who kept cats and even turned into them.
他们迷信那些养猫甚至变成猫的坏人
Even so, many people kept tame cats during this time since cats were so useful for hunting pests.
即便如此,许多人在这段时间里仍然驯服猫,因为猫对捕食害虫很有用.
In medieval Europe, people believed that cats followed the orders of evil people.
在中世纪的欧洲,人们相信猫听从了邪恶人的命令.
Helping the Hunted Even though cats are popular for their hunting abilities, they can cause problems as well.
帮助被猎人 虽然猫因狩猎能力而受欢迎,但也会出问题.
Scientists think that cats have helped wipe out thirty-three types of birds around the world.
科学家认为猫已经帮助在全世界消灭了33种鸟类.
If you have an outdoor cat, you can help the birds and other animals in your neighborhood by putting a bell on its collar.
如果你有户外猫,你可以帮助附近鸟类和其他动物,在它的领子上打个铃.
Modern Cats Today’s indoor pet cats live differently from the cats of the past.
现代猫"今日"室内宠物猫与"过去"猫不同.
For thousands of years, tame cats lived mostly outside.
几千年来,驯服的猫大多住在外.
They didn’t become house pets until the 1960s, when kitty litter became more common.
直到20世纪60年代,
While outdoor cats often live fewer than three years, indoor cats usually live for fifteen to eighteen years.
虽然户外猫常活不到3年,而室内猫通常活到15到18年.
Today’s pet cats also look a little different.
今天的宠物猫也看起来有些不同.
In the past, tame cats looked like their wild cousins.
过去被驯服的猫看起来像是野生的表妹.
Many European cats were striped since they often bred with nearby wildcats.
许多欧洲猫被剥去,因为它们经常被附近的野猫所饲养.
In Asia, where no wildcats lived to mix with tame cats, different cat breeds developed over time.
在亚洲,没有野猫活来与驯服猫相混合,不同的猫品种随着时间推移而得到发展.
The Siamese cat, with its smooth white fur and dark paws, ears, and face, is one example.
暹罗猫,有光滑的白皮毛和阴暗的爪子,耳朵,和相貌,就是一个例子.
European wildcat Traditional Siamese cat In the 1800s in England, people started to breed cats in different colors.
欧洲野猫 传统暹罗猫 在英国的1800年代,人们开始以不同的颜色来繁殖猫.
The first cat show, where people could go to see “fancy” cat breeds, was held in London.
第一次猫展在伦敦举行,人们可以去看“花样”猫品种。
The winner was a Persian cat.
获胜者是一头波斯猫.
Some of the breeds shown at the first cat show (above) are pictured to the right.
在第一次猫展(上)上展示的一些品种被照到右边.
Cat Adopt ion More than three million cats enter animal shelters every year in the United States.
Cat 收养离子 美国每年有300多万只猫进入动物收容所.
Fewer than two million of these cats are adopted.
这些猫中只有不到200万只被收养.
If your family is considering a pet cat, visit your local animal shelter to find a furry new friend!
如果你的家人在考虑宠物猫, 去当地的动物收容所找一个毛茸茸的新朋友!
Cat Companions Cats have made friends with people all over the world for thousands of years.
猫伴 猫儿与世界各地人结交了几千年.
Since they first came into towns seeking food, cats have won us over with their playfulness and grace.
自从他们第一次来到城镇寻找食物,猫们就用他们的玩弄和优雅赢得了我们.