Mammals
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Table of Contents Big and Brainy.
内容表大而有智.
4 Exploring the Elephant.
4探索大象.
5 African and Asian Elephants.
5 非洲和亚洲大象。
7 Elephant Hangouts.
7"象悬".
9 No Meat, Thanks.
9没有肉, 谢谢
11 The Elephant Family.
11"象族传".
13 Giant Friends.
13"巨型朋友".
15 Glossary.
15 词汇。
16 Big and Brainy Without a doubt, elephants are the most gigantic land animals living on Earth today.
16大而聪明,毫无疑问,大象是当今地球上最巨大的陆地动物。
To find a more immense walking creature, you would have to go back to the age of dinosaurs!
要找到更巨大的行走生物 你必须回到恐龙时代
Elephants aren’t just huge.
大象并不只是巨大的。
They’re also highly intelligent, have many ways to communicate with one another, and are clever enough to work together to get things done.
他们也非常聪明,有许多互相沟通的方式,
How Big Are They?
他们有多大?
Exploring the Elephant No other animal quite compares to the stately elephant, with its giant body, thick gray or brown skin, and round, sturdy legs.
探索大象 没有其他动物能比得上雄起的大象 其巨型身体 厚灰色或棕色的皮肤 和圆的坚韧的腿
Most unusual of all is its long, snakelike trunk— an appendage that is the elephant’s all-in-one nose and upper lip.
最不寻常的是它的长长的蛇状树干——这是大象一鼻子和上唇的附属物。
Elephants use their super-sized trunks for several significant purposes.
大象用其超大的干线进行若干重要用途.
They breathe through them, use them to pick up food and water, and blast air through them to make a deafening trumpeting sound.
它们通过它们呼吸,用它们来取取食物和水,并用它们来吹出一股震耳欲聋的叫声.
Elephants also touch other elephants with their trunks in different ways to communicate.
大象还用不同的方式用树干来触摸其他大象.
Two elephants will often twist their trunks together to show affection.
两只大象经常会把后车厢扭成一团,以示好感.
A mother elephant might use her trunk to gently stroke her calf and calm it down—or to punish it with an elephant- sized smack!
母象可能会用她的后车厢轻轻地抚摸她的小腿并镇定下来——或者用一头大象的一击来惩罚它!
What Makes an Elephant a Mammal?
什么让一头大象变成哺乳动物?
All mammals • have a backbone • have hair on their bodies at some time in their lives • are warm-blooded • produce milk to feed their babies Young elephants drink milk from their mothers for up to three years.
• 所有哺乳动物都有骨干; 幼象从母取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取出取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取来取取取取取取取取取取取取取来取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取取
An elephant’s big, round feet have soft pads on the bottom.
大象的大圆脚下有软垫.
An elephant uses its trunk to breathe, drink, pick up food, and more.
一头大象用树干来呼吸,饮用,取取出食物等.
An African elephant’s ears are twice as big as an Asian elephant’s.
非洲大象的耳朵是亚洲大象的两倍。
The tip of an elephant’s trunk is as sensitive as the tip of a person’s finger.
大象的树干尖与人的指尖一样敏感。
African and Asian Elephants The two main species of elephants are African and Asian.
非洲和亚洲大象 大象的两个主要物种是非洲和亚洲人.
It is simple to tell them apart if you know what continent you are in, but there are other clues as well.
如果你知道自己所在的大陆是什么地方,就很容易分辨出来,但还有其他线索。
African elephants are greater in size than their Asian relatives, with males measuring 13 feet (4 m) tall and weighing up to 14,000 pounds (6,350 kg).
非洲大象的体型比亚洲亲戚要大,雄性高13英尺(4米),体重可达14000磅(6,350公斤).
Females are shorter and lighter, at around 9 feet (2.
雌性更短更轻,在9英尺左右(2.
7 m) tall and up to 10,000 pounds (4,540 kg).
高7米,可达一万斤(4,540公斤).
Male Asian elephants are around 3 feet (0.
雄性亚洲象相距约3英尺(0.
9144 m) shorter and about 3,000 pounds (1,360 kg) lighter than African males.
9144米)比非洲雄性短和约3000磅(1,360公斤)更轻.
Females are even smaller and, unlike African females, often have no tusks at all.
雌性更小,与非洲女性不同的是,她们往往完全没有象牙.
An African elephant’s appearance differs from its Asian counterpart in other ways, too.
非洲大象的外表也与亚洲大象不同,
Its floppy ears are often twice as large as those of an Asian elephant.
它的软耳常是亚洲大象的两倍.
The back of an African elephant also dips down in the middle, unlike an Asian elephant’s.
非洲大象的背部也倒向中间,
If you inspected the animal even more thoroughly, you would see two “fingers” at the end of its jumbo trunk.
如果你更彻底地检查了这只动物,你就会在它的大树干末端看到两只“指针”。
These handy flaps grab food and small objects.
这些手动的相片会抢取食物和小物品.
In addition to having smaller ears, Asian elephants have large, round bumps on the tops of their huge heads.
除了有较小的耳朵外,亚洲大象还在其巨大的头顶上有大而圆的起伏.
Spotting these bumps is a clear way to identify the species.
观察这些起伏是识别该物种的明确方法.
The bumps are often the tallest point on an Asian elephant.
颠倒往往是一头亚洲大象上最高的一分.
Their backs are flat or arched, and we can’t forget their trunks, which have just one “finger” at the end instead of two.
他们的后背平平或被拱起, 我们不能忘记他们的后车厢,
Elephants use their tusks to dig, fight, or move things around.
大象用长相来挖掘,打斗,或移动东西.
African elephants use their tusks to dig for water in times of drought.
非洲大象在干旱时期会用它们的象牙去取水.
Elephant Hangouts Elephants are adaptable enough to live in many different types of habitats, as long as they can find enough food and water.
大象挂断 大象的适应性足以活在许多不同类型的栖息地,只要它们能找到足够的食物和水.
In Africa, elephants live in hot, dry grasslands, rainforests, and even deserts.
在非洲,大象生活在炎热干燥的草地,雨林中,甚至沙漠中.
They can live at sea level or high in the mountains.
它们可以生活在海平面上或高山地.
Asian elephants live in wet rainforests and swamps as well as in other more arid forests with long dry seasons.
亚洲象生活在潮湿的雨林和沼泽地,以及其他干旱季节较长的更干旱的森林中.
Because of elephants’ hulking size, even ferocious lions and tigers won’t attack a healthy adult elephant.
即使是凶猛的狮子和老虎也不会攻击健康的成年大象。
Humans, however, hunt them for their ivory tusks and shoot them for destroying crops.
然而,人类猎取它们的象牙并射击它们来破坏农作物.
As human population increases, elephants’ natural habitats are disappearing.
随着人类人口增长,大象的自然栖息地正在消失.
Humans build more roads, plant more crops, and cut down more trees.
人类建造了更多的道路,种植了更多的农作物,并砍伐了更多的树木.
Less and less land is available for wild animals—especially ones that need large amounts of food and space.
可供野生动物使用的土地越来越少,特别是那些需要大量食物和空间的野生动物。
Elephants once roamed almost all of Africa and South Asia, but today their habitats are shrinking significantly in size.
大象曾经游荡于几乎整个非洲和南亚,但今天它们的栖息地在面积上正在显著缩小.
No Meat, Thanks Elephants are herbivores and therefore only eat plants, but other than that, they aren’t picky.
没有肉, 谢谢 大象是食草动物,
They’ll chow down on grass, leaves, branches, tree bark, seeds, and fruits.
树皮、种子和水果。
The most important thing is that there is a lot of food to eat.
最要紧的是,有许多食物可以吃.
An adult elephant can eat more than 300 pounds (136 kg) of food every day and slurp about 20 to 60 gallons (75.
成年大象每天能吃出300多磅(136公斤)的食物并口出约20到60加仑(75.
1 L) of water, using its handy trunk like an enormous straw.
1L)的水, 使用它的手提箱 像一个巨大的吸管。
Then, the elephant sprays the water from the end of its trunk into its mouth.
然后,大象从树干一端将水喷入口中.
Much of the food elephants eat passes right through them.
食物大象吃的食物 都经过它们
Only about 44 percent of the food they eat is digested.
只有44%的食物被消化。
those of any other animal.
任何其它动物。
know they’re related!
他们知道他们有亲戚关系!
thousand years.
一千年来
The Elephant Family Elephants, especially female elephants, are social animals.
大象家族大象,特别是雌性大象等为社会动物.
Adult females live together in family groups, most often led by the oldest among them.
成年女性在家庭中生活在一起,她们中最年长者往往居多。
The herd might be made up of a grandmother elephant, her grown-up daughters, and the daughters’ calves.
牛群可能由一头祖母大象、她已长大的女儿和女儿的小牛组成。
They take care of each other and eat, bathe, and play together.
他们互相照顾,吃饭,洗澡,一起玩.
From the moment an elephant is born, the whole herd helps the mother care for her 250-pound (110 kg) calf.
从一头大象诞生起,整个群群会帮助母亲照顾她250磅(110公斤)的幼崽.
Adult elephants work together to drive away predators.
成年大象合作驱赶掠食者.
Other adults will even nurse the calf if it’s hungry.
其他成年人甚至会给幼崽喂奶,
Young elephants have an extra-long childhood and nurse from their mothers for up to three years.
年轻的大象有一个额外长的童年和来自母亲的护士长达三年.
During this time, and for several years later, elephants learn vital survival skills, including where to find food and water, and how to use their trunks.
在此期间,以及几年后,大象学会了重要的生存技能,包括在哪里找到食物和水,以及如何使用他们的干线.
They aren’t mature adults until they’re ten to fifteen years old.
他们十到十五岁才成年。
Then, males and females go their separate ways, with males leaving the herd to live alone or with other male elephants.
然后,雄性与雌性分开走,由雄性离开牧群单独生活或与其他雄性大象一起生活.
Females stay with the herd and eventually raise their own calves.
雌鸟会留在群中,最终会自己饲养幼崽.
If an adult elephant doesn’t encounter serious trouble, it can live for sixty to seventy years.
如果成年大象没有遇到严重的麻烦,它可以活到60到70年。
Sometimes an elephant lives so long that it runs out of teeth!
有时一只大象活得那么长 牙都用光了
It only grows six sets in its lifetime, and once they’re gone, the elephant can’t chew its food well anymore.
它一生只长出6套,一旦它们消失,大象就再也嚼不下食物了。
This Asian elephant mother uses her trunk to spray water during a dip.
这个亚洲大象的母亲用她的树干来喷水。
On hot days, she might then spray dust over her body to prevent sunburn.
在炎热的日子,她可能会在身上喷出灰尘来防止被晒伤.
Older elephants often stay in marshes where they find softer plants to chew.
更年长的大象常常会停留在沼泽地,在那里它们发现较软的植物来咀嚼.
Giant Friends It’s hard not to feel a connection to nature’s king-sized elephants.
伟大的朋友 与自然界的王大象有联系,
We know they’re brainy and caring, and they like to have fun.
我们知道他们很聪明很关心,
Their awesome size and distinctive personalities make them impossible to ignore.
他们惊人的体型和独特的个性使他们无法忽视.
If we all work to protect elephants, these giants of nature will roam the Earth for a long time to come.
如果我们都努力保护大象,这些大自然的巨人将会在地球漫游很长时间.