Kangaroo 袋鼠

此文与其他相关文章已经汇集成册，由四川大学出版社出版，英语汉语对照。这里发帖，供网友学习参考。

Kangaroos live only in Australia and the nearby island of Tasmania. (1) They are the Australian national animal. 袋鼠只生活在澳大利亚和塔斯马尼亚岛附近。它们是澳大利亚的国家动物。

Kangaroos come in all sizes. The largest kangaroo is the red kangaroo, which is sometimes seven feet tall and weighs 200 pounds. The smallest is the rat kangaroo, which is about the size of a rabbit. Medium-size kangaroos are also called wallabies. Another kind of kangaroo is the tree kangaroo. Its strong claws help it hold on to branches. It even sleeps in trees. 袋鼠的个儿大小不等。最大的袋鼠是红袋鼠，有时有7英尺高，200磅重。最小的袋鼠是鼠袋鼠，个儿和兔子差不多。中等个儿的袋鼠又叫沙袋鼠。另外一种袋鼠是树袋鼠。它的强壮的脚爪有助于它牢牢地抓住树枝。它甚至在树上睡觉。

The red kangaroo is a shy, nervous animal that eats grass and leaves. If a kangaroo sees a wild dog or another enemy approaching, it hops away on its giant hind legs. A red kangaroo usually hops five to ten feet in a shingle jump. The red kangaroo can travel 25 miles an hour. A kangaroo will defend itself by kicking with its powerful hind legs. 红袋鼠是一种吃草和树叶的胆怯的神经质动物。如果袋鼠看见野狗或其他敌人走来，便用巨大的后腿，跳着躲开。红袋鼠通常一步跳5到10英尺远。红袋鼠每小时能跳35英里。袋鼠会用强有力的后腿踢，以进行自卫。

Kangaroos belong to a branch of the animal kingdom called marsupials. Each female marsupial has a pouch under the skin of its belly. A female kangaroo usually has only one baby at a time. The newborn kangaroo is only about one inch long. As soon as the baby is born, it makes its way to its mother’s pouch. Inside the mother’s pouch is a nipple. (2) Milk comes from the end of the nipple. The newborn kangaroo fastens its mouth to the nipple. It lies cozily in its mother’s pouch for about two months. 袋鼠属于有袋动物王国中的一个分支。每个雌性的有袋动物都有一个育儿袋，在腹部皮肤的下面。雌性袋鼠每次通常只生一个小袋鼠。刚出生的袋鼠只有大约1英尺长。小袋鼠一出生，便向妈妈的育儿袋爬去。奶头在妈妈的育儿袋里边。奶水从奶嘴流出。刚出生的袋鼠用嘴紧紧地含住奶头。它舒适地躺在妈妈的育儿袋里，大约要躺两个月

A young kangaroo is called a “joey.” (3) The young kangaroo learns to eat grass and take care of itself. But the young kangaroo hurries back to its mother’s pouch whenever there is danger about. 小袋鼠英语叫“joey”。 小袋鼠学习吃草和自己照顾自己。但是，每当附近出现险情，小袋鼠便匆忙地跑回妈妈的育儿袋。

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTES：

1. Kangaroos live only in Australia and the nearby island of Tasmania.

句中的nearby是介词，因为后面接的是名词短语，表示“在……附近”。nearby也可以作形容词和副词，相当于near。比如：The cottage is nearby the pond.（茅屋在水溏附近。---- 作介词）/ He saw a nearby post office.（他看见附近的一个邮局。 ---- 作形容词）/ A football match was being played nearby.（一场足球比赛正在附近举行。---- 作副词）。

注意：nearby可以拼写为near-by，作形容词用，是美国英语用法，比如：a near-by village（邻近的村庄）。作副词和介词，常常去掉连字号，写成两个单词，比如：They live near by the school.（他们住在学校附近。）

2. Inside the mother’s pouch is a nipple.

句首的介词短语作表语，主语是a nipple。在英语中，当介词短语放在句首时，常常需要使用倒装语序，其结构一般是：介词短语 + be（或表位置的不及物动词）+主语。再比如：In the eastern part of the city lies his factory.（他的工厂在城市的东部。）/ Among the most famous performers is his brother.（他的哥哥是最著名的爵士音乐表演家之一。）

3. A young kangaroo is called a “joey.”

句中的a “joey”作主语补足语。如果将这个被动语态句子变成主动语态，就可能是：We call a young kangaroo a “joey”。 原来的主语变成了宾语，原来的主语补足语变成了宾语补足语。

MSN空间完美搬家到新浪博客!