9. Parrots鸚鵡

New Words新單詞

centimeter (centimetre in British English)

讀音：['sentɪˌmi:tə]

釋義：釐米（在英國英語中寫作centimetre）

fly

讀音：[flaɪ]

釋義：飛，飛行

Australia

讀音：[ɒ'streɪlɪə]

釋義：澳大利亞，澳洲

insect

讀音：[ˈɪnsekt]

釋義：蟲，昆蟲

sixty

讀音：[ˈsɪksti]

釋義：六十

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Many people think that parrots are the most beautiful birds in the world. There are many different kinds of parrots and they come in all sizes and many colors. They can be all one color like all white or all green. They can also be many colors together like green, red, blue, white, orange and black. Some adult parrots can be as tall as sixty centimeters. Other adults can be as small as twelve centimeters.

很多人認為鸚鵡是世界上最美麗的鳥。鸚鵡有許多不同種類，鸚鵡的大小、顏色各不相同。它們可以是純色的，比如純白色或者純綠色。它們也能五顏六色，比如綠色、紅色、藍色、白色、橙色還有黑色。有些成年鸚鵡能高達60釐米，有些成年鸚鵡可能小到12釐米。

We find parrots in many parts of Asia, Africa, South America and Australia. Wild parrots live in forests where they can fly around looking for fruit, insects and other things to eat.

我們在亞洲、非洲、南美洲還有澳洲的很多地區發現了鸚鵡。野生鸚鵡生活在森林裡，在那裡它們可以四處飛行尋找水果、蟲子還有其他東西來吃。

Parrots can not only fly – they can also climb. They climb tall trees looking for a good place to stay or sleep. They don’t like to move around on the ground very much.

鸚鵡不只能飛——它們還能攀爬。它們爬遍了所有的樹尋找合適的地方來棲息或者睡覺。它們不是特別喜歡在地面上活動。

Parrots like to live in hot parts of the world. That is why we can find them in places like Africa and Australia. The forests in Africa and Australia have lots of trees, lots of fruit and lots of insects.

鸚鵡喜歡生活在世界上炎熱的地區。那就是為什麼我們能在非洲還有澳洲這些地方發現鸚鵡。非洲和澳洲的森林有許多樹、大量水果還有很多昆蟲。

Parrots are special birds because they can learn to speak like people. It could be that some parrots even understand the words we teach them. Some very clever parrots can learn forty, fifty, sixty or even more words.

鸚鵡是很特別的鳥因為它們能學會像人一樣說話。有些鸚鵡甚至能理解我們教它們的單詞。有些鸚鵡非常聰明，能夠學會四十、五十、六十或者甚至更多單詞。

Parrots live to be forty, fifty and even sixty years old. These days, because the world’s forests are getting smaller and smaller, there are not so many parrots living in the wild. In the coming years, there will be more than thirty kinds of parrots that we will not see in the wild. We will only find those parrots in zoos, pet shops and other special places where people can protect and look after them.

鸚鵡能夠活到四十、五十甚至六十歲。現在，因為世界上的森林變得越來越少，生活在野外的鸚鵡不多了。未來幾年，會有三十多種野生鸚鵡消失在我們的視線中。我們將只能在動物園、寵物店還有其他特定地點看到鸚鵡，在那些地方人們能夠保護並照顧它們。

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Pat and her father are talking about Pat’s pet parrot.

佩特和她爸爸正在談論佩特的寵物鸚鵡。

Pat

Dad, does my parrot have ears? I can’t see any.

Dad

Of course it has ears. If it didn’t have ears, it couldn’t hear you talk to it. If it couldn’t hear you talk to it, it couldn’t learn to speak.

Pat

Well, my parrot can speak. Last week, it learned three new words.

Dad

That’s good. How tall is your parrot now, Pat? Is it getting bigger?

Pat

Yes. It’s about twenty-three centimeters tall now, but it’s still growing. It’s not an adult yet. When it’s an adult, it will be much taller.

Dad

I see. And can it fly? Parrots should fly around like other birds.

Pat

I know. I think it will fly when it’s an adult, but it’s still very young. It isn’t strong enough to fly yet.

Dad

How does it move around then?

Pat

It just walks, runs and climbs. It’s very good at climbing. When I put my arm out, it climbs on my arm and stays there while I walk around.

Dad

That’s nice. And where does your parrot sleep?

Pat

When I go to bed at night, I put it outside and it climbs into a tree near the kitchen door. It sleeps in that tree.

Dad

Really? Tell me Pat, is your parrot male or female?

Pat

That’s a good question. I don’t know. I don’t know how to find out if birds are male or female. Do you know?

Dad

No, I don’t. I’ll tell you what – I’ll ask my brother to come and look at your parrot. He knows a lot about birds. He can tell you if it’s male or female.

Pat

Oh, good. I hope it’s a female.

Dad

Why?

Pat

Because I gave it a girl’s name already. If it’s a boy, I’ll have to give it a different name.

佩特

爸爸，我的鸚鵡有耳朵嗎？我沒看到。

爸爸

它當然有耳朵了。要是它沒有耳朵就聽不到你跟它說話了。要是它聽不到你跟它說話，它就不能學會說話了。

佩特

好吧，我的鸚鵡能說話。上週，它學習了三個新單詞。

爸爸

那很好。你的鸚鵡現在多高了，佩特？它有長大一些嗎？

佩特

是的。它現在大約23釐米高了，但是它還在長。它還沒有成年。當它成年的時候，它還會高得多。

爸爸

我知道了。它能飛嗎？鸚鵡應該像其他鳥一樣四處飛。

佩特

我知道。我認為它成年的時候就會飛了，但是它還太小了。它還沒那麼強壯所以還不能飛。

爸爸

那它怎麼活動？

佩特

它會走、跑還有爬。它非常擅長攀爬。當我伸出手臂的時候，它就會爬上我的手臂，我走動的時候它停在我的手臂上。

爸爸

那很好。你的鸚鵡睡在哪裡？

佩特

在我晚上睡覺的時候，我就把它放在外面，它就爬到廚房門旁邊的樹上。它睡在那棵樹上。

爸爸

真的嗎？告訴我佩特，你的鸚鵡是雄性還是雌性？

佩特

那是個好問題。我不知道。我不知道怎麼看鳥是雄性還是雌性。您知道嗎？

爸爸

不，我不知道。我只能告訴你——我會讓我的哥哥來看你的鸚鵡。他對鳥兒很瞭解。他能告訴你這是雄性還是雌性。

佩特

噢，好。我希望它是雌性的。

爸爸

為什麼？

佩特

因為我早就給它取了一個女孩名字。要是它是一個男孩，我又得重新給它取名字了。

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Questions

1. Where do we find parrots?

2. What do parrots eat?

3. Do parrots like to move around on the ground?

4. Why do parrots like to live in forests?

5. How long can parrots live?

6. Does Pat’s parrot have ears?

7. Why can’t Pat’s parrot fly?

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